World News | President Xi warns against instigating a new “cold war”; calls on SCO member states to maintain regional peace

BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday warned against attempts by external forces to foment a new “cold war” in the region, calling on members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to maintain regional peace and ensure common security by fighting terrorism. joint action.

President Xi Jinping delivered a speech at the 23rd video meeting of the Council of Heads of Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization chaired by Prime Minister Modi, urging member states to “earnestly respect” each other’s core interests and major concerns.

Read also | The Pakistani rupee strengthened by Rs 15 against the US dollar in early trade.

Xi Jinping implicitly criticized the United States, calling for opposition to hegemonism and power politics, and promoting a more just and reasonable global governance system.

“We must formulate foreign policy independently based on the overall and long-term interests of the region. We must be highly vigilant against attempts by external forces to instigate a new ‘cold war’ or camp confrontation in the region.” Xi Jinping delivered a speech at the meeting, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Iranian President Raisi and others attended the meeting.

Read also | SCO summit 2023: Pakistani PM Shebaz Sharif says must fight terrorism ‘hydra monster’ with determination and resoluteness.

“We must resolutely oppose any country interfering in China’s internal affairs and instigating a ‘color revolution’ under any pretext. The future of our development must be firmly in our own hands,” he said amid tensions between the US and China. .

Xi Jinping emphasized the need to uphold multilateralism and improve global governance.

“Maintaining peace and security in the region is our shared responsibility,” he said.

China is willing to work with all parties to implement the global security initiative I put forward and promote the settlement of international disputes through dialogue and consultation.

He said member states should “encourage political solutions to international and regional hotspot issues and strengthen regional security barriers”.

We must improve the level of security cooperation in the SCO, continue to carry out joint operations, and severely crack down on terrorist, separatist, and extremist forces such as “East Turkistan”, drug trafficking, cyber crime, and transnational organized crime. explain.

China accuses the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), a Uighur militant group from the restive Xinjiang region, of being an extremist group in collusion with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.

Xi Jinping also said, “We need to accelerate the strengthening of law enforcement and security cooperation mechanisms, and expand cooperation in non-traditional security fields such as digital security, biological security, and outer space security.”

With regard to Afghanistan ruled by the Taliban, the regrouping of terrorist organizations has become a common concern of the SCO member states. Xi Jinping said that the SCO member states should continue to use such platforms as the coordination and cooperation mechanism among neighboring countries of Afghanistan.

Facts have proved that as long as we keep the overall situation in mind, take responsibility bravely, and avoid being disturbed by all kinds of interference, we will be able to safeguard and promote the security and development interests of member states.

We need to strengthen strategic communication and coordination, bridge differences through dialogue, replace competition with cooperation, truly respect each other’s core interests and major concerns, and firmly support each other’s development and revitalization.

Xi’s comments came as Indian and Chinese troops have been locked in a more than three-year standoff at some points of friction in eastern Ladakh.

India has made it clear to China that unless peace and tranquility are achieved in the border areas, there will be no progress in bilateral relations.

In his speech, Xi also called on SCO members to align high-quality cooperation under their multi-billion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative with each country’s development strategies and regional cooperation initiatives.

The Belt and Road Initiative, a multibillion-dollar initiative launched by President Xi Jinping when he came to power in 2013, aims to connect Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Gulf region, Africa and Europe through a network of land and sea routes.

The $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is the flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative.

India has lodged a strong protest against China over the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor built through Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

India is also critical of the Belt and Road Initiative, which has fueled global concerns about China’s debt diplomacy, which provides huge loans to smaller countries for unsustainable infrastructure projects.

Xi Jinping pointed out that we need to strengthen the connection between the high-quality joint construction of the “Belt and Road” and the development strategies and regional cooperation initiatives of various countries. This year, China will host the third Belt and Road Forum.

The SCO countries should further promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, accelerate the construction of port infrastructure and regional and international logistics corridors, and ensure the stable and smooth operation of regional industrial and supply chains.

He also asked member states to focus on practical cooperation to speed up economic recovery.

He said that promoting economic growth is a common task for all countries in the region.

China is willing to work with all parties to implement the global development initiative he proposed, adhere to the correct direction of economic globalization, oppose protectionist unilateral sanctions and excessive expansion of national security, and oppose the establishment of the “Belt and Road” initiative. Barriers, decoupling and cutting off supply chains,” he said.

He also proposed that “the Shanghai Cooperation Organization expand the scale of local currency settlement among member states, expand sovereign digital currency cooperation, and promote the establishment of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Development Bank.”

The Chinese side will cooperate with the China-SCO Big Data Cooperation Center to carry out digital technology training programs and hold the SCO National Green Development Forum.

According to state media Xinhua, Xi said SCO member states should better align high-quality cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative with national development strategies and regional cooperation initiatives.

Maintain regional peace, ensure common security, strengthen SCO exchanges and mutual learning, and strengthen non-governmental ties.

In the next three years, China will provide SCO member states with 1,000 scholarships for international Chinese language teachers, 3,000 quotas for the “Chinese Bridge” summer camp, and invite 100 young scientists to come to China for scientific research exchanges.

China will also host events such as rural revitalization and climate response, he said.

With regard to Iran becoming a new member of the SCO, Xi Jinping said, “This will reflect the vitality of our big family of the SCO.”

The leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan were also present at the virtual summit under the Indian presidency.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a syndicated news feed, the latest staff may not have modified or edited the body of content)