From The Times and the Sunday Times, this is the story.

I'm Manvien Rana.

In many ways, it looked like any other global summit.

A huge red carpet flanked by giant flags,

world leaders striding in, all smiles for the cameras, glad handing each other.

But look a little closer at China's big summit, and it's a curious scene.

There's Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, one arm around Putin,

while warmly clasping the hand of the Chinese premier Xi Jinping and chuckling

at a joke, despite the fact that their armies are still training guns at each other at their

shared border. The host, Xi Jinping, created a ripple by criticizing bullying countries, clearly a swipe at America.

But he also set out his vision, shared by many of the countries attending, including Russia, Iran, Belarus, and more than a dozen others,

to rewrite the global order.

We should advocate an equal and orderly multipolar world and a

universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization and make the global

governance system more just and equitable.

They talked about a new global security and economic order, new financial systems, a new

international bank. They even unveiled a new anthem.

The song is called The Light in Our Eyes, which might have something to do with a shared vision or their collective fervor.

Or maybe it's just a warning about a driving hazard, but more than 20 world leaders watched on and applauded as it was unveiled at the Grand State Banquet for the Shanghai Cooperation

Organization 2025 as the song of the not-so-free world.

Is this a block that could genuinely rival NATO and the West?

And how worried should we be about it?

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