摘要：Lead: The SCO summit in Tianjin, paired with China's military parade, is more than a diplomatic event. It is a turning point in gl

By Bradley Blankenship

Lead: The SCO summit in Tianjin, paired with China's military parade, is more than a diplomatic event. It is a turning point in global perception: a reminder that the future of order may no longer be written in Washington or Brussels, but in the rising institutions of Eurasia.

China's port city of Tianjin has just hosted one of the most consequential gatherings of the decade: the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit 2025, which took place from Aug. 31 to Sept. 1. More than 20 world leaders attended, to be followed immediately by a major Chinese military parade marking the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. The juxtaposition may be deliberate. By pairing this diplomatic gathering with a commemoration of the end of the world war, China signals its ability to act as a stabilizing force amid global turmoil.

The SCO, founded in 2001, began as a regional security forum among China, Russia and Central Asian states. It has since expanded to 10 members — China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India, Pakistan, Iran and Belarus — with ASEAN countries increasingly participating as partners. Collectively, the SCO now represents nearly half of the world's population and a quarter of global GDP. It is no longer a peripheral grouping, representing an alternative model of multilateral cooperation.

The summit's significance lies not only in the growing influence of the SCO but also in the contrast it presents with the West. At the very moment China is projecting unity and stability, the United States and its allies are confronting what many scholars now openly call systemic breakdown.

A failing West

In recent years, leading voices have acknowledged that the U.S. system is in crisis. Economist Jeffrey Sachs has warned that Washington's pursuit of endless conflict and sanctions is unsustainable, and he is now calling the crisis a collapse. Marxian economist Richard Wolff has described the American economy as structurally incapable of resolving its own contradictions, and he is also using the language of collapse. Prominent legal experts and journalists across the country now speak openly of an unfolding constitutional crisis, while Barack Obama noted the "epistemological crisis" that prevents Americans from agreeing on a shared reality.

The signs are everywhere: First, media collapse is evident, as major outlets once tasked with informing the public are now distrusted by most citizens and increasingly incapable of independent reporting. Second, political dysfunction spreads as institutional norms erode and parties pursue increasingly radical agendas that deepen societal divisions. Third, the legal system faces its own breakdown, with courts increasingly serving as instruments of power rather than justice, eroding public confidence in judicial impartiality. Finally, intelligence fragmentation undermines national security agencies, which are divided into rival factions, purged of competent actors and embroiled in internal leaks.

The cumulative effect is unmistakable: The U.S. is increasingly not perceived, either at home or abroad, as a lawful or reliable state. What was once called the "indispensable nation" is now struggling to maintain basic legitimacy.

Why Tianjin matters

It is against this backdrop that China's hosting of the SCO summit in Tianjin takes on global importance. The gathering is not merely symbolic. It demonstrates the existence of a functioning approach grounded in multipolarity rather than hegemony, stability rather than spectacle.

The "Shanghai Spirit," the founding ethos of the SCO, emphasizes mutual trust, equality, consultation, respect for cultural diversity and the pursuit of common development. These are not empty slogans. They stand in striking contrast to the coercive tactics favored by the West, including sanctions, military blocs and unilateral dictates.

The choice of Tianjin as the venue is also meaningful. The port city represents China's link to global commerce, maritime trade and historical resilience.

The strategic context

For Beijing, the SCO summit is an opportunity to cement partnerships across Eurasia. Leaders from Russia, India, Pakistan, Iran and Central Asia will sit alongside ASEAN representatives, notably from Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam. The presence of both United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn adds legitimacy to the forum.

In practical terms, the SCO is expected to discuss regional security, energy cooperation and economic integration. China is once again pushing for an SCO development bank to provide stronger underpinnings for security and economic cooperation among member states. Expansion of trade and digital infrastructure projects is also on the agenda, with Southeast Asia emerging as a crucial node.

But the subtext of Tianjin is larger. It is a demonstration that, as Western systems unravel, China and its partners are capable of offering continuity. While the conflict in Ukraine, instability in the Middle East and political chaos in Washington all erode Western credibility, the SCO is projecting a counter-image of order and pragmatism.

A shift in global legitimacy

This moment should not be underestimated. Legitimacy in international politics is not only about raw power. It is about perception — the ability of states to convince others that they can maintain order, honor agreements and act rationally.

By convening the SCO summit and staging a military parade in quick succession, China is presenting itself as precisely that kind of actor: rational, orderly and capable of stability. While the U.S. appears increasingly chaotic — purging its own institutions, unable to govern itself and hemorrhaging credibility abroad, the world needs such a country as China more than ever.

The lesson is stark: When civil enforcement in America becomes indistinguishable from counterinsurgency, when political disputes devolve into constitutional crises and when truth itself is no longer distinguishable from narrative, the stability of the state comes under strain.

China's message in Tianjin is the opposite: that it remains stable, unified and prepared to contribute in an age of Western collapse.

History teaches that legitimacy cannot be manufactured forever. It must be rooted in law, in stability and in the trust of the people. The U.S. has squandered that trust. China, doing what it normally does, demonstrates that it has earned it.

The SCO summit in Tianjin, paired with China's military parade, is therefore more than a diplomatic event. It is a turning point in global perception: a reminder that the future of order may no longer be written in Washington or Brussels, but in the rising institutions of Eurasia.

Bradley Blankenship is an investigative journalist, columnist, author, political analyst and the founding chairman of the Northern Kentucky Truth & Accountability Project, a local U.S. anti-corruption network and civic oversight body.

来源：中国网一点号