By YAN WEI

Coming of Age

By YAN WEI

LOOKING AHEAD: Leaders focus on regional security and development at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit in Tashkent on June 1

At its annual summit, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization attunes to a changing world

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)’s member states collective position on international issues was spelled out at the organization’s 10th annual summit in Uzbekistan.

The SCO also adopted regulations to improve its internal governance.

Nine years after its founding, the SCO has become a mature organization with an increasingly wide reach and growing global infuence, Chinese analysts say. Discussions at the most recent summit were likely to contribute to peace, stability and development in the region and beyond.

Presidents of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, as well as Kyrgyzstan’s foreign minister, participated in the summit on June 11 in Tashkent. They addressed issues ranging from security challenges to economic and cultural cooperation. Also approved were regulations on the admission of new members as well as procedural rules designed to enhance the organization’s effciency.

Security concerns

This year’s summit was held against the backdrop of dramatic—and at times tumultuous—developments in the world community, said Zhao Mingwen, Director of the China Center for Periphery Security Studies of the China Institute of International Studies.

While the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan continued to pose a grave threat to regional security, Kyrgyzstan has also experienced political turmoil and unrest in recent months. Nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament have gained currency, with the signing of a new strategic arms reduction treaty between the United States and Russia in April and the convening of the Washington Nuclear Security Summit in the same month.

In these respects, the SCO Summit conveyed distinct messages. In a declaration issued at the end of the summit, the organization reaffrmed its backing of the UN’s leading role in coordinating international mediation efforts for Afghanistan.

Military means alone could not resolve the Afghanistan issue; instead, the SCO members support a negotiation process led by the UN and involving the Afghan people. The declaration also urged respect for Afghanistan’s history, ethnic culture and religious traditions.

At the same time, the SCO called on the international community to intensify the fght against drug production and trafficking in Afghanistan, while promising to cooperate with international and regional institutions on drug issues. In particular, member states expressed readiness to work with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan to combat drugs.

Similarly, the SCO supported its member states’ participation in Afghanistan’s economic reconstruction programs, said the Tashkent Declaration.

On the turmoil in Kyrgyzstan, SCO members said restoring political stability in Kyrgyzstan is signifcant for the entire region, adding they were willing to offer assistance to the confict-ridden country.

Kyrgyzstan’s interim government declared a state of emergency and curfew in several southern cities after violent riots broke out on June 10. Two months earlier, opposition leaders formed an interim government in Bishkek following nationwide protests that resulted in the ousting of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev.

The SCO member countries also support each other’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, while opposing interference in the internal affairs of sovereign countries and actions that may spark regional tensions.

These countries hold the view that differences should be settled through dialogue and consultations by political and diplomatic means, the Declaration said.

While offering to provide humanitarian aid, Russia ruled out the possibility of immediately sending troops to Kyrgyzstan, considering the riots an “internal confict.”

On nuclear non-proliferation, the SCO members said they stood for honoring the provisions of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, including provisions on peaceful use of nuclear energy.

The establishment of the Central Asian nuclear weapon-free zone will be a major contribution to strengthening the nuclear nonproliferation regime and improving regional and global security, the Declaration said.

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan signed a treaty in 2006 on the Central Asian nuclear weapon free zone. In accord with its provisions, they pledge not to manufacture, acquire, test or possess nuclear weapons.

Unrestricted deployment of anti-missile systems may become a destabilizing factor, possibly leading to proliferation, the Declaration warned, in a reference to the United States’ planned deployment of antimissile systems and interceptors in Eastern Europe.

Trade, finance and openness

Pan Guang, Director of the Center for SCO Studies at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said he believes coping with the impact of the global fnancial crisis remains a major challenge for the SCO. The organization should establish a fnancing institution to mitigate member countries’ capital shortages, and should promote the use of the member states’own currencies in regional trade, he said.

In a bid to address the aftermath of the fnancial crisis, the SCO will commit to facilitating trade and investment, pursuing joint transportation and communications programs and helping enhance the economic competitiveness of its member countries.

Besides responding to these heated issues, the SCO Summit made a breakthrough in improving its internal mechanisms with the adoption of the regulations on new member admission and rules of procedure, Zhao said.

SCO members have long held different views on admission of new members, he said. To reach a consensus, they have held more than 10 rounds of consultations during the past two years.

Conformity to the SCO’s purposes and agreements will probably be the main criterion for assessing applicants, Zhao said. There would be no restrictions based on geographic regions or political systems.

The adoption of these two documents was a sign showing that the SCO has moved into a stage of “maturity and all-round development,” Zhao said. They also sent a clear signal the SCO will reach out to more countries and international organizations.

The six-member SCO currently has four observers—Mongolia, India, Pakistan and Iran—and two dialogue partners—Sri Lanka and Belarus.

Representatives from these countries, as well as from international organizations such as the UN, the Eurasian Economic Community, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Collective Security Treaty Organization and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations attended this year’s SCO Summit. Turkmen President of Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov and Afghan President Hamid Karzai also participated as guests of the host country.

The extensive participation underscored the SCO’s commitment to openness, transparency and peace, while indicating its rising infuence, Zhao said.

China’s Proposals

At the SCO Summit in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on June 11, Chinese President Hu Jintao called for the enhancing of cooperation among SCO members, while urging new cooperation models and suggesting identifying non-resource sectors as a new priority for economic cooperation.

In a speech at the summit, Hu called on member states to strengthen solidarity and mutual trust to consolidate the political foundation for the organization’s development.

SCO member states should continue to increase strategic dialogue and policy coordination and cooperate closely on issues of sovereignty, security and development, he said.

He urged the SCO to step up its counterterrorism efforts and build a safe environment for the organization’s development. The SCO members should effectively increase the capability of fighting the “three evil forces”of terrorism, separatism and extremism in the region.

To that end, Hu asked the member states to enhance their efforts and cooperation in areas such as intelligence sharing, border management and control, anti-drug trafficking, transnational crimes and personnel training and exchanges.

At the same time, the potential for cooperation among the SCO members should be fully tapped, he said. Members should work to facilitate customs clearance, quality inspection and transportation, develop new cooperation models, study ways to establish an SCO regional e-commerce platform and conduct joint studies on agricultural cooperation.

“We propose non-resource sectors be identified as a new priority for the SCO’s regional economic cooperation,” the Chinese president said.

The SCO should expand friendly exchanges and firm up the cultural foundation for the organization’s development, Hu added.

He suggested holding a meeting of health ministers to extend cooperation on the prevention and treatment of epidemic diseases and public health. China was also ready to provide more teachers, textbooks and training opportunities for the teaching and study of the Chinese language in other SCO member states.

Hu, meanwhile, urged improvements in the SCO’s internal governance and decision-making mechanisms.“China supports the SCO in enhancing institutional development in order to better facilitate practical cooperation among its member states,” he said.

Hu also suggested promoting transparency and inclusiveness to create a favorable environment for the development of the organization.

(Source: Xinhua News Agency)