SCO Strengthening Counter-Terrorism Collaboration

The anti-terror body under the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) drafted practicalcooperation for the next stages in fighting the “three forces” of terrorism, separatism andextremism in Beijing. The development was part of the 42nd regular session of the Council ofthe SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (SCO-RATS) hosted by China and held in Beijing.In addition, the conference also conducted research on the enactment of the relevantresolutions from the SCO Astana Summit concerning the improvement of mechanisms toaddress security threats and challenges. It supported the annual work plan of the RATSExecutive Committee and related special partnership plans, the Global Times learnt fromChina’s Ministry of Public Security (MPS).The outline of future collaboration within the anti-terror body of the SCO will improve themember states’ abilities and interoperability in joint anti-terrorism operations. Terrorist threats inrecent years have seen a revival, with a concert hall terrorist attack in Moscow in March andterror attacks in Iran being two recent major events. Terrorist actions often spill over to othercountries and flow about the globe. As the SCO expands, experts say that it needs to improveits capabilities to tackle more threats from terrorism.Representatives from the authorities of the SCO member states observed the meeting, alongwith the Director of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure Executive Committee, Ruslan Mirzaev.The SCO-RATS is located in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Cui told the Global Times that theconference was held against the backdrop of the reform of the SCO-RATS, which has been apriority scheme since China took over the rotating presidency of the SCO.Spokespeople of SCO-RATS praised China’s recent actions in organising a series ofcounter-terrorism activities during its chairmanship of the SCO. They expressed it helpsconsolidate the SCO’s law enforcement and security association mechanism, enhance practicalcooperation, and heighten mutually beneficial cooperative relationships. The SCO memberstates recently completed the Anti-terrorism Interaction-2024 joint exercise in Northwest China’sXinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Photos released illustrated soldiers and police officers fullyarmed with assault rifles, pistols and riot shields projecting an assault, some via armoured andall-terrain vehicles and some through helicopter, with aerial drones and robot dogs alsodeployed in the exercise.Cyber counter-terrorism training techniques that were held in China have touched on sharingexperiences in smart counter-terrorism, security supervision in open crowded places and large-scale events, telecom network febrication, cross-border, gambling and cyber security.