BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The 23rd meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is kicking off via video conference on Tuesday amid expectations from regional countries for the SCO to play a bigger role in ensuring global security and prosperity.
Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the summit, and together with other participating leaders, chart the course for the future development of the organization.
In a world reeling from turmoil, disorder and increasing instability, and fraught with uncertainties and unpredictable factors, the summit of the SCO, a champion of the spirit of mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diverse civilizations and pursuit of common development, shines a beacon of hope in helping steer the world out of its current predicaments.
The high expectations placed on the SCO are rooted in its expanding influence and conspicuous history in anchoring regional stability and fostering global prosperity.
Since its inception in Shanghai in 2001, the SCO has expanded from a regional organization with six members into a global organization with eight full members, four observer countries, and 14 dialogue partners, covering over 60 percent of the Eurasian landmass and nearly half of the world's population.
The world has already benefited from an increasingly stronger SCO, which has created a new model of cooperation based on partnership and dialogue, rather than alliance or confrontation, and become a constructive force in international affairs.
By transcending differences among countries in ideology, social system, and development path, the SCO has mobilized resources and gathered collective strength to the fullest extent in addressing common challenges facing all humanity, like terrorism, drug trafficking, cybercrime and transnational organized crime.
The SCO's glorious journey in the past more than two decades has unequivocally attested to the value and significance of the organization.
However, human society is like the natural world, which encounters both sunny and rainy days in its development.
Today's human society is undergoing accelerating changes unseen in a century. Regional conflicts are raging. The Cold War mentality and group politics are resurfacing, and so are unilateralism and hegemonism. Economic globalization has also encountered headwinds.
A more turbulent and intertwined world is calling for a closer SCO community. Only by further unleashing the potential of the SCO as a concerted driving force in pursuing common prosperity, can the region, and the world as a whole, be better poised to meet the looming challenges.
To that end, it is first of all imperative to further enhance strategic independence and boost mutual trust. Interference by external forces has become an imminent threat to regional peace and stability. The SCO should guard against attempts by external forces to instigate "color revolutions," and jointly oppose interference in other countries' internal affairs under any pretext.
Second, it is necessary to maintain regional peace by expanding security cooperation. By implementing the Global Security Initiative, SCO members should jointly crack down on terrorism, separatism, extremism, drug trafficking and other transnational organized crimes. Member countries should also effectively meet the challenges in data security, biosecurity, outer space security and other non-traditional security domains.
Third, it is of great significance to promote interconnected development by upholding openness and inclusiveness. Member countries should strengthen their cooperation in such areas as trade and investment, infrastructure building, supply-chain protection, scientific and technological innovation and artificial intelligence, opposing any acts that violate international economic order and market rules.
Fourth, it is important to uphold multilateralism and build a more just and equitable international order. Member countries should safeguard the UN-centered international system and the international order based on international law, reject zero-sum game and bloc politics, advocate multilateralism and improve global governance by upholding fairness and justice.
As scheduled, the SCO family will initiate another round of expansion during this summit. With more and more countries joining the SCO, it is bound to play a greater role in global governance. China stands ready to work together with both old and new members of the SCO family to foster consensus, deepen cooperation, and create a better future for the Eurasian continent and the world as a whole with a closer SCO community. ■
