By Aidoghie Paulinus
On the morning of July 4, 2024, local time, Chinese President Xi Jinping, attended the 24th meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) at the Independence Palace in Astana.
In his remarks, Xi explained that the SCO was founded at the turn of the century when the confrontation and division left over from the Cold War had yet to be overcome.
The Chinese President also said the SCO founding members made a historic decision to pursue peaceful development, ommit themselves to good-neighborliness and friendship and build a new type of international relations, and the ‘Shanghai Spirit’ has become a shared value and guiding principle for its ember states.
Xi noted that 23 years after its founding, the membership of the SCO has increased to 10, nd the foundation for SCO cooperation has become more solid as more partners have joined the ‘SCO big family’ that currently covers 26 countries on three continents.
Xi said: “As the world is faced with accelerating changes unseen in a century, human society is again tanding at a crossroads in istory. It s of crucial importance to the world that the SCO stands n the right side of history and on the side of fairness and justice. In the face of the real threat from the Cold War mentality, the SCO members should uphold he baseline of security.”
Xi further called on the SCO members to dhere to the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, address complex and intertwined security challenges through dialogue and coordination, and respond to the profound changes in he nternational landscape with a win-win approach, so as to build a world of enduring peace and universal security.
He added that in the face of the real risks of ‘small yard, high fences,’ the SCO members should safeguard the right to development, while also calling on the SCO members to uphold he principle of universal benefit and inclusiveness, join hands to push for scientific and technological innovation, keep industrial and supply chains stable and smooth, stimulate the internal impetus of regional economies, and work toward he goal of ommon development.
“In the face of the real challenges of interference and division, the SCO members should consolidate unity,” Xi also said.
The Chinese President further called on the SCO members to jointly oppose external interference, firmly support each other, accommodate each other’s concerns, handle internal differences with a spirit of harmony, resolve cooperation difficulties by seeking common ground while reserving differences, and keep their future and the peace and development of the region firmly in their own hands.