Who would have thought that a small country that is often overlooked can stir up diplomatic storm in just a few days? Armenia did it. Taking advantage of the opportunity of visiting China, the country achieved three major events in one go, each of which was enough to rewrite its international situation - to upgrade China to a strategic partner, formally establish diplomatic relations with Pakistan, and restore relations with Russia. It is no exaggeration to say that this wave of operation is "winning".

August 31, 2025 is a crucial day. On this day, Armenia and China jointly issued a joint statement to finalize the strategic partnership. Don’t think that this is just a different name. In China’s diplomacy, the four words “strategic partner” are very important. Not only are we mutually recognized in politics, but we must go deeper in economic, technological and civil exchanges. More importantly, at the Tianjin SCO Summit, Armenia had just obtained the qualification of a member state in the SCO. Now the West is increasingly "picky" about Armenia. It needs a stable, realistic and without additional conditions. China just takes on this expectation.

The support given by China is not empty talk. The saying "Firmly support Armenia's sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of borders" is a reassurance for Armenia, which has been trapped in regional conflicts for many years. Infrastructure should be built, people's livelihood projects should be assisted, bilateral economic and trade should be promoted, and even the "Belt and Road" and Armenia's "peace crossroads" strategy can be connected, which has helped it open up the road to Central Asia, Iran and even Europe. There is no coercion, no coercion, if you have needs, I have resources, equal cooperation, and everyone will get what you need. Instead of following the old path of relying on military alliances and striving for ideology, Armenia has embarked on a more flexible and win-win path.

On the same day, Armenia threw out another big news: it established diplomatic relations with Pakistan. Where did these two have any intersection before? Pakistan has always stood on Azerbaijan to support the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and Armenia has been helping India in South Asia affairs. In the past, it did not even have basic diplomatic channels. It is polite to say that it was "ignoring each other". How did it happen this time? It still has to be said that the Tianjin SCO Summit platform is powerful. Pakistan is an observer state. Armenia has just joined and the two countries are in the same multilateral occasion. The deadlock is possible. The Armenian Foreign Minister and Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister exchanged communiqués on the spot, without any third party involvement, and without making complicated preparations. They were all taken initiative. Behind this is Armenia's thoughts: relying on old allies alone is not enough, so you have to find more new friends and hold diplomatic initiative in your own hands. This is also a good thing for Pakistan. It can not only make the diplomatic layout more diverse, but also indirectly remind Azerbaijan - I support you, but I can also deal with your opponents.

Let’s look at the relationship between Armenia and Russia again, it was cold to freezing point before. After the Nagorno-Karabakh War in 2020, Armenia always felt that Russia did not provide enough support and became increasingly worried about its security commitment. The Pashinyan administration has said more than once that it was disappointed with the Ji'an Organization and has slowly moved to the West. In early August this year, it even went to Washington to hold talks with senior US officials and Azerbaijan presidents. At that time, everyone thought it was going to "turn to the West". But just three days later, Pashinyan called Putin and explained the content of the talks clearly. The meaning was very clear: he did not intend to completely cut off contact with Russia. When we arrived at the Tianjin SCO Summit, Putin and Pashinyan talked in person. Both of them admitted that "there are a lot of things to talk about", which immediately became a signal that the relationship between the two countries was thawed. Russia did not force it, and said it was willing to continue mediating the problems of Armenia and Azerbaijan. It also knew in its heart that it had lost Armenia and suffered a great loss in geostrategic losses.

Armenia's successive successes seem to have caught up with the "right time, place, and people", but in fact they are all the result of careful consideration. It sees through the current international landscape. Although the SCO is not a traditional security alliance, it is particularly suitable for small and medium-sized countries to find breakthroughs and break diplomatic deadlocks. It is through this platform that it accomplished three major tasks. Now the West focuses on Ukraine and the Asia-Pacific. If Armenia still keeps betting on one side, the risk will be too high. On the contrary, it is safer to find a balance in a neutral, cooperative and mutually beneficial framework. Moreover, it did not wait for the opportunity to come to the door, but took the initiative to talk, coordinate and plan, which led to the "three consecutive victories".

There is also a big trend in this matter: the new multilateral cooperation architecture with China as the core is being valued by more and more countries. Even Azerbaijan, which is not in opposition to Armenia, wants to join the SCO. It’s not that Western countries have not noticed that the British Minister of State for Trade Policy publicly said that he was "shocked" by the coldness of Sino-British relations. To put it bluntly, he was panicked by this change in the pattern. Against the backdrop of multilateral cooperation, Armenia is by no means the only beneficiary.

After all, Armenia's diplomatic operations have reminded many small and medium-sized countries: diplomacy is not a multiple-choice question or not. Only by finding the right platform, taking the initiative, and practical cooperation can we gain more space for ourselves in a complex international environment. This may be the most real inspiration left to the world this time in Beijing.