Xi Prepares Meeting of Security Bloc to Rival US-Led World Order

In a photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Vladimir Putin meets Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Astana in 2024.Photographer: Pavel Volkov/Pool/AFP/Getty Images

When Xi Jinping gathers his closest international allies for one of the landmark summits of his more than a decade-long rule, many will be seeking reassurance after emerging scarred from conflicts.

They may not get it: the security-focused bloc co-founded by China has been all but absent when its partners needed it most.