PEACE AND COOPERATION

By Lu Yan

Experts and scholars met prior to the 18th Shanghai Cooperation Organization （SCO） Summit to discuss how it can promote peace in Asia and Europe and enhance cooperation among the countries at a seminar which focuses on the SCO and Asia-Europe peace and cooperation in the new era.

The seminar， which took place in Beijing on June 8， was organized by the Charhar Institute， a non-governmental think tank focusing on diplomacy and international relations.

“It is the second major diplomatic event hosted by China in 2018 and of great significance for China to practice a new type of major country diplomacy，” said Yu Hongjun， former Vice Minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee， who was one of the keynote speakers.

Yu pointed out that the SCO Summit held in Qingdao， east Chinas Shandong Province， on June 9-10 is the first summit which included India and Pakistan as full member states， the organizations first expansion.

He also noted that China has actively promoted the Shanghai Spirit， vigorously enhanced unity and cooperation for stable development， made contributions to lifting political mutual trust within the SCO， and made breakthroughs in practical cooperation and cultural exchanges. Yu said he is confident that the Qingdao Summit will leave a brilliant legacy in the history of SCO development.

Former Chinese military attaché to Russia Wang Haiyun discussed the link between the SCO and a community with a shared future for mankind. The Shanghai Spirit， Wang said， is an important source and the earliest practice for the community. He said he believes that the SCO， as a demonstration platform， can play a vital role in practicing major country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics.

Yao Peisheng， former Chinese Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan， Latvia， Kazakhstan and Ukraine， explained， “Today， some international organizations have seen the withdrawal of members， but the SCO has seen the opposite trend， there are quite a few countries expressing their willingness to join the organization.”

The first expansion of the SCO which took place in 2017， with the inclusion of India and Pakistan as full member states， demonstrates the cohesion and attraction of the organization， he added.

“Openness is one of the principles of the SCO and in the future there will be other countries joining，” Yao said. “With more countries becoming members of the SCO， the cooperation in the security and political fields should continue to be the focus of the SCOs work in the future.”

He Wenping， a senior researcher at the Charhar Institute and a research fellow with the Institute of West Asian and African Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences， agreed. “With India and Pakistan joining， the SCO should also consider how to better coordinate relations between those two nations to ensure that the problems between them dont affect the development and cooperation of the other member states.”

She also noted that the expansion of the SCO brought with it some severe security issues. For example， the Taliban is still active in both Afghanistan and Pakistan， which has made terrorism one of the SCOs main challenges.

Wang Jin， a research fellow with the Charhar Institute and research fellow at Northwest University of China， said the SCO is an important platform for safeguarding regional security and combating the three forces of terrorism， separatism and extremism. These forces are a serious challenge faced by SCO member states. All countries should make full use of the SCO platform to enhance the fight against the thoughts， expressions， organizations and individuals of the three forces， Wang added.

Su Hao， a professor at the Department of Diplomacy of China Foreign Affairs University， said the SCO was initially more concerned about the security issue， but now it has been expanded to be a larger platform for the building of state relations. Su said the development of the SCO should be combined with the Belt and Road Initiative， since its development and experience can provide a reference for the construction of the initiative.