SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan — Chinese President Xi Jinping warned his Central Asian neighbors in a speech Friday against allowing outsiders to destabilize them with “color revolutions,” a Russian state news agency reported, referring to protests that toppled unpopular regimes in the former Soviet Union and the Middle East.
Xi’s comments at a security summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin and leaders from Central Asia, India and Iran reflect official Chinese anxiety that Western support for pro-democracy and human rights activists is a plot to undermine Xi’s ruling Communist Party and other authoritarian governments.
“It is important not to allow attempts by external forces to provoke a color revolution,” Xi said in a speech to leaders of the eight-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organization, according to RIA Novosti. It said he called on them to “jointly oppose interference in the affairs of other countries under any pretext.”
A separate Chinese-language text released by Xi’s government called for efforts to “resist any attempt” to “destabilize the region” but didn’t mention color revolutions. It called for more law enforcement cooperation to “prevent terrorist and extremist forces from jeopardizing regional security.”
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization was formed by Russia and China as a counterweight to U.S. influence. The summit is part of Xi’s first trip abroad since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic 2 1/2 years ago, highlighting the importance to Beijing of promoting its strategic ambitions.
The group includes India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Iran, an observer, has applied for full membership.
The one-day summit in the ancient city of Samarkand occurred against a backdrop of Russia’s attack on Ukraine and fighting between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, a “dialogue partner” of the group, attended the summit and planned to hold talks with Putin on the status of a deal under which wheat exports from Ukraine through the Black Sea resumed.
Xi is promoting a “Global Security Initiative” announced in April following the formation of the Quad by the U.S., Japan, Australia and India in response to Beijing’s more assertive foreign policy. Xi has given few details, but U.S. officials complain it echoes Russian arguments in support of Moscow’s actions in Ukraine.
China’s relations with Washington, Europe, Japan and…
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