Zhao Huasheng: Focus on non-traditional security areas

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) comprises six members (China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan), four observer states (India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan), and two dialogue partners (Belarus and Sri Lanka).

The geographical area of the six member states together accounts for three-fifths of the Eurasian landmass and, if the observer states are included, it can expand to the Persian Gulf and South Asia. But the SCO's political activities do not match its geographical domain.

China and Russia are two important SCO members, whose interests are in part related to Central Asia. In other words, the political, security and economic concerns of China and Russia are directed toward Central Asia, and their functions in the SCO are derived or developed on that basis.

The SCO's geopolitical domain is Central Asia, too, though it encompasses the surrounding areas. The organization's major issues, political activities and goals are also centered on Central Asia, though it is named after "Shanghai" and its secretariat is in Beijing, and many of its activities are held in China and Russia. It is obvious that Central Asia is the main playing field for SCO member states to cooperate in areas of security, economic, energy and transport.

Geographically, the SCO stretches into the Eurasian landmass and can also be called a Eurasian organization, but it is not Eurasian in terms of geopolitics. Its political goal is not to resolve Eurasian issues, and its functions are not Eurasia-oriented.

Having China and Russia as members doesn't mean the SCO will undertake their strategic mission on the Eurasian landmass. The organization is not likely to become a basic political and security framework in the Asia-Pacific region, either.

The only possible direction it can expand in is Southwest Asia, which includes Afghanistan. The reason for this is that Southwest Asia and Central Asia are geographically adjacent, with common security concerns and complementary economic needs.

The SCO has the greatest potential in security cooperation because all its member states have plenty of security issues to resolve. Moreover, many security issues are regional in nature and cannot be addressed by one country alone and can be dealt with only through regional cooperation.

In fact, the SCO is considered a security organization, for apart from the secretariat its only permanent organ is the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure. In the past 10 years, security cooperation among SCO member states has made remarkable headway both in depth and scope.

The member states have signed a series of documents, including the Shanghai Convention on Combating Terrorism, Separatism and Extremism, the Agreement among the SCO Member States on Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure, the Agreement among the SCO Member States on Conducting Joint Military Exercises and the Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation, which lay down the legal basis for cooperation among justice, law enforcement and defense agencies.

The scope of SCO security cooperation has expanded from the original border security and anti-terrorism, to anti-drug trafficking, combating transnational crime and comprehensive security. The SCO's goal is to develop into an organization that will guarantee the maintenance of regional peace and stability and promote common prosperity. The organization has begun to play a more proactive role in the Afghan issue, setting and carrying out policy initiatives.

It has established a comprehensive meeting mechanism for attorneys general, and ministers of defense, economy, commerce, transportation and culture, as well as heads of law-enforcement, security, emergency and disaster-relief agencies.

Despite its great potential, the SCO's security cooperation is limited to non-traditional security rather than traditional security areas. The organization has no intention of becoming a military bloc. It neither has a common military force nor a traditional military installation and deployment mechanism, let alone a mechanism for mobilizing military forces. In short, the SCO seeks security cooperation through consultation on an equal footing and for mutual benefit.

The author is a researcher at Central Asia Studies Center, Fudan University.