The Shanghai Cooperation Organization
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was founded in 2001 and had a summit at the start of September.
summit = a meeting between country leaders
If you look at the flags, which countries’ leaders attended?
Observers / partners
Afghanistan
Belarus
Iran
Mongolia
Turkey
Armenia
Sri Lanka
Nepal
Members:
China
Russia
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Tajikistan
India
Pakistan
Uzbekistan
What do many of these countries have in common?
Many of these countries…
a) have dictators as leaders
b) are not friendly with the US or EU
c) want to become closer to China
dictator = leader who has total control of a country
What do you think the goal of this summit is?
The official goals are to:
1) strengthen relationships between members
2) improve trade and share technology and culture
3) improve safety in the region
4) create a democratic, equal international political system
In an interview Putin said they want a “fairer multipolar world order” which means they don’t want the US to dominate global politics.
unipolar = one powerful “pole” or “country”
multipolar = many powerful poles, such as “The US and Europe and China and Russia”
China is the head of the group but Putin joined to get support for his war against Ukraine.
During the summit China held a Military Parade.
How do you feel when you see this?
Why did they do this?
China wanted to show it’s own people and the world that it is a militarily strong country with advanced weapons.
Japan saw the parade as a military threat to Japan. They asked many Western countries to not attend the parade. From Japan only Yukio Hatoyama attended because he has always had a close relationship with China.
Key points:
It was held on September 3rd, the 80th Anniversary of their victory over Japan in the 2nd World War.
The CCP’s official story is they led the fight against the Japanese but in reality their rivals (the KMT led by Chiang Kai Shek) were the main group fighting the Japanese. The CCP didn’t send many troops so they could win the upcoming civil war with the KMT a few years later.
Do you think Japan should hold an SDF parade?
Should America hold a military parade?
In June, on Trump’s 79th Birthday, he held a military parade in Washington DC.
It cost $40 million.
Trump claimed 250,000 people attended the parade but many news agencies said it was closer to 70,000 people.
4 million people attended anti-Trump protests around the US on the same day.
SCO members
People are not sure how united the SCO really is because there is conflict between many of the member states.
Why are Pakistan and India fighting?
In 1947 Britain left the area and gave control to the 2 countries. Some areas of Kashmir had a mainly Muslim population but they had a Hindu Maharaja (Prince). Pakistan invaded the area to prevent it joining India and this started the first Indo-Pakistani war.
The border has never been agreed on by the 2 countries. Another problem is China also claims they have land in the area.
claim (verb/noun) = say something that may not be true
In April 2025 Pakistani terrorists entered India-controlled Kashmir and killed 24 tourists. India accused the Pakistani government of supported the terrorists. There were some air battles during a 4 day period.
In the end Pakistan claims they shot down 5 Indian jets.
India claims they shot down 6 Pakistani jets.
Both deny the other’s claims.
On June 13th Israel attacked several locations in Iran and Iran responded by shooting missiles into Israel. The SCO issued a statement to criticize Israel’s actions however India didn’t support this position. Why?
criticize (verb) = say negative things about someone
India is a major military weapon customer for Israeli weapons and military technology
India is trying to mantain a good relationship with the US who is supporting Israel
China vs India
In 1950 China invaded Tibet and over the next 10 years they took control of the country.
Many Tibetans, including the Dalai Llama, escaped to India. China and India have argued about the new border.
In 2020 China and Indian soldiers began fighting each other around a lake, Pangong Tso, that is 4,200 metres above sea level. About 600 soldiers were involved in the fighting.
India said 20 Indian soldiers were killed and around 50 Chinese soldiers were killed. China didn’t release any numbers.
Do you trust India’s numbers?
Why didn’t China release the number of soldiers killed?
The interesting point is the soldiers didn’t use guns. They used fists, stones and sticks like these:
Why?
In 1996 the 2 countries agreed that soldiers can’t carry guns within 2 kilometres of the border to prevent the soldiers shooting at each other.
The governments believe if many soldiers are killed with guns, a war may start between the countries.
Sources:
https://thediplomat.com/2019/06/the-shanghai-cooperation-organization-summit-kicks-off-in-bishkek/
https://thediplomat.com/2025/08/can-the-sco-survive-its-own-conflicts/