On January 8, Deputy Director-General Zhou Li of the Department of Eastern European and Central Asian Affairs of the Foreign Ministry gave a briefing on the just-concluded non-regular meeting of SCO foreign ministers to foreign correspondents based in Beijing and answered questions raised by them. Zhou began by giving a briefing of the meeting. He said that through the careful consultation and preparation of parties concerned, the non-regular meeting of the SCO foreign ministers was convened smoothly in Beijing yesterday. The first foreign ministers' meeting since the inception of the SCO, the meeting was held against the backdrop that the US took military action against Afghan Taliban forces and international and regional situations had undergone profound changes in the wake of the September 11th Incident. The meeting revolved around such issues of common concern as the current international and regional situations and the construction of the SCO. The foreign ministers of the 6 countries attended the meeting and delivered speeches. After the meeting was concluded, the 6 foreign ministers signed a joint statement. The joint statement documented the major achievements of the meeting and the common position and basic propositions of the 6 countries on such issues as the Afghan situation, international anti-terrorism campaign, combating the "three vices" in the region and intensifying the construction of the SCO. In the afternoon, President Jiang Zemin met with the 6 foreign ministers.

After the briefing, Zhou answered questions raised by the correspondents.

Q: The joint statement mentioned the establishment of a regional anti-terrorism organization. When will the organization be put into place? What suggestions will be discussed the upcoming June St. Petersburg summit?

A: The idea of establishing a regional anti-terrorism organization was put forward two years ago. In the 5-year history of the "Shanghai Five", the predecessor of the SCO, we had made the maintenance of regional peace, security and stability our major priority. In order to achieve the goal, member countries of the "Shanghai Five" also agreed to set up a regional anti-terrorism organization with its headquarters in Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan. This has been explicitly written into the joint statement issued during the 2000 summit meeting of the "Shanghai Five". The Declaration on the Establishment of the SCO also clearly stipulated that parties concerned should step up formulating relevant documents for the establishment of a regional anti-terrorism organization when the SCO was officially launched in June, 2001. Now experts of countries concerned have held many rounds of consultations on this. The countries concerned will intensify the formulation of relevant documents about putting in place an anti-terrorism organization prior to the summit meeting of the SCO to be held in St. Petersburg in the coming June.

Q: You just said that the idea of an anti-terrorism organization was put forward two years ago. However, it is not in place yet. What are the obstacles and problems? Foreign Minister Tang suggested yesterday that he hoped that the SCO foreign ministers could take concerted actions in case of emergency. Would you please elaborate on it?

A: On the first question, in my view, that the organization has not been put in place yet does not mean that there are obstacles in its way. The problem is that when we first put forward the idea, the SCO had not been inaugurated yet. In the inauguration process of the SCO, we also formulated an important legal document, namely Shanghai Communiqué on Combating Terrorism, Separatism and Extremism. The Communiqué was signed by the heads of state of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan when the SCO was inaugurated last June. Documents related to the regional anti-terrorism organization will have to be formulated within the framework of the Communiqué. Experts of the 6 countries are carrying out their work accordingly.

The second question concerns the SCO contingency mechanism. The meeting endorsed the principle of a contingency mechanism. This is also an important achievement of the meeting. The SCO is a regional organization of multi-lateral cooperation that has not been in place for a long time. As an international organization, some problems concerning the construction of the SCO are still yet to be resolved. Just as I said, we still do not have a legal document that details the purposes, nature, principle of cooperation, basic tasks and operating mechanism of the SCO, namely the charter of the SCO. Therefore, what measures and procedures should be taken in order to bring all the SCO members together for meetings and discussions in case of emergency is on the agenda. New developments entail the formulation of rules for temporary actions. The contingency mechanism will remain in force before the charter of the SCO goes into effect. Its main contents are as follows:
1. In case of emergency, foreign ministers of the SCO member countries can convene non-regular meetings.
2. The position, views and propositions of various parties on major international incidents can be made public in the form of foreign ministerial documents.
In my view, the contingency mechanism can help to intensify the role of the SCO at the present stage.

Q: Foreign Minister Tang said yesterday that the international anti-terrorism campaign must not be expanded indefinitely. Does this mean that China does not hope to engage itself in fighting against the "three vices" forever?

A: Combating terrorism is a long-term task. The origins of terrorism are very complicated and concern many factors such as politics, economy, culture, history and society. Therefore, the fight against terrorism is very tough, complex and will take a long time. Cracking down on the "three vices" is an important content for cooperation among the SCO member countries and is also part and parcel of the international anti-terrorism campaign.

Q: Which part does the Chinese government emphasize the most in the joint statement issued yesterday? Did the 6 foreign ministers have different views during their discussions?

A: I think the contents covered by the joint statement are comparatively comprehensive and reflect the common position and propositions of the 6 countries. As the 6 countries are all close neighbors to Afghanistan, we all hope that Afghanistan can become a peaceful and neutral country that enjoys friendly relations with its neighboring countries and abides by all its international obligations.

Q: Which organizations pose the greatest threat to the SCO?

A: At present, what poses the greatest threat to regional peace, security and stability are the "three vices", namely, terrorism, separatism and extremism. They have committed quite a lot of evil deeds by using separation as their goal, violence their means and religion as their disguise. Terrorists of Chechen, "East Turkistan" and the Uzbek Islamic Movement are the most ferocious terrorist groups. They are also part and parcel of the international anti-terrorism and should be cracked down on harshly. There must not be different standards from those taken against other terrorists.

Q: It seems that terrorist organizations are not very concerned about your anti-terrorism mechanism. Would you please tell us what specific measures you are going to take to deal with terrorists.

A: The SCO member countries share an unshakable determination to crack down on the "three vices". We have already taken some measures. With the improvement of the SCO mechanism, the establishment and the unfolding of the regional anti-terrorism organization, cooperation will continue to be intensified and the results of anti-terrorism will become more obvious.