By He Yin, People’s Daily
On Sept. 16, local time, Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a speech at the 22nd meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
In the speech, he offered strategic views of and guidance on the development of the SCO, and made major proposals for SCO member states to enhance solidarity and promote SCO’s future development.
The Chinese proposals conform to the trend of the times and meet the demands of all parties relevant. They will help the SCO make greater achievements on a new journey and inject more energy in maintaining peace and prosperity in Eurasia and even the world at large.
The SCO Samarkand Summit was one attended by the most state leaders and yielding the most deliverables in the history of the SCO.
Under the joint efforts of Xi and other participating state leaders, the summit adopted more than 40 documents covering such areas as economy, finance, science and technology, culture and people-to-people exchanges, institution building and external interactions.
In addition, the summit also adopted four important joint statements on safeguarding global food security, international energy security, addressing climate change, and maintaining a secure, stable and diversified supply chain under the promotion of China.
These deliverables fully demonstrate the vitality of the SCO and indicate that the organization is an important force maintaining world peace and development.
Global media commented that the SCO has set a good example of mutually beneficial cooperation for the international society.
It has been shown that the Shanghai Spirit is the source of strength for the development of the SCO, and also the fundamental guide the SCO must continue to follow in the years to come, Xi said in his speech. “We owe SCO’s remarkable success to the Shanghai Spirit. And we will continue to follow its guidance as we forge ahead,” he added.
Xi said political trust, win-win cooperation, equality between nations, openness and inclusiveness, and equity and justice are what make the SCO successful. These five points fully embody the Shanghai Spirit, namely, mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diversity of civilizations and pursuit of common development.
The five points answer to the questions of what kind of regional cooperation shall be promoted in the new era and how it should be promoted. They offer important guidance on the construction of the SCO and promoting healthy development of international relations.
The five points will help SCO member states strengthen solidarity and cooperation and build a closer SCO community with a shared future.
The successful experience of the SCO achieved in the past over 20 years fully proves that the five points will better bringing together countries from different regions, at different stages of development, and from different civilizations and traditions, and help foster a stronger force of collectivism, solidarity and cooperation.
The world today is not a peaceful place. Rivalry between two sets of policy choices ”unity or division”, “cooperation or confrontation” is getting more acute. The SCO is facing multiple challenges in maintaining regional peace and security, and its member states are also confronted with mounting challenges in keeping their own security and stability.
In the face of the complex situation, the SCO needs to keep itself on the right course, deepen cooperation in various fields, and continue to foster a favorable environment for the development and rejuvenation of member states.
The five points will help the SCO promote true multilateralism in the global context and give the organization a greater role in building a fairer and more equitable global governance system.
The five points put true multilateralism into practice and are beyond bloc politics. Today, some countries are following fake multilateralism that places their own interests above everything and trying to establish exclusive cliques, which seriously threatens the stability of the international order and the peaceful development of the world.
The SCO remains committed to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, as well as the principle of equality among all countries regardless of their size. SCO members states respect each other’s core interests and choice of development path, keep to the path of win-win cooperation toward common prosperity, and stand for harmonious coexistence and mutual learning between different countries, nations and cultures, dialogue between civilizations and seeking common ground while shelving differences.
The SCO Samarkand Summit witnessed the largest membership expansion of the SCO, which fully indicates that the organization is bearing a connotation bigger than just regional cooperation.
As long as SCO member states keep carrying forward the Shanghai Spirit and march forward along the new path for the development of international organizations they have explored, they will be able to maintain long-term and stable development of the organization and jointly build their region into a peaceful, stable, prosperous and beautiful home.
