The SCO stands as a solid defense for global multilateralism

Editor's note: Liu Chang is an assistant researcher at the Institute of Russian, East European and Central Asian Studies in the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Liu Long is a research assistant in the Center for Globalization Studies at the School of Social Sciences at Tsinghua University. The article reflects the authors' opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory in the World Anti-Fascist War and the founding of the United Nations. However, for anyone concerned about international news and human well-being, a series of events this year may have been disappointing. The Ukraine crisis continues to drag on, the situation in Gaza is worsening, the shadow of tariff wars and trade wars looms large, and the driving forces and resistances of economic globalization are looking to have reached an impasse. It appears that multilateralism and unilateralism are engaged in fierce games, and the global governance system is undergoing profound adjustments.

Don't view the SCO with a Cold War mindset—It's actively boosting multilateral development among member states

It seems that 80 years later, we have returned to the past. The multilateral norms that international society struggled to establish after World War II are suffering an unprecedented impact, and power politics is once again prevalent. Fortunately, history has not completely repeated itself. The multi-polarization of the world and economic globalization are still developing in depth, the Global South is growing remarkably, and some multilateral organizations have ushered in new development opportunities.

Among them is the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which has received increasing attention in recent years. From August 31 to September 1 this year, the SCO Summit will be held in Tianjin, China. At that time, more than 20 heads of state and heads of 10 international organizations will attend events related to the summit, making it the largest summit in the history of the SCO. This is not only a grand event for the SCO but will also inject a shot in the development of multilateralism.

Of course, there have always been criticisms of the SCO. For example, internal conflicts among member states are difficult to reconcile, decision-making is inefficient, ineffective in dealing with regional conflicts, and it is essentially a "talking shop".

Some criticisms may be sincere. After all, as a developing and open multilateral institution, the SCO inevitably has areas that need to be improved. But other criticisms may stem from distortions caused by viewing the SCO through a "Cold War" lens, ignoring the characteristics of the SCO as a true multilateral organization, which is also the fundamental reason for the continuous development and growth of the organization.

Three core principles of the SCO: Mutual trust, equal consultation and mutual benefit 

(1) Partnership rather than alliance, shaping consensus through genuine unity and cooperation rather than targeting third parties. The SCO emphasizes that member states resolve issues through equal consultation and establish mutual trust, rather than through military alliances or ideological bonding. The most representative of this is the concept named "Shanghai Spirit", which advocates "mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diverse civilizations, and pursuit of common development". This is what a new type of international relations should look like and the original aspiration for the establishment of the SCO.

(2) Consensus through consultation rather than domination by major powers. The SCO was co-founded by countries of different sizes. For example, the founding members include major countries such as China and Russia, as well as Central Asian countries, reflecting a mechanism where countries, both large and small, participate in decision-making together.

(3) Practice-oriented. In its early days, the SCO focused on non-traditional security fields such as counter-terrorism and anti-narcotics as its core cooperation contents. It has gradually expanded cooperation in political, economic, cultural, and other fields in practice.

This year marks the 24th anniversary of the founding of the SCO. Under the strategic leadership of the heads of state of member states, the SCO has maintained a steady and sound development momentum, continuously expanded its cooperation fields, continuously enhanced its international reputation, and become more prominent in its strategic value. The development of history may have twists and turns, but the spirit of unity, friendship, and cooperation can still guide humanity towards a path of peace and development. We look forward to this SCO Summit, which can once again boost the confidence of the international community and inject new impetus into multilateralism.