Proposal to Expand the Shanghai Cooperation Organization

Wang Yi, State Councilor and Foreign Minister of China
[Photo by AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] China has proposed expanding the scope of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) following BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa).

According to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, Wang Yi, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister, suggested on the 29th (local time) at the SCO Foreign Ministers' Meeting held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, "Let us steadily promote an orderly process of expanding membership."

Minister Wang said, "By comprehensively considering factors such as regional distribution, let more countries that share the SCO's cooperative ideals obtain corresponding status to enhance the SCO's overall strength and demonstrate openness and inclusiveness."

The SCO, launched in 2001 under the leadership of China and Russia, is a political, economic, and security consultative organization with nine member countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India, Pakistan, Iran, and others.

Earlier, China held a BRICS summit via video conference last month and decided to promote the expansion of BRICS.

This is interpreted as a response to the strengthening of pressure and containment against China through small-group consultative bodies such as AUKUS (security alliance of the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia) and the Quad (security consultative body of the United States, Japan, Australia, and India), which were formed by the United States with its allies and friendly countries.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.