The largest-ever meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, followed one day later by the spectacular military parade in Beijing commemorating the defeat of Japan 80 years ago, clearly showed the world that Russia and China are not isolated. In fact, for all those paying attention, the precise opposite is the case. Many in the West have been unexpectedly forced to realize this over the past week, erupting with all sorts of panicked responses. What is most telling, however, is that the responses don’t dispute the fact that such a shocking new reality now exists, but rather seek to find blame as to whose fault it is.
A case in point is London’s The Economist. In a Sept. 2 article, the author agrees that the Tianjin summit and Beijing commemoration show that “a new reality is taking hold.” “More and more countries are interested in finding alternatives to the dollar,” it argues, and China’s ability to host such diverse and well-attended events is definitely a “display of its growing power.” However, this is clearly all the fault of Donald Trump, it goes on, saying the events “show how much damage Mr. Trump is doing to American interests.”
