CHINA: China, Russia and the four central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan yesterday pledged to combat terrorism in all forms "with no double standards".
Foreign Ministers from the six members of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) called at a one day meeting in Beijing for the fight against terrorism to be carried out on all levels, "free of bias". China and Russia have supported the US-led war on terrorism in large part due to their concerns over Muslim separatists in their own countries.
Beijing has stepped up a crackdown on the Uighur ethnic minority group from its north-west which it says has designs to build an independent state. The Chinese Foreign Minister, Mr Tang Jiaxuan, said in a statement after the meeting that all six SCO members were supportive of the positions and efforts respectively of China concerning East Turkestan terrorists and of Russia concerning Chechen terrorists. He said these efforts were regarded as part and parcel of the international fight against terrorism.
Yesterday's meeting was seen as an attempt by China to reassert its influence in Central Asia with the winding down of the war in Afghanistan, which has brought US troops into the back yards of all six countries.