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SOC group meeting in Uzbekistan: Xi (left), Putin (center), together with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev (second from right) and his Tajik counterpart Emomali Rahmon
Photo: Sergei Bobylev / AP
China's head of state and party leader Xi Jinping has warned members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) against popular uprisings and foreign interference.
"We must prevent foreign forces from instigating 'color revolutions'," the Chinese president said at the group's summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on Friday.
Together, the SCO members must resist "interference in internal affairs under any pretext."
Political movements of the past few decades, which often brought about the downfall of autocratic systems, are referred to as »color revolutions«.
Democratic transformations in several countries in the 2000s were often named after colors or plants and were mostly supported by democratic forces from abroad.
The world is entering a "new phase of turbulence and change," Xi told attendees.
"The fog of the century's pandemic hasn't cleared yet, the smoke from local conflicts is rising again, the Cold War mentality and bloc politics have returned." Unilateralism and protectionism are on the rise.
Economic globalization is encountering countercurrents.
"Humanity is at a crossroads."
Admission process for Belarus started
He also called on SCO members to fight drug smuggling, other transnational crimes and the "three evil forces."
These include terrorism, separatism and religious extremism.
China is willing to train 2,000 law enforcement officers from SCO member states over the next five years and set up a counter-terrorism training center.
To meet the world's hardship, China will provide 1.5 billion yuan worth of food and humanitarian supplies to needy developing countries, Xi also announced.
The SCO group, founded in 2001 initially with a view to fighting terrorism, now includes China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Also present at the meeting in Uzbekistan were Russian President Vladimir Putin, his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.
The process for the admission of Belarus, which is considered the »last dictatorship in Europe«, also began at the summit.
asc/dpa