The West is in panic

Hussein Korkmaz, Sovetskaya Rossiya, September 8, 2025 —

The alliance of Russia, China and the DPRK is destroying US dominance. The SCO summit and the military parade in Beijing became a demonstration of the new geopolitical reality, writes Anadolu. China, Russia and India showed their readiness for a multipolar world, and the joint exit of Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un became a signal to the West about the formation of an alternative center of power.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Tianjin, China, and the military parade that followed were high-profile events in global geopolitics. The SCO summit drew attention to the coordinated position of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while the appearance of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the military parade was perceived in the United States and the West as a clear strategic signal.

China and Russia have long identified the SCO, along with BRICS, as one of the pillars of a multipolar world order. Although the SCO has been criticized in the West for its limited institutionalization and India’s controversial stance, the recent summit turned into a grand show of solidarity. While Beijing had carefully planned the program, Russia and India seemed happy to be in the same frame.

India’s Balance Strategy

India has been going through troubles with the US for some time now. The US initially imposed 25% tariffs on India, but then raised them to 50% when India continued to import oil from Russia. Following this move by US President Donald Trump, footage from the SCO summit is interpreted as India turning its face to the East.

These images give the impression that China, Russia, India are becoming a troika of a multipolar world order, but there are still many unresolved issues between China and India. The $99 billion bilateral trade deficit in China’s favor and tensions over the recent low-intensity war between India and Pakistan, caused by Beijing being Pakistan’s main arms supplier, continue.

Unlike Xi Jinping, who said, “The dragon and the elephant should dance together,” India still prefers to maintain a balance. China wants to portray the summit as a way to say, “India is not in the same camp as the US,” while India is content with the statement, “We will develop relations based on mutual trust and sensitivity.” In short, it is more about a pragmatic normalization of relations than about moving to a higher level. India’s message to the US is indeed clear: “From now on, Beijing and Moscow are also among our strategic options.”

On the Sino-Russian axis, relations appear to be strengthening, especially in the energy sector. The two countries signed an agreement on the Power of Siberia 2, a giant 50 billion cubic meter gas pipeline from the Russian Arctic to China that symbolizes Moscow’s steady reorientation away from Europe and toward Asia. On the other hand, Putin, calling for a “revival of genuine multilateralism,” emphasizes the need to build a new system of security and stability in Eurasia.

Anti-Western Front Consolidates: China, Russia and North Korea

Another event that was as eagerly anticipated as the SCO summit was the parade to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the largest military event in China’s history. At the Beijing parade, China displayed some of its most advanced weapons. The DF-5C strategic intercontinental nuclear missile, which has a range that covers the entire planet, was of great interest. China also unveiled the world’s most powerful laser air defense system.

But the big news of the parade was that Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Russian leader Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un appeared together in public for the first time. “We must never return to the law of the jungle, where the strong prey on the weak,” Xi Jinping said, sending a strong and tough message to the West, led by the US. Trump even quickly posted on social media, accusing Xi Jinping, Putin and Kim Jong-un of conspiring against the US.

China’s military parade shows that it has the potential to realize its vision of a new world order. Not only that, it is reminiscent of the manufacturing capacity the United States built to win World War II, if you will. After all, in that conflict, known as the war of the factories, the winner was whoever produced more and faster. If China quickly integrates the weapons it has demonstrated into its military, it may be difficult to prevent possible military action in the region. A report published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) shows that China’s defense spending has increased 13-fold over the past 30 years.

Towards a New World Order: A Long, Unrestricted, Intellectual War

Both the key themes and speeches at the Tianjin summit and the footage from the military parade demonstrate China and Russia’s intention to transform the SCO and other venues from a dialogue mechanism into a geopolitical instrument that provides tangible benefits to member countries and creates a counter-hegemonic space to counterbalance the West, with particular emphasis on a significant build-up of military potential.

While the two countries are focused on this goal, the SCO serves as a model for geopolitical coordination. At the same time, an alternative narrative to the “Western-centric rules-based order” is being developed. It is also a search for identity that can be interpreted as the self-reconstruction of the East in a multipolar context led by China and Russia. China, on the one hand, positions a geopolitical power like Russia as an indispensable strategic friend, on the other, it attracts mid-sized players to its side to distract the US, such as North Korea.

Meanwhile, China’s fundamental strategy is a model of long-term competition aimed at attrition. What Mao once called “protracted war.” Such a war is waged on multiple fronts. The approach called civil-military fusion is also actually a product of this model. Meanwhile, intelligent warfare is the ultimate approach, based on autonomous artificial intelligence, network connectivity, and modern 21st-century combat systems.

China is thus in the midst of a long-term strategic rivalry with the United States. In this context, it makes all its political, economic and military moves with calculated precision. Strengthening strategic ties with Russia, steps towards BRICS, turning the SCO summit and military parade into a “global governance manifesto” are the result of these meticulous calculations. The question of whether a multipolar world is emerging or a new Cold War is deepening remains open, but one thing is certain: China is rapidly closing the gap with the United States.