Isolated tyrants Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping cosy up at ‘Dictators Club’ summit in battle for domination over the West

 

Isolated despots Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping prepare to unwind at a "Dictator's Club" meeting as they look to take over the West.

The two presidents will come face-to-face on Wednesday just one week after their countries staged massive war games together - as Xi travels abroad for the first time since the start of the Covid pandemic.

China sent thousands of troops to Russia to conduct military exercises at the beginning of this month involving 60 warships and 140 aircraft while strengthening defense ties between the two countries.

Following the Beijing summit in February, the two countries declared "friendship without borders" with "no prohibited areas" of cooperation.

Currently,

Putin and Xi are scheduled to meet at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Uzbekistan on Wednesday.

The meeting would give Xi an opportunity to assert his influence while Putin could demonstrate Russia's tilt toward Asia.

The two leaders are expected to show their opposition to the United States as the West seeks to punish Russia for the Ukraine war.

In another move intended to set the West on fire, the group granted membership to Iran - which the United States considers a state sponsor of terrorism.

The so-called "dictator's club" includes India and Pakistan,

Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

Formed in 1996, its members include some of the world's most ruthless leaders.

Xi continues to intimidate Taiwan - which Beijing considers its territory.

In August, China sent a fleet of six ships and more than 50 warplanes including nuclear bombers to encircle Taiwan in new menacing war games.

Meanwhile, Russian tyrant Putin has caused mass destruction and devastation in Ukraine since the war began in February.

Activists claim that the club's last member, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, has a bloody history mired in murders and executions.

Raisi - often referred to as the butcher - is said to have been a key member of the so-called "Death Commission", which ordered the killing of thousands in the 1988 massacre.

While Islam Karimov -

Who led Uzbekistan until his death in 2016 - had previously represented the country at meetings.

He was known for his appalling human rights record - which included reports of two suspected Islamists being boiled alive.

This comes at a time when Putin says that Russia is heading towards Asia after centuries of looking to the West as a crucible of economic growth,

Technology and war after the West imposed the most severe sanctions in modern history on Moscow because of the war in Ukraine

There is no sign that Xi is willing to abandon his support for Putin in Russia's most serious confrontation with the West since the height of the Cold War.

Instead, the two 69-year-old leaders are working to deepen ties.

Trade rose by about a third between Russia and China in the first seven months of 2022.

Axis of Evil

According to one expert, the visit "shows that China is willing not only to continue 'business as usual' with Russia but even to show clear support and accelerate the formation of a stronger alliance between China and Russia."

Alexander Korolev,

“Beijing is reluctant to distance itself from Moscow even as it faces serious reputational costs and risks of becoming a target of secondary economic sanctions,” said a senior lecturer in politics and international relations at the University of New South Wales in Sydney.

The last time Xi met Putin was in February, just weeks before the Russian leader ordered an invasion of Ukraine that left tens of thousands of people dead and sowed chaos in the global economy.

This comes amid fears that Russia's growing ties with countries such as North Korea, Iran and China are evidence of a new axis of evil.

Under Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Putin, relations between Beijing and Moscow have solidified.

A year ago, Russia and China held joint military exercises in north-central China, in which more than 10,000 soldiers participated.

In October, Russia and China held joint naval exercises in the Sea of ​​Japan.

after few days ,

Russian and Chinese warships conducted their first joint patrols in the Western Pacific.

Shortly before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Beijing and Moscow announced a "borderless" partnership between them.

This comes at a time when Putin is getting closer to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.