SCO should Become Community of Common Interests and Shared Destiny

Xu Wenhong

Abstract: At the 2012 SCO Summit, Chinese leaders rolled out the initiative that the SCO should develop into a community of common interests and shared destiny. Based on the connotations and features of a community of common interests and shared destiny, the thesis elaborates on the rationality and feasibility of this vision by analyzing the foundations, conditions, disadvantages, prospects and significance of the SCO as such a community.

Keywords: SCO, community of common interests, community of shared destiny

Since the founding of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in June 2001, it has been growing vigorously amid the downbeat and cursing voices of the West. It also displayed tremendous vitality by gradually adding Mongolia, Pakistan, Iran, India and Afghanistan as observer countries and Belarus, Sri Lanka and Turkey as dialogue partners. The SCO member states cover a total area of more than 30 million square kilometers, accounting for around three fifths of the Eurasian continent. They have a population of 1.489 billion, a quarter of the world total. From the perspectives of the strategic location, the economic potential and energy development, the areas the SCO covers have become one of the decisive factors in the modern world's geopolitical landscape. Its development has gained wide attention from emerging countries and developing nations in Eurasia as well as from other regions and international organizations.

Over the past 10 years or more, the SCO has completed basic organizational and legal construction and therefore has the basic condition and solid foundation to play a key role to promote regional stability and economic development. The SCO will enter a new era of comprehensive, thorough, pragmatic and effective cooperation. Meanwhile, where will it head? What about its future? These are questions worth mulling over meticulously. Over the years, SCO members have kept proposing a raft of ideas with insight to drive the development of the organization.

At the 12th Meeting of the Heads of State Council of the SCO held in June 2012 in Beijing, the then Chinese President Hu Jintao pointed out in the end that the next decade will be a critical period for the SCO's development. We must seize the opportunity to promote mutually beneficial cooperation, build the SCO into a community of interests and destiny of member states, jointly establish a harmonious region and create a better future of common development and prosperity.

In December 2012, the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) advocated in its report a community sense of human destiny that would bring the interests of different nations together and care for other nations' reasonable concerns while seeking one's own interests. In September 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping addressed the 13th Meeting of Heads of State Council of the SCO in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, reiterating the vision to creating the SCO as a community of shared destiny and common interests and a strategy its member states can count on to seek stability and common development.

China's proposition of building a community of shared destiny and common interests actually reflects a common wish of the world. It has garnered support from peace-loving countries. Meanwhile, China's initiative to build the SCO into a community of common interests and shared destiny received positive responses from other SCO countries. Since then, it has become a tall task of the organization and a common goal of its member states.

1．Connotation and features of community of shared destiny and common interests

A community of common interests underlines jointly shouldering responsibilities and sharing interests. Under the initiative, SCO members should have the strategic ideal of cooperation and win-win progress. Refusal to collaborate with each other will affect the fundamental interests of other members of the organization.

By building a community of shared destiny, SCO member states shall seek prosperity and stability in joint effort and help each other tide over crises and disasters, in the principle of nonalignment and non-exclusion.

Comparatively speaking, the community of shared destiny is a higher and closer bond than the community of common interests, which, after all, highlights converged interests among the member states. But the community of shared destiny underlines sailing in the same boat to face storms together. The core of both communities lies in launching mutually beneficial cooperation for win-win progress, caring for each other's rational concerns while pursuing one's national interests, and promoting common development of the region and even the world at large while seeking one's own development.

The new diplomatic conception is a breakthrough and development of traditional ideas of international relations, which holds the world is anarchical;national interests are supreme; state is the single actor in the international politics and serves as a tool to scramble for resources with other states and safeguard the sovereign rights by every means (including the use of force) to ensure each other's safety through power balance and dominance. In an era of globalization, not a single country can stand aloof in face of such issues as hegemony, terrorism, instability, transnational crimes, and drug trafficking. China maintains that human beings have only one earth and all countries are in the same world. The Law of the Jungle is not a way for human beings to coexist and wantonly engaging in military aggression will never create a better world.” All relevant countries must foster the idea of the community of common interests and shared destiny and join hands to create a better homeland for humans.

The community of common interests and shared destiny is a brand new diplomatic concept, featuring the following distinct points.

To begin with, it is different with the strategy of alignment. SCO member states do not forge military alliances and collective military confrontations, or seek hegemony, which is the basic principle of China's diplomacy and the source of the vitality of the new concept. However, the globalization trend makes it difficult for a single country to confront and address many global or regional issues. Therefore, China has envisioned the community of shared destiny based on common interests, which has gained wide support from relevant nations.

Second, it is a new development of the non-alignment diplomacy of China. Non-alignment does not equal noncooperation, non-confrontation does not mean no fight, and non-conflict does not bear an equivalence to no competition. Today's world is not that peaceful; various conflicts and rifts are omnipresent. In a changing international political and economic architecture, some countries remain stubbornly persistent in the Cold War mentality and the zero-sum thinking, that is to say, they tend to unite with those of the same views but alienate those with different views. Stern realities are compelling an increasing number of countries declining to form alliances to seek joint development. The community of shared density and common interests called for those reluctant to join power blocs or military alliances to join hands to enjoy prosperity and stability and help each other tide over crises and disasters. In the principles of non-alignment and non-exclusion, pursing regional prosperity and stability and confront potential crises and disasters.

In the third place, the concept of the community of common interests and shared destiny highlights the theme of “peace and development.” Its purpose is development instead of confrontation. Consequently, the community attaches importance to the construction of development-friendly mechanisms. For instance, within the framework of the SCO, China actively supports the infrastructure conducive to regional stability and development, like the SCO Development Bank.

Last, it is highly open, transparent and inclusive. The cohesive force of the community of shared destiny and common interests comes from the organization's own development potential. Meanwhile, the concept is quite accommodating, welcoming countries in other regions to play a constructive role in its prosperity and stability.

2．Foundations and conditions of the SCO to become a community of common interests and shared destiny

The SCO's predecessor was the Shanghai Five mechanism, originated from the endeavor by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to strengthen confidence-building and disarmament in border regions. It was among the first international organizations to advocate explicitly the fight against the three evil forces: terrorism, separatism and extremism. With changes in the international landscape, regional economic cooperation has gradually climbed to an important cooperation aspect and consequently security and economy have turned to be two wheels of the organization. In addition, the SCO also confronts rising challenges including organized international crimes, drug trafficking and weapon smuggling. At the same time, its member states are also committed to expanding pragmatic cooperation in politics, economy, culture, education and energy. It is these problems and challenges besetting the organization that constitute the solid foundation for it to develop into a community of shared destiny and common interests. And its achievements and development trends provide favorable conditions for its member states to build such a community.

2.1 Foundations for SCO to develop into a community of common interests and shared destiny

For SCO member states to build up a community of common interests and shared destiny, there are solid foundations, which are in actuality the spectrum of conundrums the organization is confronted with. These problems can not be ultimately solved by a single country or several states. Only when the SCO members join hands can they tackle these intractable issues in a better way.

2.1.1 Security issues

Growing fusion, closer communication and increasingly converged strategic interests and strategic needs against the background of globalization and regional integration have projected regional security issues. Therefore, cooperation in the security realm has become an important way to safeguard the common interests of SCO member states, eliminating external interferences and determining their own destiny. The need to cooperate to defend common security interests makes the community of shared destiny come true.

Safeguarding peace and stability and promoting security in the region lie in the interests of all SCO member states. The Shanghai Five mechanism originated from the task of confidence-building and disarmament in border regions. Currently cross-border terrorism and extremism are major threats blighting most countries in the world. Extreme religious groups and terrorist organizations are ubiquitous in countries and regions mired prolonged turbulences and upheavals. It is no exception with the SCO. Terrorism, extremism and separatism are active across SCO countries, posing a severe threat to their security and stability. The “three forces, ” drug trafficking and a slew of other conundrums remain rampant in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan, which have undoubtedly affected China, Russia amid a number of countries. Upon its establishment, the SCO was among the first international organizations to focus on fighting the “three forces.” In 2011, its first summit adopted the Shanghai Convention on Combating Terrorism,Separatism and Extremism. Back then, the Western world had yet to fully recognize the potential threat of the “three forces” and some of them attempted to use the forces to weaken their rivals. The Charter of the SCO signed in June 2002 called for multi-area development, safeguarding and deepening regional peace, security and stability, promoting a fair, just and democratic international economic and political order; and urged its members make concerted effort to combat terrorism, separatism and extremism in all its manifestations, and crack down on drug trafficking, arms sales and other cross-border criminal activities. In 2009, the SCO Counter-Terrorism Convention was ratified at the meeting of the Heads of State council of SCO in Russia's Yekaterinburg, further consolidating the legal foundation and capacity of the anti-terrorist cooperation among within the regional framework.

Facts have proven that the SCO has led international organizations in fighting terrorism and safeguarding world peace. As a community of shared destiny and common interests, all countries in the region, big and small, strong and weak, have finally achieved collective security through mutual assistance. They realized regional security, guaranteed the interests of its member states, excluded the interference from external forces and dominated its own fate. Hence, intimate cooperation in the security area has laid a solid foundation for the building of a community of shared destiny and common interests.

2.1.2 Economic cooperation

SCO member states cover an area up to three fifths of the Eurasian continent, with its population accounting for one quarter of the world total. Their economic development reflects in a certain way well-being of a massive population.

Given many historical reasons and the status quo, SCO member states have achieved huge progress in their economic development, but a multitude of problems remain. For example, China has realized remarkable economic growth since it adopted the reform and opening-up policy more than three decades ago. It became the second largest economy in the world in 2010 but now it is agitated by a series of issues like overcapacity and high employment pressure. Given its abundant natural resources, Russia enjoyed rapid development between 2000 and 2008, a period featuring usrging energy prices. However, the Russian economy lacks diversity, dominated by the energy sector. The country also suffers from a decline in population. Central Asian countries, born out of the former Soviet Union, embarked on the economic recovery and development track since independence. They have made significant progress in economy but are beset with heavy reliance on energy resources and insufficient marketization, a low economic development level and an expanding rich-poor divide.

As SCO states boast wide differences in national conditions and strengths, it is hard for some of them to handle many issues on their own. The high complementarities prompt them to seek closer economic cooperation and exchanges. They are willing to promote essential production factors to flow in a reasonable way and remove obstacles in the way to address the conundrums through expanding mutually beneficial cooperation and founding cooperation mechanisms. Within the framework of closer cooperation, SCO members have gradually deepened their recognition and common consensus of the community of shared destiny and common interests.

The SCO was set up primarily to deal with security issues but over the years economic cooperation has gradually developed into the foundation and the foothold of its development. Security and economy have become the two wheels of the organization. In as early as July 2005, the then Chinese President said that ramping up economic cooperation will be one of the three key development areas of the SCO at the Astana summit. The SCO Beijing summit in June 2012 approved the mid-term development strategy plan of the organization, envisioned a blueprint for the next decade and defined seven basic development directions, one of which was to expand economic cooperation.

Over the past years, SCO member states have seen fast-growing trade volume and a surge in mutual investment and economic cooperation. In the buildup of mechanisms, it created an Inter-bank SCO Council and a SCO Business Council. A business forum convenes every year, playing a positive role in promoting business cooperation among different members. Investment in economy and trade is not just important to big countries like China and Russia but also to smaller nations. SCO members can address many domestic issues concerning people's well-being through enhanced economic cooperation.

2.1.3 Issue of Afghanistan

Afghanistan is an important neighbor of all SCO member states who are either either directly or indirectly influenced by any changes to the country. In 2012, the SCO accepted Afghanistan as an observer. Although the Taliban government collapsed more than a decade ago, the country remains blighted in a destitute economy, a warlord history, a resurgence of residual Taliban forces and a worsening social security landscape. Reconstruction is a long and arduous way. The Afghan government hopes the international community will offer more assistance. Given the close political and economic connections with Afghanistan, SCO members undoubtedly attach importance to its reconstruction and launch cooperation in various sectors. However, the Afghan issue is not something an SCO member can handle on its own. Therefore, the conundrum has become a touchstone of whether the organization can play well the role of a community of common interests and shared destiny.

2014 is a key year in Afghanistan's transition to peaceful reconstruction:the US army was withdrawing, a variety of political forces were active as Afghan presidential and parliamentary elections were forthcoming, the Taliban seemed to stage a comeback and local powers were further expanding. A weak economy compels Afghanistan to heavily rely on external forces. Supporting its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, respecting its development path chosen by its own people based on their national conditions, endorsing its effort to achieve smooth transition, and helping boost its economy are responsibilities of SCO members. Meanwhile, the organization should fight terrorism, smuggling, and drug trafficking, which have a long-term negative effect on Afghanistan's situation and the regional development. During the process, SCO members are supposed to deepen the awareness of the community of shared destiny and common interests as well as to test whether their connection with each other are close enough.

2.1.4 Making voices heard on international community

The Central Asian nations among the SCO members are newly independent from the Soviet Union after its dissolution. They are eager to build their images and make their voices heard on the world stage. China and Russia are permanent UN Security Council member states with nuclear weapons and major countries with tremendous influence upon the international community. But meanwhile, they need to convey different messages from Western countries during the soft power competition with them. However, the discourse power and dominant right of the international politics and economy have long been monopolized by Western countries given multiple factors involving culture, language, religion, tradition and history. A single SCO country may be too weak to exert any influence on the world stage by uttering its own voice, but the SCO members unite to voice their concerns and opinions, it will wield a positive influence upon international politics and the world architecture.

Since its founding, the SCO has been expanding communication and cooperation with relevant countries and international organizations, ramping up its international influence and prestige. The all-weather cooperation is effective. The SCO has established close relationships with the UN, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Eurasian Economic Community (EEC), the CIS Collective Security Treaty, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, UN Development Program, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and their subdivisions. Among them, the SCO have signed Memorandums of Understanding with the ASEAN, the CIS, the EEC, CIS Collective Security Treaty, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

With increasing contact with a number of international organizations, SCO's activities every year have gained growing attention from the international community. As a new international organization, it is playing a more and more important role on the world stage.

2.1.5 Resisting Western influence and penetration

Located in the heartland of the Eurasian Continent, the Central Asian countries in the SCO connects important regions in South Asia and the Middle East with abundant oil and gas resources. They boast core geopolitical significance and economic value. Geopolitical scholars universally acknowledge that who controls the heart of the Eurasian continent controls the world. Big powers' scramble and coveting for this region continue, with the US and other nations racking their brains to infiltrate in it in hope of exerting certain influence on it. The international landscape is far from peaceful over the years and Central Asia has inevitably been involved. Turmoil from rounds of color revolution, turbulences brought about by West Asia and North Africa to the latest Ukraine crisis are not limited to a certain region. From the perspective of the international and regional developments, the possibility that the intervention, invasion and infiltration of external forces have caused the unrest was high. Washington has a scheme for“Great Central Asia” Strategy, with the main purpose to dampen the influence of the SCO upon the region. The European Union (EU) has been roping Eastern European and CIS countries in joining it, reaching the realm of Russia and China. The US even has troops in Afghanistan, actually forming a siege around China and Russia. Confronted with the interference and infiltration of big powers, Central Asian nations have limited coping capacity. Only when SCO members join hands and develop a community of common interests and shared destiny can they safeguard their own interests to the utmost extent and ensure their own security.

2.1.6 SCO makes China realize the importance of security cooperation with its peripheral countries.

The SCO is of special significance to China. It is a business card with Chinese characteristics, which is the only organization named after a Chinese city with its headquarters there. Besides, China's western regions, adjacent to Central Asia, have close contact with it in economy, nationality and culture. The new strategic conception of the Silk Road Economic Belt further links China's future development to the destiny of Central Asian countries. The SCO has prompted China to fully realize the importance of security cooperation with its surrounding countries. The intimate relationship between China and the SCO motivates us to firmly uphold the consensus of establishing a community of common interests and shared destiny and to proactively promotes the benign interaction and coordinated development with other member states. China should also promote peace, development, cooperation and win-win development not only within the SCO framework but also in the bilateral or multilateral relations with other states. It is striving to be a practitioner of regional peace building, an impeller of common development and a participator of economic development.

China's practice in the SCO development course tells that the most effective way for regional development lies in cooperation and interconnection. Regional stability, security and development will effectively safeguard the security, stability and development of a country in the region. As is proposed in the report of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, we shall “respect the diversity of the diversity of the world's civilizations.” “Each civilization and its development model have their own uniqueness. They should learn from and enlighten each other instead of imposing exclusion to realize the common progress of human beings and establish a harmonious world in a real sense.”

Each and every one of the aforementioned issues concerns the interests of SCO member states and determines the future destiny of the organization. However, none of these conundrums can be solved by a single country or several ones, SCO members have recognized that only when they make concerted effort and form a community of common interests and shared destiny can they address the above-mentioned issues more effectively and entirely.

2.2 Achievements in recent years provide favorable conditions to build the SCO into a community of common interests and shared destiny.

In recent years, the SCO has made a wide spectrum of achievement, which have provided favorable conditions to develop it into a community of common interests and shared destiny.

2.2.1 Thorough institutional construction prepares the SCO to become a community of common interests and shared destiny.

The institutions that the SCO has been committed to establishing since its founding include the leaders' meeting, the meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of Government, the meeting of heads of different departments, a secretariat and a counter-terrorist sector as two permanent bodies. The Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure is of enormous practical meaning. It has a council and an executive committee which exercise functions as follows: preparing suggestions and advices for fighting against terrorism, separatism and extremism, assisting the member states to strike the three evil forces, collecting and analyzing the information on the three evil forces and providing it to the member states, setting up a database on the organizations, members and activities of the three evil forces, assisting the preparation of and holding anti-terror drills, assisting the investigation in the activities of the three evil forces and imposing corresponding measures on suspects, assisting to prepare legal documents of combatting the three evil forces, assisting the training of counterterror experts and personnel, launching academic communication and carrying out anti-terror cooperation in joint effort with other international organizations. The improvement of these institutions has laid a solid foundation for the SCO to become a community of common interests and shared destiny.

2.2.2 Close security cooperation provides strong support for turning the SCO to a community of common interests and shared destiny.

The SCO is among the international organizations that attached importance to the danger of the three evil forces at an earlier time. Its first summit in June 2001 approved the Shanghai Convention on Combating Terrorism, Separatism and Extremism. Back then Western countries barely recognized the threat brought about by the three forces and even attempted to use such forces to weaken their rivals to achieve their own political purposes. The Charter of the SCO signed in June 2002 clarified the needs to develop multi-area cooperation to safeguard, to deepen regional peace, security and stability, to promote a new international political and economic order which is fair, just and reasonable, and to crack down on drug trafficking, weaponry smuggling and other cross-border crimes. The 2009 SCO Convention on Counter-Terrorism laid a further legal foundation and improved its capacity to fight terrorism, lifting the cooperation among SCO member states to a new level. Facts have proved that the SCO has got ahead of other international organizations in combatting terrorism and safeguarding world peace. Given the converged interests among the member states, such cooperation has gained significant effect in safeguarding regional security and stability. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the close coordination among SCO member states in the institutional framework has provided strong security support for China. It was a successful example of the SCO security cooperation, accumulating abundant experience for its member states in the future. The establishment and highly efficient operation of the anti-terror sectors and cooperation mechanisms have rendered guarantee for the security cooperation and facilitate the SCO to become a community of common interests and shared destiny.

The shared responsibility and interests among SCO member states are also demonstrated in drug control and information security. While the West are playing up information freedom and openness, the SCO has recognized the crucial effect of information security upon national security and social stability. The Statement of Heads of SCO Member States on International Information Security issued in June 2006 pointed out that information communication technologies and contemporary threats and challenges are transnational, which requires bilateral, regional and international cooperation to enhance information security in all member states.

In addition, coordination has also increased in other non-traditional security threats, for example, in finance, eco-environment, food, resources and crossborder criminal activities. Most non-traditional security threats are transnational, transregional and uncertain, so it is difficult to address them on one's own.

SCO member states expect to protect themselves from external invasion through collective actions. Driven by this need, the SCO's importance and role have become more protruding. Faced with regional affairs directly concerning their self-interests, the SCO members, in the spirit of sharing responsibilities and interests, prosperity and stability and tiding each other over disasters and crises, will take action demonstrating their agreed attitudes and adopting consistent measures to gain an edge amid a slew of international disputes and showcase its unique position as a regional organization.

2.2.3 Close economic ties help SCO develop into a community of shared destiny with common interests

Since its founding, the SCO has been attaching great importance to economic cooperation. It is clearly stipulated in the SCO Charter “to facilitate comprehensive and balanced economic growth, social and cultural development in the region through joint action on the basis of equal partnership for the purpose of a steady increase of living standards and improvement of living conditions of the peoples of the member states.” The Beijing Summit on June 7, 2012 approved the SCO Mid-term Development Strategy, outlining the development map for the next decade and seven basic directions for future actions, one of which is to expand economic cooperation. Over the past 12 years since its establishment, the organization has been insistent in pragmatic cooperation in addition to its effort in capacity building and facilitation development, effectively promoting regional stability and development through various projects and enhancing economic cooperation. The GDP aggregate of the six member states rose from $1.67 trillion in 2001 to $10.58 trillion in 2012. China's foreign trade volumes with the other five members increased from $12.9 billion in 2001 to $118.5 billion in 2012, in which the export enhanced from $3.4 billion to $58.5 billion and import surged from $9.6 billion to $60 billion. The growth is faster than that of China's trade volumes with the US, with Europe, with Japan, and with South Korea. The phenomenon illustrates to a certain degree that multilateral cooperation within the region can better facilitate bilateral cooperation. If SCO member states can build up a free trade area, the cooperation efficiency and level will greatly improve. China proposed an “anti-crisis” stabilization fund at the 2009 summit, helping SCO member states get out of the international financial crisis. At the same time, infrastructure projects also benefited these countries by connecting them together. These projects include the completed China-Kazakhstan oil pipeline, China-Central Asia gas pipeline, China-Kazakhstan Horgos Frontier International Cooperation Center, the Datka-Kemin transmission line, the China-funded road construction project in Tajikistan which are under construction. Without the multilateral cooperation platform of the SCO, it is hard to have these achievements only through bilateral cooperation between the member states. Close economic ties serve as a bridge to build the SCO into a community of shared destiny and common interests.

As SCO member states keep joining the World Trade Organization, and infrastructure projects in networks including transportation, communication, power grids, pipelines are gradually enhancing, they boast increasing political mutual trust and more consolidated economic cooperation foundation, providing more new opportunities for the future. Meanwhile, plunged in the plight in which dwindling external demand precipitates slowing economic growth, they have enormous pressure in ensuring growth, fighting inflation and promoting employment. Making joint effort to maintain a stable macro-economy, ensure people's well-being and reducing the shocks brought about by external risks has formed a new challenge in the regional cooperation. How to improve funding capacity of the member states is another hot topic. In recent years, fund of most economic cooperation programs comes from China's preferential loans. The purpose of SCO member states to achieve common prosperity through converged interests and win-win cooperation is definite. Therefore, it is necessary to study and establish the SCO development bank to address the funding predicament of the members and deal with potential financial risks.

2.2.4 Military cooperation provides full guarantee for the SCO to become a community of shared destiny with common interests

Since the founding of the SCO, it launched a dozen bilateral and multilateral joint anti-terror military drills, the scale of which kept expanding and level improving. These exercises strengthened the international cooperation among the member states in the non-traditional security field, showcased their resolution to safeguard regional security and stability, effectively deterred the surging trend of the three evil forces and prevented the hostile forces bringing turmoil into the organization. It fully embodies the common aspiration of the member states to share responsibilities, interests, prosperity and stability, and make concerted effort to solve crises and disasters. Military cooperation provides full guarantee for the SCO to become a community of shared destiny with common interests.

The SCO is not a military alliance. The military cooperation among its members is not targeted at a specific country or international cooperation but is out of the need to handle the three evil forces and other threats. China advocates a new security concept of mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and coordination, which constitutes the fundamental guarantee for the organization's stable development. Military cooperation within the SCO effectively helps ensure the security and stability in the region and contributes a lot to the world peace.

Comprehensive mechanisms, strong security support, close economic ties and effective military cooperation endow the SCO with the resolution and capacity to safeguard regional security, stability, prosperity and development. As long as its member states aim at building a community of shared destiny with common interests, sharing responsibilities and interests, prosperity and stability, helping each other out of crises and disasters, they will see great development potential and prospect and attract more and more countries to become the organization's full members and establish close connections.

3．Adverse factors for the SCO to become a community of shared destiny and common interests

Though the Chinese government envisioned the initiative to build the SCO into a community of shard destiny with common interests, which has gained wide support from the other member states, there have been many adverse factors affecting the achievement of the strategic goal.

3.1 China-Russia interaction within SCO framework

As important founding nations of the SCO, China and Russia play a dominant role in its development. The organization has suffered slanders in various manifestations from Western media since its founding. With its development, Western media outlets started hyping the fierce struggle between China and Russia in contending for leadership in the SCO. If such competition really exists, it will be the biggest negative factor to build the SCO into a community of shared destiny and common interests.

In actuality, SCO member states should abide by the principle that all member states are equal and committed to solving problems through consultations. China and Russia have been conducting close cooperation within the SCO framework. If the claim that Beijing and Moscow are scrambling for its leadership is true, would the organization have enjoyed such rapid development? In actuality, there is no such issue as who takes the dominant role because China and Russia are comprehensive strategic partners on an equal footing. They stay in a relationship of emerging countries: non-alliance, non-confrontation and not targeting at any third party. In addition, they object to hegemony and power politics. They seek a development path fit for their own national conditions, support each other's rejuvenation effort and remain committed to doing their own things well. So there is no such thing regarding who dominates the SCO.

Washington's “Asia Pivot” strategy and the West's attempt to contain China compel us to develop the SCO into a community of shared destiny with common interests instead of viewing it as an exclusive tool for the organization to serve its own external strategy. Moscow is a long-term strategic partner of Beijing, not a rival, particular within the SCO framework.

3.2 Contradictions among SCO member states and connections between SCO member states with countries outside the region

Contradictions brought about by frictions among different nationalities, economic and geopolitical interests are among the stumbling blocks on the SCO's path toward a community of shared destiny and common interests. The member states, for example, have prolonged disputes in the utilization, management and development of cross-border water resources, in particular the contention between countries upstream and downstream in hydropower and agricultural irrigation projects.

In addition, the SCO is not the only regional organization in the area. Central Asian nations are also members of other regional organizations and mechanisms including the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Eurasian Economic Community, the Customs Union and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia. In addition, they have participated in regional organizations and mechanisms outside the region. For instance, Kazakhstan actively took part in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and served as its rotating chair in 2010. Uzbekistan attaches great importance to its connection with the US and Europe.

Now it is difficult to solve the contradictions among these Central Asian nations. But relevant countries have signed many agreements, showing they have fundamental common consensus and mutual trust and have certain legal foundation. As the afore-mentioned countries are all SCO members, they possess the condition to solve the scuffles within the SCO framework. As as long as they take the bigger picture in mind and eye long-term interests, follow the principle of sharing prosperity and stability and tiding each other over the disasters and crises, and promote the solution of the disputes with cooperation in other areas, they will greatly promote the SCO to become a community of shared destiny and common interests. Based on the agreements and common consensus of the SCO members, there is every reason to believe that Central Asian countries will become an important participant and active impeller of the development of the community of shared destiny and common interests.

Regarding the connection mechanisms between Central Asian nations and countries outside the region, we have to fully understand that their original intention was to maximize their interests, seek a balance among a variety of mechanisms and care a slew of practical issues confronting Central Asian counties. After all, the SCO's attraction to its member states come from the superiority of its mechanism and the actual benefits it brings.

3.3 Relationship between Russia's Eurasian Strategy and China's Silk Road Economic Belt

The SCO member states are located in a very significant strategic position. Geostrategists even claim that who ever occupies the heartland seizes hold of the whole world. Therefore, the development of this region has gained enormous attention from major countries which have proposed a series of plans: the US' New Silk Road, Russia's Eurasian Strategy, and China's Silk Road Economic Belt. In developing the SCO into a community of shared destiny and common interests, the relationship between the visions rolled out by China and Russia has become a key point. Western media outlets have repeatedly hyped the conflict between the two plans. In actuality, as President Xi said during a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, China's Silk Road Economic Belt is an open and accommodating conception and he welcomes the Kremlin's participation. Russia expressed its willingness to connect the Trans-Siberian Railway with the Belt and Road initiative. The strategic coordination between Beijing and Moscow has set up a paragon for the SCO to develop into a community of common interests and shared destiny.

3.4 Expansion of SCO membership

To absorb more members into the organization is a tall task at the moment. An expansion of the SCO membership directly concerns its development into a community of common interests and shared destiny. Russia and other members hold different attitudes toward India joining the SCO; India-Pakistan disputes will bring potential risks to the organization; the excessively active performance of China and Russia as big countries may affect the coherent force of other members; an expansion of membership will likely scatter the topics on the SCO agenda.

The membership expansion is an issue concerning whether the SCO will grow stronger but also one as regards whether it will promote its coherent force. If handled well, it will inject new blood into the organization; but if not, it will become an unfavorable factor pulling the organization away from a community of common interests and shared destiny.

4．Prospects of developing the SCO into a community of shared destiny and common interests

There are four assumptions for whether the SCO will become a community of shared destiny and common interests: The development will be smooth;something will go wrong; it will gradually fade away; it will enjoy stable development.

The first assumption is the most desirable result, which, however, is unlikely to occur considering the objective issues and contradictions among SCO member states.

The second does not conform to the reality that SCO members are in urgent need to deepen their connections. So it's also impossible.

The third hypothesis demonstrates that the strategy of turning the SCO into a community of common interests and shared destiny lacks internal power and the coherence among the member states gradually fades to a standstill, which does not fit the current situation.

In regards to the fourth one, there is no denying that there are numerous difficulties notably contradiction, among the SCO member states and various external factors. But the member states, based on the need to realize long-term development and prosperous development, can overcome the difficulties and deepen recognition of each other through cooperation and reach more consensus through communication and ultimately create a community of common interests and shared destiny after prolonged joint effort. In the principle of non-alliance and non-exclusion, they will seek prosperity and stability of the region and confront possible crises and disasters.

Therefore, we think the fourth assumption contains the most potential because it is the most feasible way and fits the actual situation of the SCO. It's not just a requirement of the general trend of globalization and regional integration but also conforms with the objective demands of SCO member states in politics, economy and security.

5．Significance of building the SCO into a community of shared destiny and common interests to the world

The spirit of openness, inclusiveness and non-alliance proposed at the establishment of the “Shanghai Five” mechanism in 1995 was once doubted by many. But the SCO has grown to be one of the indispensable members on the international political stage despite waves of criticism. Its influence has reached major countries and international organizations outside the region. Over the development of more than a decade, the organization has improved its ideals and mechanisms among various aspects. China's initiative to turn it into a community of shared destiny and common interests in 2012 served as a new trial. We believe this move will be another brand-new paragon of integrated cooperation for the rest of the world.

In the past, all regional cooperation started from the establishment of an organization and then had a development direction. Nonetheless, this initiative of Beijing followed the idea of sharing responsibilities and interests, enjoying stability and tiding each other over crises and disasters. Then cooperation derived. SCO member states should insist on further innovation and march on under the guidance of advanced philosophies. In a certain sense, the SCO shoulders the mission of constructing a new international order in the process of creating a community of shared destiny and common interests. This diplomatic initiative is a full demonstration of China's confidence in its diplomatic ideals, institutions and development paths, as well as a symbol of China performing on the world stage as a big country.

The proposal that the SCO should become a community of shared destiny and common interests is a brand new diplomatic philosophy and a shock to traditional foreign policies. Over more than one decade of development, the SCO has gained a solid foundation and sufficient conditions. Despite a raft of practical difficulties and challenges, we have every reason to believe that the conception, which fully reflects the need of SCO member states and gained wide support from them, will surely become a goal they will make common effort to achieve.