Peking University, May 25, 2012: China's Deputy Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping attended today an event titled "Shanghai Cooperation Organization Meets Peking University."
The event was held at the Qiulin Lecture Hall of the School of International Studies at Peking University (PKU).
Invited to attend the meeting were SCO Secretary-General Muratbek Imanaliev, ambassadors from member states, observer states, and dialogue partners of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and other Eurasian countries to China.
Chen Guoping (middle) and the ambassadors present
Also attending were some 500 teachers and students from the School of International Studies and School of Foreign Language at PKU.
In a keynote speech delivered at the event, Cheng Guoping stressed that SCO provided a good platform for various regions and countries to develop good-neighborly and friendly relations and enhance pragmatic cooperation.
Deputy Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping
"China has already taken developing SCO as an important direction in its foreign policy," he said.
To make SCO bigger and stronger is the common aspiration of all member states, he said.
Cheng also elaborated SCO's core concept, namely, the spirit of Shanghai, which is based on the principle of mutual trust, mutual benefit, equal rights, consultations, respect for the diversity of cultures and aspiration for common development.
This is totally different from any past theories of international relations. It is a highly concentrated summary of bilateral relations between China and other SCO member states in decades, he noted.
He also briefed on the development history and the achievements since SCO's founding in 2001 and outlined four main events during the 11 years.
First, in 2001, SCO member states signed the Shanghai Convention against Terrorism, Separatism and Extremism to designate two issues — to fight against "three forces" (namely, terrorists, separatists and extremists) and to maintain regional security as the main orientation, thus enabling SCO to become one of the first international organizations to hold the anti-terrorist banner;
Second, in 2003, member states signed the Program of Multilateral Trade and Economic Cooperation to confirm the primary mission of short, medium, and long terms in economic and trade cooperation;
Third, in 2007, member states signed Treaty on Long-term Good-neighborly Relations, Friendship and Cooperation, which designated the ideas of everlasting friendship and peace in the form of laws, making a new pattern of relations among countries;
Fourth, in 2012, the Beijing Summit will work out the strategic plan for the development of the organization for the next decade.
The audience
Cheng Guoping emphasized that three kinds of relations should be handled properly for SCO in its development process.
First, the relations between maintaining regional stability and adhering to the principle of non-interference in each other countries' internal affairs; second, the relations between reinforcing the capacity to act and adhering to the principle of consensus; third, the relations between strengthening the self-construction and adhering to the policy of opening-up.
Cheng asked the students to focus on SCO and the Beijing Summit, and make efforts to promote the development of the SCO in the future.
SCO Secretary-General Muratbek Imanaliev, Russian Ambassador to China Sergei Razov and Azerbaijani ambassador to China Yashar Aliyev stated in their speeches that all SCO member states should make unremitting endeavors to achieve common development, common prosperity and build a harmonious region.
The upcoming SCO Beijing summit will plan the future development of the organization, which will certainly become a milestone in the SCO history.
After the meeting, Cheng, Imanaliev and other ambassadors of SCO member states to China had a warm interaction with participating students and answered questions. Theyalso watched programs performed by students in Chinese and Russian.
Before the event, Cheng had a brief meeting with PKU Vice President Li Yansong.
Cheng Guoping and Li Yansong
Edited by: Arthars
Source: Xinhua.net
