Translated material
Beijing ordered to be friends for a long time
The SCO promises not to play anti-NATO for now
No summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has attracted as much attention as the one that will take place in two days in Bishkek. If only because its very holding in the capital of Kyrgyzstan was in serious doubt this spring, when the activity of the Kyrgyz opposition threatened another change of power in the republic. And it is no secret that in those days the leadership of Kazakhstan was already offering to host the SCO summit in Astana. But in Moscow they did not agree with the postponement - they say, it is necessary to support Bishkek, it was promised and it will cope.The second reason for the extraordinary attention to the summit is the unprecedented scale of military maneuvers of the SCO member countries, which began on August 9 and ended at the Chebarkul training ground near Chelyabinsk on August 17 . On this day, the presidents of the six SCO members will arrive there. The propaganda effect of these exercises can perhaps be considered achieved. In Moscow, Beijing and the capitals of Central Asia these days, diplomats and experts are actively refuting the suspicions and fears of the rest, primarily the Western world, that the SCO is turning into an eastern “anti-NATO”. On the other hand, the necessary impression has been created: so that there are no doubts that, if necessary, such a block can be created.
According to Kyrgyz news agencies, the US request to send a military observer to the exercise was rejected. On the other hand, there will be no calls at the summit for Washington to rush to withdraw its military air base from Kyrgyzstan. A certain consensus has already been reached in the SCO on this issue.
In the meantime, according to Vremya Novostei, there is no desire to make the military component dominant in the activities of the SHO in any of the capitals of the post-Soviet countries that are members of the organization. If only for the reason that in this case the CIS Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) will be buried. One of the active opponents of turning the SCO into a military bloc, as informed sources of VN testify, is Uzbekistan. There they are afraid of the “Chinese factor”, not least because of historical stereotypes - for example, in the Uzbek language, an analogue of the Russian expression “son of a bitch” is the combination “son of a Chinese”...
Nevertheless, the main document being prepared for signing in Bishkek was prepared precisely on Beijing’s initiative. Already in its very name one can feel the Chinese flavor: “Agreement on Long-Term Cooperation, Friendship and Good Neighborliness.” The Celestial Empire, therefore, emphasizes the need to legislatively consolidate those relations that became the basis for the emergence of the SCO - a set of agreements that fixed the border between the PRC and the republics of the former USSR.
Some proposals for the agenda of the Bishkek summit were rejected by the majority of its participants. For example, Kazakhstan initiated the conclusion of an agreement on the creation of a water and energy consortium within the SCO. However, Tashkent and Beijing did not support Astana. Uzbekistan and China prefer to resolve issues of rational use of water resources in a bilateral format.
There will be no surprises in Bishkek related to the expansion of the SCO. As Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov said yesterday, “the SCO states have come to understand the need to maintain a moratorium on expanding the organization’s membership.” Obviously, these words are intended to dispel suspicions that at the summit in the Kyrgyz capital, Iran's status as an observer in the SCO will be upgraded to a permanent member. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will not only take part in the summit, having arrived in Bishkek after a tour of Turkmenistan and Afghanistan, but is also going to speak among his fellow presidents. Sources close to the summit organizing committee believe that his speech will be politically correct and will not force the “Shanghaians” to become forced witnesses to scandalous calls to “put an end to the Zionist regime” of Israel or “repel American imperialism.”
The new President of Turkmenistan, Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedov, views his participation in the summit as an important foreign policy prime minister. He received an invitation from the summit host, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, to be his guest. Mr. Berdymukhammedov arrives in Bishkek having established himself as a humane and progressive leader who meets the expectations of the world community. Late last week, he granted amnesty to the first 11 prisoners serving multi-year sentences for their involvement in the so-called assassination attempt on Turkmenbashi on November 25, 2002. The new Turkmen leader promises to continue to consistently demonstrate his humanism.
Meanwhile, final preparations for the summit are being completed in Bishkek. President Bakiyev warned that “unprecedented efforts must be made to ensure a calm environment” during the SCO event. To check how these efforts are being carried out, Mr. Bakiyev even “takes unscheduled walks around the capital.” As his press service especially emphasizes, the president makes trips “without the escort of traffic police, in compliance with all traffic rules and without attracting the attention of people.” The free Kyrgyz press, however, does not deny itself the pleasure of publishing photo reports about how during these “voyages” a policeman is on duty under every tree on the side of the roads along which Bakiyev is expected to travel.
Newspapers also write that the administration of the Kyrgyz president managed to obtain guarantees from the opposition that no rallies or pickets would be held during the summit days. Opposition activities have been postponed until the autumn. After the summit, according to VN, the “case of Bermet Akayeva” will also be considered. The eldest daughter of the ex-president of Kyrgyzstan has been under house arrest for more than three months on charges of “contempt of court, destruction of documents and obstruction of justice.” Bermet Akayeva, 35, paid the price for her desperate attempt to return to Kyrgyz politics, despite the fact that in Kyrgyzstan her father's surname is still the main political allergen for many. VN's sources in the Kremlin claim that in response to their concerns about the “humane component” of this case, Bishkek asked to wait until the end of the summit.
Tomorrow, on the eve of the SCO summit, a bust of the first president of Russia will be unveiled at the Boris Yeltsin Kyrgyz-Slavic University in Bishkek. Yeltsin was one of the founders of the now prestigious university. But only after his death, as the Fergana.ru agency notes, the phrase “named after Yeltsin” began to be used officially.