The vehicle for this ambitious agenda is the so-called Shanghai Five, a Central Asian organization formed five years ago to reduce tensions along the former Sino-Russian border. But as China emerges as a political and economic powerhouse, the group's mandate is taking on a regional dimension, highlighting Beijing's aspirations for greater influence in Asia.
To that end, the group is changing its name to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. On Thursday, it added Uzbekistan to the original five-country collective, which includes the former Soviet states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. More nations, such as Pakistan, India and Mongolia, could join later.
With President Bush in Europe this week shopping his controversial missile defense system to his NATO allies, Central Asian leaders here are expected to endorse China's strong opposition to it.
China and Russia, former rivals for leadership in the Communist bloc, are now joined against a unipolar world driven by the American agenda. They share the claim that Bush's missile plan interferes with the affairs of sovereign states and has the potential to trigger a new global arms race.
Chinese officials are touting the formation of the regional organization as a landmark event ushering in a new era of post-Cold War cooperation. But a more realistic goal for the group is the vow to crack down on the spread of Islamic militancy and separatist movements, many receiving arms and training from the Taliban, Afghanistan's extremist Islamic rulers.
China is determined to prevent any radical influence from inflaming separatist tendencies already percolating among ethnic minorities in Xinjing, which borders several Central Asian republics, including Afghanistan. It is strategically important because, like the other politically unstable desert nations around it, the province sits on a wealth of resources, including oil and natural gas.
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I wonder if their mandate has been altered since September 11th?