Military ties among member states of the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization (SCO) are not designed to target any country, said a
senior Foreign Ministry official yesterday.
At a press conference ahead of Thursday's SCO summit in
Shanghai, during which defense and military cooperation are
expected to be major topics of discussion, Li Hui, Assistant
Minister of Foreign Affairs, said defense cooperation was aimed at
safeguarding regional stability, not intimidating other
nations.
Li, who is in charge of Euro-Asian affairs, said holding regular
anti-terrorism exercises was part of the security and defense
cooperation mechanism of the SCO.
The organization, founded in 2001, will hold joint
anti-terrorism exercises next year in the Volga-Ural military
district of Russia.
The drills will be the first to involve all six SCO member
countries China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and
Uzbekistan.
"Such co-operation is strictly in line with the SCO's nature as
a non-aligned organization which neither promotes confrontation nor
targets any third country or organization," Li stressed.
"Any further military cooperation among SCO member states is
only meant to safeguard security, stability and peace in the
region."
Li said staging regular joint military exercises grew from the
common aspiration of SCO members to fight the three evil forces of
terrorism, secessionism and extremism, as well as maintaining
regional security.
"Only through strengthening military cooperation and supporting
one another can SCO members jointly deal with the emerging threats
and challenges posed by terrorism," Li added.
Although most foreign journalists' questions focused on the
Iranian nuclear program, the senior official declined to specify if
the sensitive issue is on the summit agenda.
Iran, Mongolia, India and Pakistan have observer status with the
SCO. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will therefore attend
the summit and is expected to deliver a speech.
"Heads of state from all the SCO members and observers will
exchange views about issues and their own interests at the summit,"
Li told reporters.
"But I cannot predict exactly what issues will be covered."
He did however go on to stress that the speech to be made by
President Ahmadinejad at the SCO summit meeting "will represent
only the stance of Iran".
Ahmadinejad's participation at the summit is significant because
it comes at a time when Iran is considering an international plan
to deal with a standoff over its nuclear program. The plan was
drawn up by Britain, France and Germany, and approved by the United
States, China and Russia.
If Iran rejects the plan, which includes both incentives and
penalties, the Western powers have threatened to push for UN-backed
sanctions.
Li also said SCO member states will strengthen cooperation with
Afghanistan, whose President Hamid Karzai will attend the summit as
a guest, to fight drug trafficking under the framework of
SCO-Afghanistan liaison group.
"Afghanistan has become a major source of drugs," Li said.
He added that all the SCO member states are major victims of
drug crime, which not only threatens regional peace and stability
but also generates cash for terrorist and extremist groups.
"The SCO is willing to actively join international efforts to
build an anti-drug belt around Afghanistan," he said.
(China Daily June 13, 2006)