China - SCO anyone ?

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation was set up in 2001 to include China, Russia and Central Asian states in a trading and security bloc. Sound familiar ?. The success of the EU in peacefully expanding it's role Eastwards over the past ten years has not gone unnoticed. The advantages of this kind of organisation seem plain in allowing borders to be demilitarised and trade encouraged, but it will not be a clone of the EU - few of it's members have rapidly expanding democratic reforms as a top feature on their agenda. Stability is the key goal here, copying the EU in the sense of peaceful regional integration allowing economies to grow. more from the People's Daily...