About This Video
A joint anti-terrorism drill,
dubbed 'Peace Mis...
(more)
Added: August 20, 2007
A joint anti-terrorism drill,
dubbed 'Peace Mission 2007,'
was held in Chelyabinsk in
Russia's Ural Mountains
region.

The exercise, staged by the
six member countries of the
SCO, had been carried out
first in Chin
more

About This Video
A joint anti-terrorism drill,
dubbed 'Peace Mis...
(more)
Added: August 20, 2007
A joint anti-terrorism drill,
dubbed 'Peace Mission 2007,'
was held in Chelyabinsk in
Russia's Ural Mountains
region.

The exercise, staged by the
six member countries of the
SCO, had been carried out
first in China's Urumqi, and
then in Chelyabinsk, from Aug.
9 to Aug. 17.

About 4,000 troops and 80
aircraft from China,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Russia, Tajikistan and
Uzbekistan participated in the
joint exercise.

The purpose of the joint
anti-terrorist maneuvers
'Peace Mission 2007' is to
'demonstrate determination of
the SCO member states in the
fight against three evil
forces: extremism, terrorism
and separatism, as well as the
common desire to ensure
security and stability in the
region, stimulate the general
development and
prosperity,'Vice Chairman of
China's Central Military
Commission, State Councilor
and Defense Minister Cao
Gangchuan said upon his
arrival at the Shagol airfield
outside Chelyabinsk during the
exercise.

Background:

The SCO is an
intergovernmental organization
founded in Shanghai on June
15, 2001, by China, Russia,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Its member states cover an
area of more than 30 million
square km with a population of
1.46 billion. Its working
languages are Chinese and
Russian.

The SCO originated and grew
from the Shanghai Five
mechanism, which was founded
in 1996 by China, Russia,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstanand
Tajikistan with the aim of
strengthening
confidence-building, carrying
out disarmament in their
border areas and promoting
regional cooperation. In 2000,
the president of Uzbekistan
was invited to the Dushanbe
Summit of the Shanghai Five as
a guest, and in the following
year, the SCO was established
in Shanghai at its first
summit meeting and accepted
Uzbekistan as a member state.
In July, 2005, the fifth
summit was held in Astana,
capital of Kazakhstan. The
summit formally accepted
Pakistan, India and Iran as
observers. The SCO
institutions consist of two
parts: the meeting mechanism
and the permanent organs. The
highest SCO organ is the
Council of Heads of State. The
permanent institutions include
the Secretariat in Beijing and
the Regional Anti-Terrorism
Structure (RATS) in Tashkent.
According to the SCO Charter
and the Declaration on the
Establishment of the SCO, its
main purpose are:
strengthening mutual trust and
good-neighborliness and
friendship among member
states; developing effective
cooperation in political
affairs, economy, trade,
science and technology,
culture, education, energy,
transportation, environmental
protection and other fields;
working together to maintain
regional peace, security and
stability; and promoting the
creation of a new
international political and
economic order featuring
democracy, justice and
rationality.

Category News & Politics

Tags china, , military, army, peace, mission, 2007, air, ground, force, ????, ????, ????, ???