Backgrounder: SCO, a young regional group with vitality
15/6/2006 15:17
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) holds its sixth summit in
Shanghai on Thursday. The following is a brief introduction to the five-year-old
regional organization.
Founded in Shanghai on June 15, 2001, the SCO
comprises China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. It
covers an area of over 30 million square kilometers, or about three fifths of
Eurasia and the combined population of the member states amounts to 1.489
billion, accounting for about a quarter of the world's total.
According to
its Charter and the declaration on the its establishment, the SCO works to
strengthen mutual trust and good- neighborliness and friendship among member
states, develop effective cooperation in a wide range of areas, work together to
maintain regional peace, security and stability and promote the creation of a
new international political and economic order which is fair, reasonable and
democratic.
The basic principles of the SCO include adherence to the purposes
and principles of the UN Charter; respect for each other' s independence,
sovereignty and territorial integrity, non- interference in each other's
internal affairs, mutual non-use or threat of use of force; equality among all
member states; settlement of all questions through consultations, non-alignment
and not targeting at any other country or organization; openness and willingness
to carry out all forms of dialogues, exchanges and cooperation with other
countries and relevant international or regional organizations.
The highest
SCO organ is the Council of Heads of State, which meets once every year
alternately among member states. The host country assumes the SCO's rotating
presidency
The two permanent institutions are the Beijing-based Secretariat
and the Tashkent-based Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (RATS).
Mongolia,
Pakistan, India and Iran are observers of the SCO
Xinhua News
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