HONG KONG -- Last week the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), an international antiterrorist group formed by China, Russia and four Central Asian countries only months before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, inaugurated a new antiterrorism center in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. The fledgling group held a summit meeting to mark the establishment of its organizational structure.
Chinese President Hu Jintao, in a speech to launch the Regional Antiterrorism Structure, called for efforts to tackle the problems of both regional confrontation and poverty, which he said are the roots of terrorism. "Terrorism," he said, "is not automatically related to certain ethnic groups or religions."
Uzbekistan was the last leg of the president's four-nation trip, which also took him to Poland, Romania and Hungary. The presidential travels vividly reflected the multifaceted nature of China's foreign policy. His visit to East European countries sought to cement China's relations with three former Warsaw Pact members that are now members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.