Yesterday's inauguration of the secretariat of the six-member Shanghai
Co-operation Organization (SCO) in Beijing indicates the regional and
inter-governmental group has embarked on a full-fledged effort aimed at
establishing a greater role in securing regional peace and co-operation.
The SCO's Counter-Terrorism Regional Structure will also be established soon
in Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan.
With the body's two permanent organs being put into full operation, the SCO,
which groups China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan,
has fulfilled its endeavour in organizational and institutional construction,
laying a solid foundation for broadened co-operation in fields ranging from
security to economy and trade.
The SCO was formally founded in June 2001 in Shanghai when Uzbekistan joined
the existing Shanghai Five which had been meeting annually since 1996.
Covering 60 per cent of the territory of Eurasia and home to one fifth of the
world's population, the SCO has reshaped the landscape of the
continents"geopolitics ever since its formation and is exerting an increasingly
important influence on regional and international affairs.
With a series of meetings among leaders and agreements signed between the
governments in these years, the body has formed a full-grown practice in tuning
the tones of its member states on matters concerning regional and international
development and peace.
Today, the regional body has become an active force contributing to
neighbourly collaboration and regional security and stability as well as
promoting world peace and development.
As the first international organization proposing and blueprinting
anti-terrorism co-operation, the SCO has been making strenuous efforts to
safeguard regional security and stability. At the 2001 Shanghai summit, leaders
of the six nations declared an all-out war against terrorism, separatism and
extremism. Those three forces, backed by the Taliban regime and the al-Qaida
network, have plagued some parts of Eurasia for decades, threatening the
livelihood of the people as well as regional security and peace.
The determination and concrete efforts demonstrated by the leaders of the
member states in fighting terrorism underlines the fact the organization is both
responsible and effective in making contributions to the international
anti-terror campaign.
Economic co-operation, on the other hand, has become the key scope for
co-operation among SCO members, serving as an important catalyst for the
strengthening and deepening of the body's mutually beneficial goals.
That trend is in line with the backdrop of economic globalization and
regional integration.
Despite the ever-changing world climate, the SCO has secured a healthy and
steady development momentum. This is because it sets its targets and principles
in conformity with the trend of the times.
We therefore have every reason to believe that under the guidance of the
"Shanghai spirit'' that features mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality,
consultation, respect for diverse civilizations and seeking common development,
the SCO will continue to work for the greater benefit of the region and the
world at large.
(China Daily)
