On September 17, President Xi Jinping attended the 21st meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Member States via video.
This is the ninth consecutive year that he has attended this summit since 2013, and it is also the second time that he has attended the summit via video since the outbreak of the new crown epidemic.
President Xi delivered a speech at the meeting.
To understand this important speech, you need to understand these key points.
Critical year:
Start a new journey for the development of the SCO
On June 28 this year, when President Xi Jinping held a video meeting with Russian President Putin, he reached an important consensus: Under the current situation, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is facing new opportunities and challenges and should comprehensively plan and promote the development of the organization.
At the SCO summit this time, President Xi called on not forgetting his original aspirations and forging ahead, and embarking on a new journey for the development of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
The consensus and call are inseparable from an important time node-this year happens to be the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
△September 17, 2021, the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, a flag placed on the scene.
(Photo by Fan Yiming, CCTV reporter)
On June 15, 2001, the six heads of state of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan passed the "Declaration on the Establishment of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization" in Shanghai.
In 2017, India and Pakistan joined the SCO as member states.
At present, the SCO has 8 member states, 4 observer states, and 6 dialogue partners. It has developed into the world's most extensive and most populous comprehensive regional cooperation organization.
In 2018, President Xi Jinping pointed out at the SCO Qingdao Summit that the SCO has always maintained vigorous vitality and strong motivation for cooperation. The fundamental reason is that it has creatively proposed and always practiced the "Shanghai Spirit", advocating
mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, and consultation. , Respect diverse civilizations and seek common development
.
In this year's speech, President Xi summarized the important theoretical and practical explorations of the SCO over the past 20 years with four "communities": promoting mutual political trust, safeguarding security and stability, seeking prosperity and development, and sharing international morality.
Looking forward to the new journey in the future, President Xi put forward five suggestions: take the road of unity and cooperation, take the road of security and safety, take the road of openness and integration, take the road of mutual learning and mutual learning, and take the road of fairness and justice.
The key stage:
Mutual achievement of the beautiful vision of development and revitalization
On the day of the summit on September 17, the leaders of the member states signed the Dushanbe Declaration on the 20th Anniversary of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
The declaration stated that "The Shanghai Cooperation Organization has entered a critical stage of development."
In his speech on the same day, President Xi emphasized that all SCO countries are at a critical stage of development. They should give full play to their unique advantages of neighboring mountains and rivers and blending interests, adhere to the orientation of openness and cooperation, and achieve each other's vision of development and revitalization.
To grasp the key stage of development, we must take key measures.
At the Shanghai Cooperation Summit last year, President Xi proposed for the first time the construction of the "four communities" of health, safety, development, and humanities.
In this year's speech, there are solid measures to build the "four communities".
-Responding to the new crown pneumonia epidemic remains the most urgent task at present.
President Xi said that China will step up its efforts to provide 2 billion doses of vaccines to the world throughout the year and deepen cooperation with developing countries in the fight against the epidemic.
——Maintaining regional security and stability is the priority direction of SCO cooperation.
President Xi pointed out that it is necessary to severely crack down on the "three forces" such as the "Eastern Iraq Movement" and deepen cooperation in drug control, border defense, and security for large-scale events.
-Pragmatic cooperation is the material foundation and driving force for the development of the SCO.
President Xi announced that China is willing to continue to share market opportunities and strive to achieve the goal of US$2.3 trillion in cumulative trade with the countries of this organization in the next five years.
——The strongest foundation for the development of the SCO lies in mutual learning among civilizations, and the deepest strength lies in people-to-people bonds.
President Xi emphasized the need to create more ground-to-earth and heart-to-heart projects in the fields of science and technology, education, culture, health, and poverty alleviation.
Key announcement:
Can’t start from the so-called “strength status”
In June 2017, at the Astana summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, President Xi Jinping quoted a proverb from Kazakhstan: "Where there is unity, happiness will follow."
Over the past 20 years, the SCO countries have continuously accumulated political mutual trust, firmly supported each other's independently chosen development path, and supported each other to safeguard their core interests.
At this year’s summit, President Xi pointed out that we must strengthen our self-confidence in the system and will never accept the preaching of a "teacher".
He emphasized that external forces will never be allowed to interfere in the internal affairs of countries in the region under any pretext, and the future and destiny of the country's development and progress will be firmly in his own hands.
In his speech that day, President Xi also quoted a famous Chinese saying: “For a while, strength lies in strength, and success or failure lies in reason.” He said that in solving international affairs, we cannot proceed from the so-called “power status” and promote hegemony. , Overbearing, and bullying, we should follow the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and insist on extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits.
Starting from the so-called "power status", this is a stark Cold War mentality and power politics.
A year ago, President Xi made a clear statement at the United Nations 75th Anniversary Summit: “The relations and interests of countries can only be coordinated through systems and rules. You can’t listen to whoever has the biggest fist.”
After a year, President Xi once again made a key statement: To resolve international issues, we cannot proceed from the so-called "status of strength."
crucial moment:
Together to maintain peace and stability, which is more precious than gold
On the same day of the Shanghai Cooperation Summit, President Xi Jinping also attended another summit via video.
Tajikistan currently holds the rotating chairmanship of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Collective Security Treaty Organization respectively.
According to suggestions from Tajikistan and others, the two organizations agreed to hold a joint summit on Afghanistan between the leaders of member states after the Shanghai Cooperation Summit on September 17.
This is a key summit held at a critical moment.
Afghanistan and the member states of the SCO live next to each other and are one of the four observer states of the SCO.
The trend of the situation in Afghanistan is closely related to the security and stability of the region.
Almost every time he attended the Shanghai Cooperation Summit, President Xi Jinping talked about the issue of Afghanistan.
He has repeatedly emphasized the need to play the role of the "SCO-Afghanistan Liaison Group" to promote the process of peace and reconstruction in Afghanistan.
Recently, the situation in Afghanistan has undergone fundamental changes.
After the withdrawal of foreign troops, the history of Afghanistan turned a new page.
At the same time, Afghanistan still faces many arduous tasks, requiring the support and assistance of the international community, especially regional countries.
When attending the joint summit, President Xi said that the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Ji'an Treaty Organization are close neighbors of Afghanistan, and they are a community with a shared future and a security community.
At critical moments, we should work
together to maintain peace and stability, which is more precious than gold.
President Xi emphasized that we must adhere to the general direction of politically resolving the Afghan issue, promote Afghanistan to stop chaos and stabilize, embark on the path of peaceful reconstruction, and ultimately achieve universal security, common security, cooperative security, and lasting security in the region.
He put forward three suggestions for this: to promote the smooth transition of the situation in Afghanistan as soon as possible, to conduct contact and dialogue with Afghanistan, and to help the Afghan people tide over the difficulties.
On the 25th of last month, President Xi focused on the situation in Afghanistan when talking on the phone with Russian President Putin.
More than 20 days later, the situation in Afghanistan has seen new developments.
At the joint summit on the same day, President Xi said that it is necessary to interact with all parties in Afghanistan from a rational and pragmatic perspective, guide and promote the new Afghan regime structure to be more open and inclusive, pursue a moderate and stable domestic and foreign policies, and cooperate with countries around the world, especially neighboring countries. Friendly.
In the last phone call, President Putin stated that the current evolution of the situation in Afghanistan shows that the policy of forcibly implementing its political model by external forces is not feasible and will only bring destruction and disaster to the relevant countries.
At this joint summit, President Xi Jinping pointed out that in addition to helping the Afghan people to tide over the difficulties of the international community, as the initiators of the difficult situation in Afghanistan, certain countries should learn from the past and take due responsibility for the future development of Afghanistan.
Producer丨Shen Yong
Chief Author丨Gong Xuehui Yu Zhenyi
Vision丨Chen Kuo Zhang Jing Qi Huan
Editor丨Wang Jiyang Yu Mingli