Author: Cui Zheng (Director of the Center for Russian, Eastern Europe and Central Asia Studies, Liaoning University)
Against the backdrop that the COVID-19 epidemic is still raging around the world, global security challenges and development dilemmas have become increasingly prominent, the 22nd meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the signing of the “Shanghai Cooperation Organization Charter” and the 15th anniversary of the signing of the “Shanghai Cooperation Organization Member States Long-term Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation Treaty”. The Samarkand Summit is held at the right time. As a comprehensive regional organization with the largest area and the largest population in the world, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has developed impressively over the past two decades. The SCO member states have united and helped each other to keep warm, effectively safeguarding the stability of the region and the world. The SCO advocates dialogue to resolve conflicts and is committed to strengthening connectivity and cooperation, which has become an important driving force for boosting the global development process.
The picture shows the Kazakh petrochemical complex project constructed by China National Chemical Engineering Group Co., Ltd., taken in Atyrau, Kazakhstan on August 9.Xinhua News Agency
Stabilizer of regional peace and security
The SCO member states are concentrated in the eastern end of the Eurasian continent. They have not only become an important force in maintaining regional peace and security, but have also formed a giant security community. Since the establishment of the SCO, the member states have always prioritized the maintenance of regional security and stability, expanded cooperation areas, enriched cooperation practices, severely cracked down on “East Turkistan” and other “three evil forces”, and actively prevented the spread of negative impacts of hotspot issues. and made important contributions to development and prosperity. As an international organization that strictly abides by the norms of international law, the SCO firmly abides by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, firmly believes that diplomatic means have unparalleled value in resolving conflicts, and effectively maintains the stability of the regional situation. The SCO also actively promotes the alignment of the development strategies of member states with the “Belt and Road” initiative, and always insists on promoting security through development. Through more than 20 years of in-depth cooperation, the mutual trust of member states with different histories, cultures, nationalities and religious beliefs has been continuously enhanced, making the SCO community of shared future closer.
At present, the international landscape is in a period of change, and the strategic game of major powers is becoming more tense. However, these factors have not weakened the cohesion of the SCO. The SCO member states are more united than ever, calling for more cooperation, and injecting more certainty and stability into maintaining world peace. First of all, the SCO is different from the political clique of the Western bloc. It upholds the “Shanghai Spirit” of advocating mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diverse civilizations, and seeking common development. It transcends the Cold War mentality and never imposes its own will on other countries. The “Shanghai Spirit” is the conceptual foundation and action guide of the SCO’s growing and growing, and is constantly endowed with new connotations of the times. Secondly, the theme of the times of peace and development has not changed, the yearning for a better life of the people of all countries has not changed, and the historical mission of the SCO to promote connectivity, solidarity and win-win cooperation among member countries has not changed. For more than 20 years, the SCO member states have shared weal and woe, and contributed to the development of the region and the world with their own stable development. Finally, the SCO is a model for countries with different civilizations, systems, and ideologies to live in harmony. The SCO advocates exchanges and mutual learning among diverse civilizations. It does not draw lines based on ideological differences, and does not judge the level of civilization based on differences. It has achieved a success. China’s regional cooperation path, its influence has continued to increase, and it has strengthened the strength of defending international fairness and justice.
Strong engine of global economic recovery
Centuries of change are intertwined with the pandemic of the century, and geopolitical tensions have intensified, adding to the already fragile recovery of the world economy. At the same time, a new round of industrial revolution is in the ascendant, and the profound political and social changes centered on the digital technology revolution will affect the future and destiny of mankind. The competition between countries brought about by the technological revolution and industrial transformation is extremely fierce, which has exacerbated the gap between the rich and the poor within and between countries, and exacerbated the insecurity of some countries. Some countries with strong technological, economic and military strength, for their own selfishness, cling to the rigid Cold War mentality and wantonly destroy the international order, clamor for anti-globalization, trample international economic rules, engage in bloc politics and camp confrontation, and bring more benefits to the recovery of the world economy. much uncertainty. Against this background, the recovery of the world economy requires more solidarity, cooperation and solidarity.
The SCO is a model for regional economic cooperation and has become a powerful engine driving global economic recovery. As early as 2003, at the first meeting of the SCO Prime Ministers, the “Outline of Multilateral Economic and Trade Cooperation among SCO Member States” was approved. In-depth cooperation in multiple fields. After years of development, the total economic volume of the SCO is close to 20 trillion US dollars, and the total foreign trade volume has increased by a full 100 times. The energy and resource-based countries and the processing and manufacturing countries among the member countries complement each other’s advantages, and the economic interdependence between them and the synergistic effect of the development cycle are becoming more and more obvious. The draft of the new version of the “Outline of Multilateral Economic and Trade Cooperation of the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization” adopted in 2019 emphasizes economic digitization and high-tech cooperation, which accelerates the industrial upgrading and the development of new industrialization in the member countries. In particular, the SCO member states highly recognize the “Shanghai Spirit” and advocate resolving differences through equal dialogue. They not only actively expand the space for cooperation, establish a common mode of production cooperation, and cooperate to cultivate emerging economic growth points, gradually optimizing the East Asian continent. The high-end commercial structure promotes the rapid and healthy growth of the regional economy, and also creates strong expected benefits for peace and development, which in turn promotes the construction of a sustainable mechanism and provides the basic conditions for the in-depth development of regional economic integration.
A catalyst for regional connectivity
In the context of the rapid development of economic globalization and regional integration, the SCO’s implementation of cross-border connectivity in transportation, energy, telecommunications and other fields has become an important force in the economic development of member states. The “Belt and Road” initiative with the promotion of connectivity as the main line was first proposed in the SCO region and actively supported by the SCO member states. Over the past nine years, the “Belt and Road” initiative has become a popular international public product, and the SCO member states have also taken solid steps to jointly build the “Belt and Road”.
The first is to promote regional cooperation to regional governance, which is highlighted by the fact that Sino-Russian cooperation has entered a new stage of mechanism docking and cooperation. During the SCO Ufa Summit in 2015, the member states reached a consensus for the first time on the joint construction of the “Belt and Road”, marking the SCO regional economic cooperation and the construction of the “Belt and Road” entering a new stage of integrated development. With the joint efforts of China and Russia, the “Belt and Road” and the Eurasian Economic Union have been successfully connected, becoming an important platform for the two sides to build the Eurasian partnership and providing more and higher-quality public goods to the region. The second is to deepen and solidify the construction of connectivity, providing an important boost to the economic growth of member states. China and Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and most other member states have established bilateral cooperation committees on transportation, energy and telecommunications, and signed corresponding cooperation agreements and agreements to effectively promote and coordinate cooperation in the above fields. The Dushanbe Declaration on the 20th Anniversary of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, adopted in 2021, affirms the efforts of all member states to jointly implement the Belt and Road Initiative, including promoting the connection between the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative and the construction of the Eurasian Economic Union. . It is worth mentioning that the construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Ukraine Railway is about to start. After the completion of the railway, it will greatly promote the interconnection and various exchanges between the member states.
At present, the world is in a period of turbulence and change, and the times call for the SCO, which practices true multilateralism, to play a greater role. Following the accession of India and Pakistan, on March 11, 2022, the SCO signed the minutes with Iran, officially starting the legal procedures for Iran’s accession, and the SCO’s international influence has been expanding. Against the background of the efforts of member states to cooperate and the accelerated construction of systems, organizations and norms, the consciousness of the SCO community with a shared future has taken root. It is believed that the SCO member states will continue to hold high the banner of the “Shanghai Spirit”, forge ahead along the righteous path of building a community with a shared future for mankind, and start a new journey for the development of the SCO.
“Guangming Daily” (September 15, 2022, 07 edition)
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责编：孙宗鹤 ]