I wonder if Cuba, Yugoslavia, Iraq, Vietnam
might be interested in joining - since they
clearly have more in common with Shanghai
than with Washington or London...
----- Original Message -----
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Thursday, July 06, 2000 6:18 AM
Subject: [STOPNATO] Shanghai Forum, new Warsaw Pact???
STOP NATO: NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.COM
Central Asia: Shanghai Forum Ends In Tajikistan
Dushanbe, 5 July 2000 (RFE/RL) - The Shanghai Five summit in the Tajik
capital Dushanbe concluded today with the presidents announcing a change in
the name of the organization. Russian President Vladimir Putin said the new
name is Shanghai Forum. Putin said he and the presidents of China,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan approved the change. Uzbek
President Islam Karimov attended as an observer.
Putin said the group already has achieved positive results, saying: "In our
opinion, this organization has become a primary factor of stability in the
region. And in this context, it will exert a serious influence on
international affairs."
A principal topic of today's summit was fighting terrorism. The presidents
confirmed a plan to set up an anti-terrorist center in Kyrgyzstan's capital,
Bishkek.
They also criticized a proposal in the United States to deploy a tactical
missile defense system and called on all nations to refrain from using arms
against any country without sanctions from the United Nations.
Earlier today, Putin and Chinese President Jiang Zemin met and discussed
their opposition to the U.S. missile defense system proposal. A spokesman for
Putin says the two leaders believe the proposed U.S. system would undermine
existing arms control agreements and violate the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile
treaty.
Jiang Announces Future Shanghai Five Summit to be Held in Chinese City
MOSCOW, Jul 5, 2000 -- (Agence France Presse) Chinese President Jiang Zemin
announced in Dushanbe early Wednesday that next year's five-nation summit
between Russia, China, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan would be held in
Shanghai, ITAR-TASS said.
Jiang made the announcement before entering into one-on-one talks with
Russian President Vladimir Putin and ahead of the summit with the three other
leaders and Uzbek President Islam Karimov, who is attending as an observer.
The five heads of state are expected to sign a Dushanbe Declaration summing
up their meeting, while China, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan will sign a
trilateral border agreement.
The group of five countries first met in Shanghai in April 1996 to discuss
border issues but the focus of the summits has since shifted to questions of
regional security and economic cooperation. ((c) 2000 Agence France Presse)
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