‘Trust within Asia grouping key’ to building influence

Speakers at talks hosted by Shanghai urge unity among the 28 member nations on regional issues

A security grouping with a strong focus on Central Asia will need to build trust between its member states if it is to increase its influence in regional and world affairs by transforming into an international organisation, a twoday forum in Shanghai has heard.

Experts and former officials from the 28-member Conference on Interaction and ConfidenceBuilding Measures in Asia (CICA) were in China to discuss their vision for Asia’s security during a turbulent time in world affairs.

The forum followed the October CICA leaders’ conference in Kazakhstan, which included a pledge by the host country’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to transform the grouping into a regional international organisation.

CICA’s members include countries from Southeast Asia and the Middle East, as well as China and Russia, and account for more than 50 per cent of the world’s GDP, as well as two-thirds of global growth.

This week’s forum, hosted by the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (SIIS), acknowledged the multiple challenges facing the region, from the economy and energy to national and food security, as well as climate change.

Xu Bu, president of the China Institute of International Studies, called on the CICA countries to unite and fight against these challenges while denouncing deglobalisation and the great power competitions promoted by “some countries”.

“Geopolitics and great power competitions are the main policy directions in some countries. Such a policy of focusing on rivalry and promoting zero-sum games seriously disrupts unity, coordination and cooperation of the international community,” Xu said.

Yang Jiemian, president emeritus and chairman of the SIIS academic advisory council – and brother of state councillor Yang Jiechi – backed CICA’s ambitions to transform into an influential regional organisation.

“At present, on the world stage, para-political and parasecurity issues are prominent. CICA should tackle major conflicts and face up to difficulties, to actively create conditions and take the initiative to resolve conflicts, and play a role that conforms to the mission and scale of CICA,” Yang said.

Member states’ different policy approaches towards regional issues were hampering CICA’s transformation into an international organisation, said Sun Zhuangzhi, director of the Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. More inclusiveness among the CICA countries would help to speed up the process, he told the session.

At present, on the world stage, para-political and para-security issues are prominent

YANG JIEMIAN OF THE SIIS ACADEMIC

ADVISORY COUNCIL

Maruf Abdujabborov, head of analysis and foreign policy forecasting at Tajikistan’s Centre for Strategic Research, also called for more mutual trust. Using the Afghanistan crisis as an example, he said the different stances on the issue were “unhelpful” to regional stability.

Afghanistan was a main agenda item at the October leaders’ conference, where China was represented by Vice-President Wang Qishan. President Xi Jinping had already visited Kazakhstan in September, on his first overseas trip since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

During the summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin held the United States responsible for the crisis while other leaders, including Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, called for dialogue and negotiations that would need to involve the West.