SCO as Chinese Version of Regional Alliance Zhou Dong Chen, Wang Li.

Since 2001 when the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was founded by six states (China, Russia, Kazakstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan), it has come of age in terms of the new type of the security cooperation in Eurasia. At the moment, the SCO is the largest regional security organization in the world, accounting for nearly half of the global population and over 1/5 of global GDP.

In addition, it has developed into a vigorous platform with upholding the Shanghai Spirit based on inclusiveness and common development. It is noted that the SCO has asserted itself as a unique, influential and growing regional organization whose potential has since expanded remarkably following the accession of India and Pakistan in 2017.In 2018, Chinese President Xi Jinping chaired the Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO Member States in Qingdao, where he called on all the member states firmly committed to the goals and principles of the SCO Charter and, guided by the Shanghai Spirit, to continue addressing the tasks outlined in the SCO Development Strategy until 2025.

Russian President Putin has also advocated the settlement of crises in Afghanistan, Syria, the Iranian nuclear issue and the Korean Peninsula, as well as other regional conflicts within the framework of generally accepted norms and principles of international law. Due to this, it is proper to take the SCO as a new-typed regional alliance, which is different from the traditional ones.In foreign affairs, the forces that bring states together and drive them apart will affect the security of individual states by determining both how large a threat they face and how much benefits they can expect.

Similarly, the factors that determine how states choose alliance or strategic partners will shape the evolution of the international system as a whole. The SCO is no exception. Yet, the SCO is designed not to follow the model like the NATO although the interest of each member state and the regional stability could be better secured through a coordinated collective security among themselves considering non-conventional threats, such as terrorism and the regional chaos caused by the United States military presence in the region since the Persian Gulf war over the past decade.

Given this, the SCO declares its desire for common development and pursues its external policy in accordance with the principles of non-alignment, non-targeting any third country. It has also aimed to achieve...