By Tao Wenzhao
The declaration and joint communique released by the Shanghai
Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit, which was convened on June
15 in Shanghai, offer guidelines for a fresh model of regional
cooperation.
Founded in 2001, the SCO brings together China, Russia,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. It blossomed
from these countries' desire to enhance military mutual trust in
their border areas. The SCO was also the first international
organization to call for a fight against terrorism, separatism,
extremism and drug trafficking.
The SCO declaration makes it clear that the member states will
immediately start discussions about the effective means to be taken
in case of emergencies that threaten regional peace, stability and
security. It also states that SCO members will conduct studies on
the possibilities of bringing about, within the SCO framework, a
mechanism to prevent regional conflicts. This demonstrates the SCO
member states' commitment to shouldering their common
responsibilities to maintain regional security while stopping short
of becoming military allies.
SCO members either border one another or are geographically
close to each other. The security of all member states would be
threatened in the event of an emergency. This largely explains why
they try to share responsibilities to safeguard regional
stability.
Experience indicates that terrorism, separatism, extremism and
drug trafficking pose serious threats to the regional stability and
security of all countries in the area. None of the countries
involved can tackle these threats by acting alone. SCO member
states have so far held three joint anti-terror military exercises,
which have helped act as a deterrent against terrorism, separatism
and extremism.
The situation, however, remains grave as these evil forces, like
a cornered animal, are trying to stage a comeback. Cooperation must
therefore be stepped up and the efficiency of this work must be
improved. To facilitate this, at their recent summit, the heads of
state of the SCO members signed an agreement on fighting terrorism,
separatism and extremism from 2007 to 2009 and an agreement on
procedures for organizing anti-terrorism military exercises.
Another agreement was also reached on finding and cutting off the
channels through which terrorists receive their funds.
It is expected that SCO member states' cooperation in this
regard will become more effective.
Economics constitutes another important aspect of the
cooperation between SCO members.
All SCO members are confronted with the major challenge of
promoting economic development and improving the livelihood of
their peoples. Some member states are even caught in economic dire
straits, something which is bound to impact on regional
security.
This necessitates economic cooperation among SCO members. As a
matter of fact, the members have ever been strengthening their
cooperation in this field in recent years.
During the SCO summit, an entrepreneurs' board and an SCO
banking group were founded and relevant agreements signed. Banks
from the member states also signed accords on extending loans worth
a total of US$2 billion to a batch of large and medium-sized
industrial projects and business undertakings.
China, on its own part, will provide capital and technology for
the construction of the highway linking up Kyrgyzstan and
Uzbekistan, a high-tension power transmission line in Tajikistan, a
cement plan in Kyrgyzstan and a hydro-power station in
Kazakhstan.
The SCO's medium- and long-term strategy for economic
cooperation is to bring about the free flow of capital,
commodities, services and technology through simplifying trade and
investment procedures.
Vast potential for economic cooperation exists in this region.
Some SCO member states, for example, export oil and gas in large
volumes while others consume large amounts of energy. A sort of
energy commonwealth, which covers the complete chain of oil and gas
production, transmission and marketing, could be formed. The newly
finished oil pipeline between China and Kazakhstan could form the
basis of this.
SCO members will benefit greatly from their ever-expanding
economic cooperation.
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Given their different backgrounds, the SCO member states, from the
very beginning of the organization, have regarded mutual respect
between different civilizations and different development modes as
a principle of vital importance. Experience proves that different
civilizations can tolerate each other and learn from one another
and that different civilizations do not necessarily repel each
other.
Cooperation in the fields of environmental protection, culture,
education and sports is also being promoted. President Hu Jintao, for example, pledged at the Shanghai
summit that China would increase its investment to boost
cooperation in these fields. At the same time, a program in which
China is helping train 1,500 technical and managerial personnel for
other member states, initiated by the Chinese president at the 2005
SCO Summit in Astana, is being implemented smoothly.
On the eve of the Shanghai summit, the United States expressed
its displeasure about the expected presence of Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the conference, claiming this ran counter to
the SCO's vow to fight terrorism, separatism and extremism. Some
observers worried that Ahmadinejad's presence could have negative
impact on resolving Iranian nuclear issue.
All these worries, however, were unfounded. President
Ahmadinejad made some good suggestions on regional cooperation in
his speech at the conference. His proposals provided food for
thought for the SCO.
Both Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian President Vladimir
Putin met Ahmadinejad and urged Iran to carefully study the package
of proposals and incentives worked out recently by officials from
France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Russia, China and the United
States. The presidents also urged Iran to return to the negotiating
table as soon as possible and re-establish mutual trust with the
international community. In response, the Iranian president said
that Iran is willing to settle the nuclear issue through
negotiations, and is studying the six-party proposals
seriously.
All this demonstrates that the SCO summit helped facilitate the
resumption of the talks on resolving the Iranian nuclear issue.
The author is a researcher with the Institute of American
Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
(China Daily June 26, 2006)
