A senior Chinese diplomat says the Shanghai Cooperation Organization stands opposed to interference in the internal affairs of other countries, especially under the banner of the United Nations.

CRI's Zhang Shuangfeng explains.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping says the just-concluded SCO summit in Beijing has reached consensus on two important things.

Firstly, he says the SCO is going to pay more attention to the turbulent situation in western Asia, north Africa and Afghanistan, given concerns the situation on the ground there could lead to rising extremism and terrorism in central Asia.

"Security and economic cooperation are the main topics of SCO. During this summit, we signed a deal to counter state unrest. The SCO will provide urgent interference in its member state in case of unrest. The security of central Asia is core interest of SCO members and we won't allow any unrest like that's happening in west Asia and north Africa."

Secondly, when it comes to the situation in Syria, Cheng says the SCO member states stand firmly opposed to foreign intervention.

"We strongly oppose some countries intervene in other countries' internal affairs especially in name of UN, even in violent means. The SCO member states agreed that a country's internal affairs should be settled by its own citizens to choose a road for development suited to national conditions. Other countries should follow international laws and respect sovereignty of all countries."

As part of this year's summit, Afghanistan has become an observer state of the SCO.

Cheng Guoping says the SCO is going to continue to provide aid to Afghanistan to promote its reconstruction and reconciliation of its ethnic groups.

"After the withdraw of NATO troops in Afghanistan, SCO won't replace NATO to conduct any military operation as NATO did in Afghanistan. The SCO will try to realize perpetual peace in Afghanistan under UN framework."

Some observers have likened the SCO as a regional counter-balance to NATO.
 
However, Cheng Guoping says the SCO is not a military organization.

"The group won't become a military organization forever because it doesn't possess a military function. But in my opinion, to promote the security and stability in central Asia, it should strengthen cooperation with international organizations for purposes of collective security."

The SCO, which was founded in 2001, groups China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Next year's summit will be held in Kyrgyzstan.

For CRI, I am Zhang Shuangfeng.