The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), also known as the Shanghai Pact,[2] is a transcontinental political, economic, security, and military alliance. In terms of geographic scope and population, it is the world's largest regional organization, covering approximately 60% of the area of Eurasia, 40% of the world population, and more than 30% of global GDP.[3]
The SCO is the successor to the Shanghai Five, a mutual security agreement formed in 1996 between China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. On 15 June 2001, the leaders of these nations and Uzbekistan met in Shanghai to announce a new organisation with deeper political and economic cooperation; the SCO Charter was signed on 7 July 2002 and entered into force on 19 September 2003. Its membership has since expanded to eight states, with India and Pakistan joining on 9 June 2017. Iran started accession as a full member in September 2021 at the Dushanbe Summit in Tajikistan. Several countries are engaged as observers or partners.
The SCO is governed by the Heads of State Council (HSC), its supreme decision-making body, which meets once a year. Military exercises are also regularly conducted among members to promote cooperation and coordination against terrorism and other external threats, and to maintain regional peace and stability.
Cooperation on Security
The SCO is primarily centered on security-related concerns, often describing the main threats it confronts as being terrorism, separatism and extremism.
At SCO summit, held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on 16–17 June 2004, the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) was established. On 21 April 2006, the SCO announced plans to fight cross-border drug crimes under the counter-terrorism rubric.[55]
In October 2007, the SCO signed an agreement with the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), in the Tajik capital of Dushanbe, to broaden cooperation on issues such as security, crime, and drug trafficking.[56]
The organisation is also redefining cyberwarfare, saying that the dissemination of information "harmful to the spiritual, moral and cultural spheres of other states" should be considered a "security threat". An accord adopted in 2009 defined "information war", in part, as an effort by a state to undermine another's "political, economic, and social systems".[57] The Diplomat reported in 2017 that SCO has foiled 600 terror plots and extradited 500 terrorists through RATS.[58] The 36th meeting of the Council of the RATS decided to hold a joint anti-terror exercise, Pabbi-Antiterror-2021, in Pakistan in 2021.[59]
Military Activities
Over the past few years, the organisation's activities have expanded to include increased military cooperation, intelligence sharing, and counterterrorism.[60]
Military exercises are regularly conducted among members to promote cooperation and coordination against terrorism and other external threats, and to maintain regional peace and stability.[1] There have been a number of SCO joint military exercises. The first of these was held in 2003, with the first phase taking place in Kazakhstan and the second in China. Since then China and Russia have teamed up for large-scale war games in Peace Mission 2005, Peace Mission 2007 and Peace Mission 2009, under the auspices of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. More than 4,000 soldiers participated at the joint military exercises in Peace Mission 2007, which took place in Chelyabinsk Russia near the Ural Mountains, as was agreed upon in April 2006 at a meeting of SCO Defence Ministers.[61][62] Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said that the exercises would be transparent and open to media and the public. Following the war games' successful completion, Russian officials began speaking of India joining such exercises in the future and the SCO taking on a military role. Peace Mission 2010, conducted 9–25 September at Kazakhstan's Matybulak training area, saw over 5,000 personnel from China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan conduct joint planning and operational maneuvers.[63]
The SCO has served as a platform for larger military announcements by members. During the 2007 war games in Russia, with leaders of SCO member states in attendance including Chinese President Hu Jintao, Russia's President Vladimir Putin used the occasion to take advantage of a captive audience. Russian strategic bombers, he said, would resume regular long-range patrols for the first time since the Cold War. "Starting today, such tours of duty will be conducted regularly and on the strategic scale", Putin said. "Our pilots have been grounded for too long. They are happy to start a new life".[citation needed]
On 4 June 2014, in the Tajik capital Dushanbe, the idea was brought up to merge the SCO with the Collective Security Treaty Organization. It is still being debated.
Economic Cooperation
Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are also members of the Eurasian Economic Union. A Framework Agreement to enhance economic cooperation was signed by the SCO member states on 23 September 2003. At the same meeting the Premier of China, Wen Jiabao, proposed a long-term objective to establish a free trade area in the SCO, while other more immediate measures would be taken to improve the flow of goods in the region.[64][65] A follow up plan with 100 specific actions was signed one year later, on 23 September 2004.[66]
On 26 October 2005, during the Moscow Summit of the SCO, the Secretary General of the Organisation said that the SCO will prioritise joint energy projects; including in the oil and gas sector, the exploration of new hydrocarbon reserves, and joint use of water resources. The creation of the SCO Interbank Consortium was also agreed upon at that summit in order to fund future joint projects. The first meeting of the SCO Interbank Association was held in Beijing on 21–22 February 2006.[67][68] On 30 November 2006, at The SCO: Results and Perspectives, an international conference held in Almaty, the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that Russia is developing plans for an SCO "Energy Club".[69] The need for this "club" was reiterated by Moscow at an SCO summit in November 2007. Other SCO members, however, have not committed themselves to the idea.[70] However, during the 2008 summit it was stated that "Against the backdrop of a slowdown in the growth of world economy pursuing a responsible currency and financial policy, control over the capital flowing, ensuring food and energy security have been gaining special significance".[71][failed verification]
At the 2007 SCO summit Iranian Vice President Parviz Davoodi addressed an initiative that had been garnering greater interest and assuming a heightened sense of urgency when he said, "The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is a good venue for designing a new banking system which is independent from international banking systems".[72]
The address by President Putin also included these comments:
We now clearly see the defectiveness of the monopoly in world finance and the policy of economic selfishness. To solve the current problem Russia will take part in changing the global financial structure so that it will be able to guarantee stability and prosperity in the world and to ensure progress. The world is seeing the emergence of a qualitatively different geo-political situation, with the emergence of new centers of economic growth and political influence.
We will witness and take part in the transformation of the global and regional security and development architectures adapted to new realities of the 21st century, when stability and prosperity are becoming inseparable notions.
Source: Lifted from Wikipedia
Announcements & Information
Megathreads and spaces to hang out:
❤️ Come listen to music with your fellow Hexbears in Cy.tube
💖 Come talk in the New weekly queer thread
🧡 Monthly Neurodiverse Megathread
💛 Read about a current topic in the news
⭐️ June Movie Schedule ⭐
Reminders:
💚 You can join specific comms to see posts about all sorts of topics
💙 Hexbear’s algorithm prioritizes comments and discussions over upbears
💜 Sorting by new makes your comrades happy
🌈 If you ever want to make your own megathread, you can go here
Links To Resources (Aid and Theory):
was just randomly thinking back to the greek debt crisis and just how completely ubiquitous and brazen the media and reddit narrative was of 'the shape of the greekoid brainpan is irretrievably inclined to idleness and sloth', and why therefore explicitly punitive austerity was required to teach them a harsh lesson in proper protestant work ethic. you were allowed to argue that the debt enforcement itself was cruel, but the laziness of the greek was just taken as completely axiomatic and impossible to argue against (despite the minor complication that greece actually has the longest average working hours in the eu)
i know greeks have never quite been fully white but it was kinda incredible to see the calipers brought out in such full force especially against a people who are still european, and especially when those very same people holding the calipers are the ones with the marble bust avatars who wax endlessly about greek democracy and culture being the historical cornerstones of the enlightened superiority of western civilization 💀 📏
I remember a video around that time that went "Genius! ... Genius! Genius! Genius!"
Had a dream that
(nsfw)
spoiler
I was making out with a dude but when he took off my shit i was wearing another shirt underneath so he took off that one and there was yet another shirt under that. This repeated for about five more shirts until I yelled "fooled you!" and ran away
When the date is going sideways and you need a diversion so you turn into a gecko.
spoiler
Dreamt about sex with an adult version of a school friend and then woke up sweaty :sweat:
Her: babe, please, I'm horny
Me: no, that's not necessary to advance the plot at all.
I should like write very non-horny fanfiction to very horny shows. Volcel True Blood here I come.
Time to start coughing in envelopes and writing letters to your representatives, in Minecraft of course
:posting: Get in here, you post hungry nerds.
@aaaaaaadjsf @Abraxiel @AnarchaPrincess @Antilope @Alaskaball @BrookeBaybee @bbnh69420 @budoguytenkaichi @buh @CARCOSA @CDommunist @Cherufe @ClathrateG @ClimateChangeAnxiety @clover @comi @ComradeCmdrPiggy @ComradeEchidna @context @congressbaseballfan @crime @DasKarlBarx @DeathToBritain @Dirt_Owl @Eco @ella @el_principito @EmmaGoldman @FidelCashflow @GalaxyBrain @ghosts @Goadstool @GoroAkechi @Grownbravy @halfmoon @JamesConeZone @Kanna @Kaputnik @kristina @Koa_lala @LeninWeave @LoudMuffin @Lundi @marxisthayaca @MaybeNickCage @MelaniaTrump @Mindfury @Ness @PM_ME_YOUR_FOUCAULTS @PorkrollPosadist @PootrKrobuttkin @PurrLure @Ram_The_Manparts @Redcuban1959 @REallyN @riley @RNAi @RoseColoredVoid @Sandinband @SorosFootSoldier @Spike @spring_rabbit @TankieTanuki @Tervell @ThisMachinePostsHog @Trouble @ultraviolet @UlyssesT @viva_la_juche @WIIHAPPYFEW @Wmill @wtypstanaccount04 @Yanqui_UXO @Zoift
@SeventyTwoTrillion thread topic might help explain why most of Asia looks like a unified bloc now. Also thanks for the news threads :chavez-salute:
is this supposed to be the mega for today, or the one for tomorrow?
Good question! I forgot to check the schedule because there was no mega today and ended up stealing from @thethirdgracchi . I'm sorry :(
Gracchi, we can lock this one OR you can do the 17th if you wanna.
This one already has some posts so it's fine, I can just post the Bloomsday one for tomorrow! It'll be a post-Bloomsday Bloomsday celebration lol
Yeah not a big deal
EDIT: Wait why does this Mega say June 15th
it's Che's fault.
(we left the Che mega up for two days, which is how all this confusion happened)
yep. I think there was confusion due to the double Che mega. the mega to be posted is the Bloomsday mega and @thethirdgracchi has it.
I was a little delirious when drafting this and fucked up. I tagged them in another comment. 😔
Exploring my gender identity by creating 306 alt accounts with each combination of 2 pronouns, and transitioning to whatever gender gets the most upbears :stonks-up:
Wait, it's 324 combinations, I forgot that some people only have one set of pronouns
I want to troll archeologists from the future by rewriting Bram Stoker's Dracula, but replace the word "Dracula" with "Morbius" and "vampire" with "morb", confuse the hell out of them.
Dracula is public domain and morb is a legally distinct enough meme :side-eye-1:
We just need to abolish the system of copyright and then my dreams can come true
declaring The End of History will never not be funny to me. Like,
Oh, we're incapable of imaging a future for industrialized, liberal society. Instead of recognizing this as the dry-rot of empire, we're just gonna assume it's because we won History and everyone has to be nice to us now.
I sold my car! I got $16,000 for it! Time to live that car-free life!
Whenever I think something is transphobic I'm always glad there is a cis ally there to remind me that I'm wrong. Where would me and all the other trans people be without their wisdom and guidance
americans whining that their petrol is like $5 a gallon as it's nearly twice that here ugh
Maxwell's month-long trial was widely seen as a reckoning that Epstein — the globetrotting financier who killed himself in 2019 in a Manhattan jail cell at age 66 rather than face a sex trafficking trial of his own — never had.
It is also one of the highest-profile cases during the #MeToo movement, where hundreds of women have accused rich, powerful men of abuse.
I'm gonna scream
:guts-rage: None of the rich powerful men were even on trial, we fucking know who they are and he didn't fucking kill himself!
:trump-anguish::billdawg::dersh::billionaire-tears: :stalin-gun-1::stalin-gun-2: