Foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (
SCO)
state-members held a meeting Saturday in Moscow, in which they
constructively and seriously exchanged their views on the actions
of SCO and exigent international issues.
According to a joint communiqui released after the meeting, the
ministers have reached principle agreements over the issues of the
establishment of a Secretariat in Beijing and a regional
anti-terrorist center in Bishkek. They have also worked out common
approaches to the organization's budget.
The ministers signed interim procedures for cooperation of the SCO
members with international organizations and sovereign
countries.
The ministers stressed the necessity to unite efforts of all the
countries in the world in the fight against international
terrorism, separatism, extremism, organized crime, illegal drug and
weapon trafficking, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction
and means of their delivery, depravation of environment, exhaustion
of nature resources, massive illegal migration, poverty,
backwardness and AIDS, the communiqui said.
They urged the United Nations to promptly adopt the comprehensive
convention for the eradication of international terrorism and the
convention for prevention of nuclear terrorism.
They also called for intensifying the leading role of UN in
combating terrorism.
The ministers stated common understanding of the fact that
strengthening stability in the Central Asia region is the task of
priority importance set forth to SCO. They reaffirmed their
willingness to maintain cooperation with all international
organizations active in the region.
The ministers expressed concern over the revival of separatist
tendencies in Asia and the strengthening link between terrorism and
separatism.
They highly praised the international cooperation in eradicating
terrorism in Afghanistan, but in the meantime, they also pointed
out that drug production is on the rise there, the communiqui said,
adding that the so-called "security belts" along the Afghan borders
should be set up.
The ministers supported collective and individual efforts to
restore peace and stability in the Middle East, and urged the
conflicting sides to unconditionally comply with the pertinent UN
Security Council resolutions.
They expressed hope that the resolution and resumption of
international inspections in Iraq will pave the way for a peaceful
settlement in keeping with all international norms.
They advocated a nuclear-free status for the Korean Peninsula and
dispute settlement via peaceful dialogue. Peace and stability on
the peninsula would be beneficial for all, the communiqui said.
The ministers stand for the establishment of working contacts
between SCO and ASEAN with the aim of broadening mutual exchange of
information and cooperation.
Nuclear-free zones should be set up in Asia with consideration of
the interests and concerns of all countries, the communiqui
said.
SCO is ready in accordance with the tenet and principles of UN
Charter and on the base of equality to develop substantial
cooperation with all interested states and international
organizations, the communiqui noted.
SCO Gains Significant Fruits
Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan on Saturday said the member
states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) have gained
significant fruits in pushing forward the construction of the
organization as well as cooperation among its member nations.
Tang and his five counterparts from Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan gathered here Saturday for discussions of
the SCO's construction and a series of international and regional
issues.
Stressing mechanism construction as a current focus for SCO, Tang
said the preparation work for creating a secretariat had entered
the key stage under the joint efforts of coordinators and experts
from the six countries. China would like to complete the drafting
of relevant documents before next year's SCO summit and try to
officially open the secretariat after the summit, he said.
Tang said the SCO still faces a very stern anti-terrorism fight,
citing last month's hostage crisis in Moscow.
The fact that the terrorist attack was masterminded by national
separatists and regional extremists again demonstrated the
necessity and correctness of the unremitting efforts in cracking
down on the "three forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism,
he stressed.
The minister urged all SCO members to deepen and expand security
cooperation by adopting deals on jointly fighting against the
"three forces" and terrorist organizations and by creating a
regional anti-terrorist organization in Kyrgyz capital Bishkek as
soon as possible.
Tang said China appreciated and supported some Central Asian
countries' proposal on enhancing anti-drug cooperation, signing
multilateral anti-drug cooperation pact and listing the work as one
of the top tasks of regional anti-terrorist organization.
He
said economic cooperation is a key area for cooperation between the
SCO members. To gain substantial benefits from economic and trade
cooperation, all member states should strengthen political common
sense over the issue, regard it as a strategic problem that could
largely affect regional security and the SCO's development, he
said.
Noting a changing and complex world situation, Tang said the common
and pressing task of all SCO members is to cope with threats from
untraditional security spheres, such as terrorism, drug
trafficking, weapons smuggle, transnational monetary crimes.
He
said, peace and development still dominate the current age as the
general situation of the world is stable and the economy is
developing forward in waves.
The international community was watching closely at the
organization, as more and more countries and international
organizations were willing to conduct dialogues and cooperation
with the organization, Tang said.
The SCO should further enhance the exchange and cooperation with
other parties through wider eyeshot and a more positive post, which
could not only strengthen its international influence but also
reflect its principles of "no alignment," "not against a third
party" and "opening-up," he said.
Saturday's meeting will pass a temporary pact on SCO's foreign
policies, which would officially start the organizations' exchange
activities with others, and thus promote the "Shanghai Spirit" of
"mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, cooperation, respect multi
culture and seek common development," he said.
(People's Daily November 25, 2002)