The World This Week: Expectations for Partnerships in Central Asia and the Post-US Election

Consolidating influence in Central Asia

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is led by China and Russia and includes eight members: India, Pakistan, and four post-Soviet states: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. The SCO was founded in 2001 and holds summits annually.

This year's meeting comes as the US increases its presence in the region and Central Asian economies are struggling withCovid-19 pandemic. In addition, member state Kyrgyzstan is struggling with an insurgency, Armenia and Azerbaijan are locked in a bitter conflict, and a border dispute continues between India and China. The SCO summit was the first multilateral meeting attended by President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi since a border conflict erupted between the two countries in May.

Despite disagreements among member states, the SCO summit was held online. Photo: SCMP

Therefore, the focus of this conference is to strengthen solidarity, enhance multilateral cooperation and promote economic recovery after the pandemic. Observers say that political instability in Central Asia and conflicts between members will not weaken the multilateral framework, which was created to stabilize the "triangle of relations".Russia-China-Central Asia.

The conference went ahead despite the conflicts, reflecting China's irresistible appeal.

In fact, this will be an opportunity to strengthen China’s “hand” in Central Asia, said Raffaello Pantucci, an expert on Eurasian affairs at the Royal United Nations Institute in London. Beijing gave birth to the SCO, and its continued existence and development reflects positively on Beijing in many ways. Therefore, despite all the conflicts, the summit is still going ahead, reflecting the irresistible appeal of China, or at least the appeal of this organization, which has built and promoted its role on the Eurasian continent.

China’s leadership in the global economic recovery could also expand its influence within the bloc, observers say. China’s role will remain important as it is the only SCO country whose economy continues to grow despite the pandemic, said Artyom Lukin, associate professor at Russia’s Far Eastern Federal University. One sign of this development would be an agreement between China and the Eurasian Economic Union, a trade and economic bloc led by Russia.

Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed unity at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit. Photo: SCMP

Moreover, as Beijing and Moscow face pressure from the US, the deal would be part of an effort to build a new Eurasian financial and monetary system to counter the global financial system dominated by the US dollar.

Also at the conference, Chinese leader Xi Jinping called on Russia and its Asian partners to oppose the interference of “outside forces”. Although Xi did not mention Washington in his speech, alluded to the US with many terms mentioned such as “unilateralism” and “political virus”. This is also Xi’s first international comment since the US election, and comes in the context of officials in the Donald Trump administration increasing pressure on Beijing.

Hesitant about the US election results

Over the past week, leaders from many countries around the world have sent congratulatory messages to Democratic candidate Joe Biden on his election as the 46th US president. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson described his phone call with Joe Biden as “a return to the traditional issues in the relationship between the UK and the US”.stand together on some issuessuch as promoting democracy in the world, free trade, common security, transatlantic alliance...

On Twitter, South Korean President Moon Jae-in announced his phone call with Mr. Biden, in which he reaffirmed his commitment to the South Korea-US alliance and to promoting peace on the Korean Peninsula. In particular, both sides agreed to hold a summit soon. Or Japanese leader Suga Yoshihide also congratulated Mr. Biden, and emphasized the importance of bilateral relations as well as a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

The US presidential election has yet to come to an end due to legal litigation. Photo: CNN

America's allies are unlikely to "offend" the Donald Trump administration in his final weeks in the White House.

Most of America’s allies have sent similar messages, including leaders close to Trump in Israel and Saudi Arabia. Few officials around the world have spoken out about President Donald Trump’s refusal to concede and his unsubstantiated claims of widespread election fraud. Observers have noted that with so much time left until the inauguration of the new president, America’s allies are unlikely to “displease” the Trump administration in its final weeks in the White House.

“Trump is still president for another two months, so he can act if he is criticized,” said Erik Brattberg, director of the European program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “For European leaders, publicly criticizing Trump now simply doesn’t do them any good. Instead, they will make veiled statements and express their belief in improved relations under Joe Biden.” It’s clear that no one wants to take more drastic action while Trump hasn’t given up.

Unlike many world leaders,Russian President Vladimir Putinor Chinese President Xi Jinping remains silent. The reason is that there are post-election disputes and lawsuits. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also assessed that, compared to other important countries in the world, the US electoral system is "perhaps the most ancient" and this system "significantly distorts the will of the people".

President Donald Trump appeared for the first time in the White House Rose Garden, a week after the media announced the election results. Photo: CNN

It is worth noting that although Western media outlets have reported on Joe Biden’s victory, the US State Department has blocked a series of congratulatory messages to President-elect Biden, under orders from the Trump administration. Dozens of congratulatory messages have been “stuck”. Biden even made phone calls to many leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, without the State Department’s logistical and translation support. As a result, Biden’s team contacted foreign governments without going through the US State Department.