Chinese top legislator Wu Bangguo on Tuesday made a three-point
proposal in Moscow aimed at improving cooperation among the
parliaments of the six member states of the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization (SCO).
Wu made the proposal at a meeting hosted by Sergei Mironov, the
chairman of the Russian Federation Council (the upper house of
parliament), and Boris Gryzlov, the chairman of the State Duma (the
lower house).
First, he said, the parliaments should cooperate to ensure the
ratification of agreements at an early date and supervise their
implementation, thus providing legal guarantees for exchange and
cooperation of the six-member regional bloc.
The parliaments should also learn from other mature cooperation
mechanisms and reinforce the coordination with other cooperation
mechanisms, so as to push forward the development of the SCO, the
Chinese top legislator said.
Secondly, Wu said, the parliaments should promote cooperation on
the issues of common concern such as regional security and economic
cooperation.
He recommended that in line with the needs and priorities of the
SCO, the parliaments should make due amendments to their domestic
laws and regulations timely, in a bid to create a favorable legal
environment for cooperation on regional security and economy.
Thirdly, Wu said, the parliaments should diversify their
cooperation in a flexible manner.
"We support holding meetings of top legislators for
communication and consultation on major issues in relation with
parliamentary cooperation," he said, adding that the expansion of
exchanges between sub-committees, friendship groups and other
offices is also encouraged.
He stressed that efforts should also be intensified to promote
friendly exchanges between lawmakers of younger generation.
The Chinese top legislator also appreciated the SCO
inter-parliamentary meeting mechanism proposed by Mironov.
"We believe this mechanism is conducive to enhancing mutual
understanding, deepening political trust, and improving practical
cooperation in such fields as security and economy and trade," he
said.
He believed that the mechanism would inject new vigor into the
development of the SCO.
Dubbed a new model for regional cooperation, the SCO was founded
in Shanghai on June 15, 2001 aimed to promote regional security and
fight terrorism.
The SCO consists of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia,
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. In 2004 and 2005, the SCO accepted
Mongolia, Iran, Indonesia and India as observers. The organization
has also set up official links with many international
organizations including the United Nations and the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
The heads of state from the six member countries are expected to
meet in Shanghai in June to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the
establishment of the SCO.
(Xinhua News Agency May 30, 2006)
