Zimbabwean President Meets Putin, Kim in Beijing For SCO Talks

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Zimbabwean President Emmerson arrived in Beijing on Monday, August 25, 2025, joining a growing list of world leaders—including Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un—for a grand military parade marking the 80th anniversary of World War Two’s conclusion.

Beijing Hosts Parade While Geopolitical Power Bloc Expands

Simultaneously, a quieter yet highly strategic event is unfolding in northern China. Leaders from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)—a 10-member alliance including China, Russia, India, Iran, and Pakistan—have convened for a pivotal summit.

In his opening remarks, President Putin positioned the SCO as a driving force behind a new global order. “Our organization is consistently increasing its influence… and is a powerful driver of global development processes and the establishment of genuine multilateralism,” he said.

Over the past two decades, the SCO has grown into a formidable alternative to Western alliances. Originally created to counter U.S. influence in Central Asia, it has steadily expanded. India and Pakistan joined in 2017, Iran in 2023, and Belarus in 2024, giving the group greater geopolitical weight.

SCO Marks Strategic Shift from Western Dominance

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s (SCO) diverse membership is particularly noteworthy. It brings together major global players like India and China—nations with historically complex and sometimes strained relations with Washington—alongside open adversaries of the West such as Iran and Belarus. Although the alliance receives limited attention in Western media, it now represents almost half of the world’s population and is steadily influencing international norms beyond traditional Western frameworks.

Moreover, experts suggest that the SCO’s growing influence is largely driven by widespread discontent with U.S.-centric policies on trade, security, and foreign conflicts. For example, recent tariffs imposed by the U.S. on China and India, along with continued military and financial support for Ukraine, have encouraged several member states to forge alternative alliances and promote a new model of multilateral cooperation.

In addition, by hosting both the military parade and the SCO summit, China is clearly asserting its ambition to lead on both the military and diplomatic fronts. From Beijing’s perspective, this is not merely a show of strength—it is a deliberate attempt to reshape global diplomacy and elevate alternative power centers.

At the same time, as Western nations contend with internal political divisions and foreign policy fatigue, the emergence of the SCO and China’s assertive leadership present a growing challenge to established international power structures.