Major Power Diplomacy｜In this ancient civilization on the ancient Silk Road, what kind of “SCO voice” will the SCO make?
Jellyfish Network September 4th The 22nd meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization will be held from September 15 to 16 in the ancient city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization was established in Shanghai on June 15, 2001. Its founding members are China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The SCO Astana Summit in 2017 decided to grant India and Pakistan member status, increasing the number of member countries to 8.
The SCO Samarkand Summit is about to be held. How are the preparations for the summit? With the steady growth of the SCO “big family”, how can SCO countries better carry forward the “Shanghai Spirit” and continue to promote the building of a closer SCO community with a shared future?
The Voice of China “Great Power Diplomacy” program of China Central Radio and Television Station interviewed Jiang Yan, the Chinese ambassador to Uzbekistan.
The historic city of Samarkand will welcome visitors from all over the world
Voice of China reporter: From September 15th to 16th, the 22nd meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization will be held in the ancient city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Now that the summit has entered the countdown, as far as you know, how is the preparation for the summit? Uzbekistan chose Samarkand, an important hub city on the Silk Road as the host of the summit, for what reasons?
Jiang Yan: The 22nd meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization will be held in Samarkand. The Uzbek side attaches great importance to the preparations for the Samarkand Summit. More than 80 events at various levels and in various fields have been held in the early stage, laying a solid foundation for the successful convening of the summit. If all goes well, the number of cooperation documents signed at this meeting will be among the highest in all summits. In order to do a good job in the logistical support of the summit, Uzbekistan has invested huge manpower, material and financial resources to upgrade and renovate Samarkand’s transportation, hotels, communications and other infrastructure, and has also built a new international tourism that integrates the functions of exhibitions, hotels and cultural tourism. With the center as the main venue, the entire city has a new look. Not long ago, I went to Samarkand and every time I went there was a new look. I also believe that Samarkand will make guests from all over the world feel at home.
Jiang Yan: This is the first time that Uzbekistan has held such a large-scale state event in a city other than the capital. Uzbekistan is an ancient civilization on the ancient Silk Road, and Samarkand is also a famous historical city on the ancient Silk Road. It has played an important role in promoting exchanges and mutual learning between Eastern and Western civilizations, promoting the two “Renaissance” of Uzbekistan and promoting the development of Central Asia. It is believed that this summit will definitely leave a deep impression on the development of the SCO.
Carry forward the “Shanghai Spirit” and issue the “Shanghai Cooperation Voice”
Voice of China reporter: Up to now, Uzbekistan, as the rotating presidency of the SCO, has held more than 80 events and consultations, “matching the table” for the summit of the heads of state. Today’s world is entering a new period of turbulence and change, with international and regional hotspot issues emerging one after another. What challenges do you think the SCO faces in its development? How should the SCO cope with these challenges and achieve better development?
Jiang Yan: Today, the century-old changes in the world and the epidemic of the century are superimposed and resonated. The Cold War mentality is back, instability and uncertainty are more prominent, and the SCO is also facing a series of new threats and challenges. At the same time, the member states have greater needs for cooperation and stronger desires and demands for unity, cooperation, development and stability.
Against such a situation and background, I think that the SCO countries should carry forward the “Shanghai Spirit” of “mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diverse civilizations, and seeking common development”, work together and help each other, and promote the construction of a closer SCO community with a shared future.
In seeking unity, all parties should continuously enhance political mutual trust, support and safeguard each other’s core interests and major concerns, safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests, support each other in taking a development path that suits national conditions and major measures to maintain social stability and national tranquility.
In terms of security cooperation, the SCO started out with security cooperation, and security cooperation has always been the focus of the SCO. All parties should practice the concept of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, continuously intensify efforts to combat the “three evil forces”, and expand cooperation in non-traditional security fields.
Jiang Yan: In terms of promoting development, all parties should adhere to the people-centered development concept, carry out more sustainable cooperation projects that benefit people’s livelihood, and continuously enhance the sense of gain of people in all countries. And energy security issued a “sound of Shanghai Cooperation”.
In adhering to multilateralism, we must firmly promote genuine multilateralism, advocate the common values of all mankind, and promote the improvement of global governance. Strengthen multilateral coordination and cooperation, oppose illegal unilateral sanctions and “long-arm jurisdiction”, and defend the common interests of emerging markets and developing countries.
In terms of promoting organizational construction, the SCO is promoting the process of expansion in a solid and orderly manner, continuously demonstrating openness and inclusiveness, and promoting more efficient decision-making, more pragmatic cooperation, and smoother coordination in the SCO.
These aspects are the areas and directions that I personally think the SCO needs to strengthen in the next step to achieve better development.
SCO shows extensive influence and strong magnetic attraction
Voice of China reporter: There are reports that “the SCO will continue to expand its membership” and “the countries that want to join have already lined up.” In the impression of many people, the geographical space of the SCO is only limited to China, Russia and Central Asia. Why does the SCO show such extensive influence and strong magnetic attraction?
Jiang Yan: At present, the SCO has 8 member states, 4 observer states and 9 dialogue partners. At the same time, as many as 10 countries hope to join the SCO or enhance its status within the organization, such as upgrading from a dialogue partner to an observer state, from an observer state to a member state, etc. The interest of all countries in the SCO has reached an unprecedented height.
Today the SCO area covers more than a quarter of the earth’s land area, and the member states account for 40% of the world‘s population. The reason why the SCO can continue to expand its international prestige and influence is that, first of all, under the SCO framework, all countries have embarked on a path of win-win cooperation. In 2021, the combined gross domestic product of the SCO member states will be about $23.3 trillion, more than 13 times larger than when it was established. In 2021, my country’s trade volume with member countries will reach US$343.1 billion, a year-on-year increase of 40%. These data show that the development potential of the SCO countries themselves is huge, and at the same time, mutual benefit and win-win results have been achieved within the framework of the SCO. After the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia, China and the SCO member states supported each other and joined hands to fight the epidemic. Among them, China and Uzbekistan not only provide each other with anti-epidemic materials, but also jointly produce vaccines and special drugs against the new coronavirus, making a useful attempt to jointly build the “Healthy Silk Road”.
Jiang Yan: Secondly, the SCO has guided member states to embark on a path of peace and stability. Over the years, SCO member states have held joint counter-terrorism exercises and cyber counter-terrorism exercises, which have continuously improved the depth and breadth of security cooperation and achieved remarkable results. According to the SCO regional anti-terrorist agency, from 2013 to 2019, the SCO stopped more than 960 crimes of a terrorist nature and arrested more than 2,600 members of international terrorist organizations. In this regard, it should be said that a very fruitful work has been done.
Third, the SCO has guided member states to embark on a path of openness and inclusiveness. Unlike Western countries, which hold a “Cold War mentality” and engage in closed and exclusive circles, the SCO never draws lines by ideology or so-called “values” when it recruits members, but aims at mutual benefit and win-win results, and unites like-minded people to conspire together. develop. The nationalities and religions of the member countries are varied, the social systems are different, and the cultural traditions are different, but this does not prevent each other from being good neighbors, good friends and good partners. These fully explain the core of the “Shanghai Spirit”, which is “mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diverse civilizations, and seeking common development”. The SCO has demonstrated with practical actions what real multilateralism is and how it can build a community with a shared future for mankind.
Take the Samarkand Summit as an opportunity to jointly promote China-Uzbekistan cooperation in various fields
Voice of China reporter: This year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Uzbekistan. How do you view the current state of bilateral relations? What are your expectations for future bilateral relations?
Jiang Yan: We say “stand at thirty”. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations 30 years ago, with the joint efforts of the leaders and people of the two countries, China-Uzbekistan relations have withstood various tests and achieved steady development.
Since the beginning of this year, President Xi Jinping and President Mirziyoyev have jointly attended the online video summit marking the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the five Central Asian countries, and held bilateral offline meetings during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. The two heads of state comprehensively summarized the development achievements of China-Uzbekistan relations over the past 30 years, and pointed out the direction for future cooperation between the two countries in various fields.
We are actively implementing the consensus reached by the two heads of state, actively exploring the joint implementation of the Global Development Initiative and Global Security Initiative; strengthening the connection between the “Belt and Road” and the “New Uzbekistan Strategy”, and realizing the goal of bilateral trade volume reaching 10 billion US dollars as soon as possible. A number of large-scale cooperation projects. We are full of confidence in the future development of bilateral relations and hope to take the Samarkand summit as an opportunity to strengthen bilateral and multilateral cooperation in various fields.