China to use security group to beef up diplomatic clout - Mary-Anne Toy
From The Age:
NEVER heard of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation? You will soon. China wants the acronym for the five-year-old Central Asian security group, SCO, to become as familiar as other regional acronyms such as NATO and ASEAN, as it seeks to increase its international clout.
The group, Beijing’s most concerted effort in regional diplomacy, comprises China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Their leaders, including Hu Jintao and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, are due in Shanghai tomorrow to review its charter of countering terrorism and separatism through increased economic, energy and security co-operation. [Full Text]
