Image source,Reuters
On September 17, Chinese leader Xi Jinping used video to speak at the 21st meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, involving many neighboring countries around Afghanistan, including China, Russia, India, Pakistan, and Tajikistan, has just held the 21st meeting of the Council of Heads of State. The situation in Afghanistan has become the focus of the meeting.
At the SCO summit held in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, the heads of state of China, Russia, India and other countries delivered video speeches to the meeting. The participating countries reached a consensus that for the sake of regional stability, they will “promote a smooth transition of the situation in Afghanistan and guide Afghanistan to build a broad and inclusive political structure.”
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the 20th anniversary of the US invasion of Afghanistan. What is the history and current situation behind the coincidence?
China factor
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization was established in Shanghai on June 15, 2001. The founding members are China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
The predecessor of the SCO was the five-nation heads of state meeting mechanism established by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan to resolve border issues.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization claims to follow the “Shanghai Spirit” of “mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diverse civilizations, and common development” internally, and adheres to the principles of non-alignment, non-targeting against other countries and regions, and openness to the outside world.
In 2017, India and Pakistan joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as member states; there are four current observer countries: Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran, and Mongolia.
In September 2021, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization initiated the process of accepting Iran as a member state, and added three new dialogue partners, increasing the number of dialogue partners to nine: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkey, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia , Egypt and Qatar.
So far, the total area of the eight member states of the SCO is about 34.36 million square kilometers, more than three-fifths of the area of the Eurasian continent; the population is more than 3 billion, accounting for nearly half of the world‘s total population; the gross domestic product accounts for more than 20% of the world , Is the largest regional organization in the world.
In addition, among the world’s nuclear powers, in addition to China and Russia, the two traditional nuclear powers, India and Pakistan have also developed nuclear weapons, making the SCO have four nuclear powers, accounting for half of the world’s total.
The SCO is also the only regional international organization established in China, named after a Chinese city, and headquartered in China.
China and Russia join forces
At the beginning of 2001 when the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was established, US Republican President Bush Jr. took office. On the one hand, he regarded China as a strategic competitor and said that he would “protect Taiwan at all costs.” On the other hand, relations with Russia showed a momentum of improvement: Bush Jr. and Russian President Vladimir Putin met for the first time in Slovenia in June 2001 and established work and personal relationships.
The establishment of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization also coincided with the enthusiasm of US-Russian relations. Therefore, some observers believe that China hopes that the establishment of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization can contain the influence of the United States in Central Asia.
As the purpose of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization says, in addition to “maintaining and guaranteeing regional peace, security, and stability”, it must also “promote the establishment of a democratic, fair, and reasonable new international political and economic order.” However, this order is not an order dominated by the United States. .
In fact, the United States once applied to become an observer country in 2005 but was rejected.
In the past 20 years, the number of member states of the SCO has increased and its functions have continued to expand. From a regional organization that was initially ignored by the West and the outside world, it has evolved into an important international organization that affects the situation in Afghanistan after the United States withdraws.
Image source,Reuters
On September 17, the 21st meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Member States was held in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan.
In 2017, after India and Pakistan became members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Institute of Political Economy at the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom published an article by American scholar Rick Rowden: Shanghai Cooperation Organization, you have never heard of it The Shanghai Cooperation Organization: the biggest international organization you’ve never heard of.
The article wrote: In the roughest sense, the core of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is based on the strategic collegiate agreement between Russia and China: Russia has guns, and China has money. Together, they seek to co-lead what (British geopolitical scientist) Sir Halford John Mackinder (Sir Halford John Mackinder) calls the “world island” of Europe, Asia and Africa.
“With the addition of India and Pakistan, and Turkey and Iran waiting for opportunities, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization may eventually become a force that the West must consider.”
At this meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Chinese leader Xi Jinping suggested that the participating countries “strengthen their institutional self-confidence and never accept the preaching of the’teacher’.”
Among the member states, observer states, and dialogue partners of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, except for Turkey, which is a member of NATO, the rest are not within the scope of the core allies of the United States. In recent years, China and Russia, led by the SCO, have been in a tendency to form alliances to resist the United States because of their tense relations with the United States.
Zhao Mingwen, a researcher on international strategic issues at the China Institute of International Studies and a psychologist at the State Research Center of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, once wrote that since its establishment, the SCO announced that it was not a military group. The establishment of the SCO was not aimed at any country or group. It was an open However, “it is undeniable that the establishment of a multi-polar, fair and reasonable world order that the SCO seeks is contrary to the original world order strategy that the United States hopes to maintain its long-term leadership.”
Military exercises
Although the SCO is not a military bloc, the SCO has conducted many joint military exercises since its inception in 2002.
From October 10 to 11, 2002, Chinese border guards and special forces participated in the first SCO anti-terrorism military exercise in Kyrgyzstan. This is the first time that the People’s Liberation Army has conducted a counter-terrorism exercise with a foreign military force, and it is also the first outbound exercise in history.
In August 2005, China and Russia held joint military exercises for the first time. Since then, China and Russia have participated in SCO joint military exercises under the name of “Peace Mission”. In 2007, all SCO member states participated in joint military exercises for the first time. .
In addition, the Chinese and Russian navies have held maritime military exercises every year since 2012.
In 2020, Thomas Graham (Thomas Graham), executive director of the Kissinger firm in the United States and former senior director of Russian affairs at the National Security Council of the United States, wrote an article: In the eyes of US policymakers, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is not so much a A serious joint decision-making forum is worse than a “talking club”, because Russia has been trying to transform it into a NATO-like organization, and China has resisted it.
The Dushanbe Declaration on the 20th Anniversary announced at the meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State to be held in Dushanbe on September 17, 2021 once again stated that it does not seek to establish political-military alliances or supranational economic integration organizations, but At the same time, it “opposes the use of collectivization, ideology, and confrontational thinking to solve major international and regional issues.”
Observers have noticed that Western decision-makers, led by the United States, lack attention to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which also makes Western media lack attention to the actions of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
The SCO summit was held at a time when the United States, Britain and Australia signed a defense agreement and France lost tens of billions of dollars in submarine contracts. Western public opinion focuses on internal contradictions and is concerned about the destructive effect of this move on NATO’s military alliance, but ignores that China, which the United States, Britain and Australia are targeting, is working with Russia to discuss with neighboring countries about the future of Afghanistan left by the United States‘ withdrawal.
As far as China is concerned, the political significance of successfully resolving the Afghan crisis for its “Belt and Road” should not be measurable in terms of amount.