SCO -- Model for Multilateral, Regional Cooperation

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, May 29, 2003

SCO -- Model for Multilateral, Regional Cooperation

The Third Summit Meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on May 29 in Moscow is expected to set up a model for regional cooperation and open up a new chapter in its development.

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The Third Summit Meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on May 29 in Moscow is expected to set up a model for regional cooperation and open up a new chapter in its development.

Chinese President Hu Jintao and the leaders of Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are reportedly to discuss deepening and expanding pragmatic cooperation on security and economic issues.

They are also to exchange views on major international and regional issues during the summit.

The SCO evolved from the initial mechanism of "Shanghai Five," which was officially launched in 1996 following the first meeting among leaders of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

After reaching a confidence-building accord on border defense, the five leaders expanded their cooperation to other fields such as safeguarding regional security and stability.

Five years later, leaders of the five member states held their sixth meeting in Shanghai in May 2001. Uzbekistan at that time was welcomed and accepted to the mechanism.

By then, the leaders realized that the old "Shanghai Five" mechanism could no longer meet the demand of regional and multilateral cooperation due to the changes in the international and regional situations.

Thus the six leaders signed the Declaration of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization after the meeting, marking the inauguration of the SCO.

At the St. Petersburg SCO summit last June, the six leaders signed the Charter for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which clearly defines the principle, organizational structure and the operational rule of the six-nation organization.

The charter has laid a solid legal foundation for the development of the SCO, a big step forward in the process of its institutional and legal construction.

The "Shanghai Five" mechanism and the development process of the SCO, a significant diplomatic development in modern international affairs, gave birth to a new security concept featuring mutual trust, disarmament and security cooperation.

The development enriched the brand-new state-to-state relationship initiated by China and Russia, which has a non-alignment partnership as its core.

Meanwhile, it also created a new regional cooperation paradigm featuring joint proposition, priority of security, mutual benefit and friendly cooperation.

The "Shanghai Spirit," which embodies mutual trust and benefit, equality and consultation, mutual respect for different civilizations and common prosperity, not only summed up the member states' experiences in dealing with mutual relations, but also played a significant role in promoting the establishment of a new, just and fair international political and economic order.

The deteriorating problems of the environment, poverty, drug trafficking, refugees and the creeping terrorism, separatism and extremism, which are among the new threats to the security of the peoples all over the world, constitute grave challenges to world peace and development.

Many countries are now speeding up regional cooperation to cope with such threats and challenges and the establishment of the SCO just conformed to the trend.

The SCO member states have unanimously acknowledged the significance of strengthening bilateral and multilateral security cooperation.

They have pledged to deepen and expand collaborative security particularly to fight against the "three evil forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism under the guidance of the existing cooperation agreements.

The development of the "Shanghai Five" has been greatly influenced by the changing international situation and drawn much attention from the international community.

More and more nations and international organizations have expressed their willingness to start dialogue and cooperation with the SCO.

Opening itself to the world, the only way to enhance the organization's global influence, reflects the SCO's main principleof non-alignment and not targeting a third party.

The new security concept, the state-to-state relationship and the regional cooperation mode proposed and implemented by the SCO will surely be widely accepted and become more popular in the international community.

The SCO will strictly abide by the principle of the UN Charter under the current international situation.

Furthermore, it will be engaged in strengthening mutual trust and good-neighborly relationship, consolidating effective cooperation between the member states in political, security, economic, trade and many other fields; ensuring regional peace, security and stability; and promoting the establishment of a democratic, just and fair international political and economic order.

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