Chinese President Xi Calls For Preventing ‘Colour Revolution’

Xi Advised The SCO To Work Together To Ward Off Outside Interference

In order to prevent "colour revolutions" instigated by "foreign forces," Chinese President Xi Jinping urged SCO member nations to retain strategic independence and protect regional stability and offered to set up a regional counterterrorism training center and mooted a development bank to speed up regional economic integration, in a veiled attack on the US as it expands its influence in the Indo-Pacific region. On his first trip outside of China since early 2020, Xi advised the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting in the historic Silk Road city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan, to work together to ward off outside interference. In a covert criticism of the United States, which Beijing has previously attacked for relying on friends to stop China's startling rise to the status of a potential superpower, Xi blasted "zero-sum games and bloc politics."

Colour Revolution                                                 

The term "colour revolutions" is often used to describe popular movements throughout the Middle East and Asia, but it originally referred to a series of protests that started in former communist countries in Eastern Europe in the early 2000s. Most have involved large-scale mobilisation on the streets, with demands for free elections or regime change, and calls for removal of authoritarian leaders. Protesters often wear a specific colour, such as in Ukraine’s Orange Revolution, but the term has also been used to describe movements named after flowers like the Jasmine Revolution Tunisia. Beijing claimed that the protests in Hong Kong had "characteristics of the colour revolution" in 2019. Moscow and Beijing have long criticised colour revolutions as destabilising influences “orchestrated” by the United States and allies.

Xi Jinping’s political themes

Xi Jinping's political themes and two core vulnerabilities have defined his two decades in power. Concerns about his personal power come first, followed by concerns about CCP power. His ongoing battle to maintain power and protect against colour revolutions is hence intricately linked. Both domestic repression and aggressive behaviour abroad are two sides of the same coin. The Quad (the US, India, Japan, and Australia) and AUKUS (the US, UK, and Australia) alliances have come under fire from China, which claims they were formed to stifle its ascent. According to Xi, they should come to an agreement on security cooperation and work jointly to safeguard the region's ongoing peace and security while keeping in mind the security requirements of the various nations in the area. The SCO should improve its collaboration with law enforcement to stop terrorist and extremist forces from endangering regional security.

Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS)

The Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), a counterterrorism organisation that the SCO established over time, was thought to be one of the organisation's key assets. After the US military abruptly withdrew from Afghanistan and the Taliban seized power, security fears in South and Central Asia grew amid claims that Al Qaida and Islamic State militants had regrouped there.

The way Forward of Colour Revolution                                                       

Whether it is a myth or a fact, the Colour Revolution has undoubtedly become a weapon in the new Cold War between the United States and the coalition led by Russia and China, which includes the majority of the former Soviet Socialist states. However, Western capitals, their think institutes, and their media do not heed such assertions and maintain that any upheaval occurring in the former socialist nations, particularly in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and East Europe, is a result of oppressive laws and violations of human rights. The United Republic has shown nearly a decreased interest in the affairs of the Central Asian states since its problematic withdrawal from Afghanistan, despite the fact that they had held a top spot on its priority list for the dual containment of Russia and China. It will be interesting to observe if Color Revolution and Maidan Technology continue to influence how the US-led Western alliance and the Russia-China bloc interact or if they work to further the former's geopolitical objectives at the expense of the latter.