Xi, Putin issue ‘Tianjin Declaration’ as Kim heads to Beijing

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin issued the “Tianjin Declaration” at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, which concluded Sept. 1 in Tianjin, China, criticizing U.S. hegemonism.

The leaders of the 26 SCO member countries, including China, Russia, and India, said in a joint communiqué that they “condemn the U.S. and Israel for airstrikes on Iran and the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the Gaza Strip.”

In his keynote address at the summit, President Xi emphasized that the world must oppose Cold War thinking, bloc confrontations, and coercive moves, directly targeting the United States. Following President Xi, President Putin took the podium and stressed the responsibility of Western nations for the Ukraine war, calling it “the result of the Kyiv coup supported by Ukraine’s Western allies.” President Xi also announced plans to establish a security threat response body and a development bank within the SCO to strengthen security and economic cooperation among member states.

Meanwhile, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is expected to arrive in Beijing on Sept. 2 to attend China’s 80th Victory Day celebrations. It will be his first visit to Beijing in nearly seven years, since January 2019. Kim is likely to depart on Sept. 1 aboard his personal train, the Taeyang-ho, and is expected to travel through Dandong, Shenyang, and Tianjin in the North Korea-China border region before reaching Beijing. According to the Korean Central News Agency, Kim inspected a missile manufacturing facility on Aug. 31, the day before his trip to China.


Chul-Jung Kim tnf@donga.com