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China urges SCO unity, cooperation
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-06-05 09:07 ASTANA, Kazakhstan -- Chinese
Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing urged Saturday the member countries of the
Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to further consolidate unity and
cooperation to guarantee a smooth development of the group.
Chinese Foreign
Minister Li Zhaoxing speaks at a press conference in Astana, capital of
Kazakhstan, on June 4, 2005. Li was in Astana to attend the foreign
ministers meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which
reaffirmed the readiness to further cooperate in combating terrorism,
extremism and separatism. [Xinhua] | Addressing a
SCO foreign ministers' meeting, Li called on the SCO members to take concrete
measures to step up preparation for the forthcoming SCO summit, scheduled to be
held in Astana in July.
To make the summit a united, pragmatic and pioneering one, the Chinese
foreign minister proposed the SCO members to strengthen economic cooperation,
beef up security measures, broaden external contacts steadily, deepen
cooperation in culture, disaster relief, education, tourism, media and other
fields.
On the situation in Central Asia, Li said China firmly supports the efforts
by the central Asian countries to maintain independence and sovereignty, keep
social stability and promote economic development.
The Chinese foreign minister expressed his delight to see the situation in
Uzbekistan's Andijan region back to normal, and hoped that the coming
presidential election in Kyrgyzstan would proceed smoothly.
He encouraged the SCO member states and other organizations concerned to make
efforts to maintain stability, cooperation and development in Central Asia.
In his speech, Li also stressed that the United Nations (UN), as the world's
most representative and authoritative organization, should play a leading role
in international affairs, especially in safeguarding world peace and the
promoting common development.
The foreign minister suggested the UN Security Council to pay special
attention to developing countries and take more care of their interests. The
Council should stick to the principle of maintaining geographical balance among
different regions and take different cultures into account.
As for the reform schemes involving various regions, a broad consensus should
be first of all reached in the regions concerned before they are implemented, Li
said.
The foreign minister insisted that any UN reforms reflect the common
interests of the member states, and there is no need to set deadlines for
reforms or force implementation of any immature reforms.
Foreign ministers from Kazakhstan, Russia, Tajikistan, vice foreign ministers
from Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan attended the meeting, with Mongolian foreign
minister attending the meeting as an observer. The foreign ministers discussed
topics such as how to further strengthen cooperation in the future, how to
prepare for the forthcoming SOC summit, in addition to exchanging views on other
international and regional issues.
The SCO, set up in June 2001 to promote regional cooperation and fight
terrorism, groups China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,Tajikistan and
Uzbekistan.
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