VZCZCXRO6254
OO RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHBJ #4302/01 3390728
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 050728Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2742
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEHAH/AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT 0688
RUEHTA/AMEMBASSY ASTANA 0002
RUEHEK/AMEMBASSY BISHKEK 1275
RUEHTA/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 6490
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 0303
RUEHNT/AMEMBASSY TASHKENT 1100
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIJING 024302 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA, EAP/CM AND INR 
NSC FOR WILDER, TONG AND SHRIER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/04/2016 
TAGS: PREL PTER ENRG ZK IR CH RS
SUBJECT: SCO CHIEF DISCUSSES IRAN, MILITARY EXERCISES, 
ENERGY, AID, ASEAN AND COLOR REVOLUTIONS WITH AMBASSADOR 
 
REF: A. BEIJING 23354 
     ¶B. BEIJING 11758 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Clark T. Randt, Jr.  Reasons 1.4 (b/d). 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) 
has "no current plans" for expansion or to allow observers, 
including Iran, to become full members, SCO Secretary General 
Zhang Deguang told the Ambassador December 4.  Zhang denied 
reports that the SCO and some non-SCO former Soviet republics 
will join together for military exercises in Russia next 
year.  The United States does not want to see the SCO 
interfere with Coalition efforts in Afghanistan and would be 
concerned if the SCO sought to exclude the United States from 
Central Asia, the Ambassador stressed.  The SCO has no 
anti-U.S. agenda, Zhang said.  Some SCO members are seeking 
greater coordination on energy and aid, but most projects 
outside the transport sector exist in name only.  The SCO 
launched its first activity with ASEAN today in Jakarta in 
advance of the upcoming ASEAN meetings in the Philippines. 
The Ambassador corrected Zhang's misimpressions about 
"American-sponsored color revolutions."  Zhang said he would 
encourage his successor, Kazakhstan's current Ambassador to 
Japan Bolat Nurgaliyev, to continue frank discussions with 
the Ambassador after Zhang steps down as SCO Secretary 
General at year's end.  End Summary. 
 
No Immediate Plan To Expand and Include Iran 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) The Ambassador asked Zhang about reports that the SCO 
would invite Iran to become a full member in 2007 (ref A). 
Zhang said the SCO has no current plan to absorb new members 
or to allow current observer members Iran, India, Mongolia 
and Pakistan to become full SCO members.  Recalling the 
Ambassador's strong warning that the SCO should not give Iran 
a platform during the June SCO Summit in Shanghai (ref A), 
Zhang said that he, along with Chinese and Russian diplomats, 
had made sure Iran did not use its observer membership in the 
SCO as a platform for anti-American statements or to defend 
its nuclear program.  Asked recently by reporters about the 
SCO position on Iran's nuclear program, Zhang said he told 
the press that the SCO has no involvement with the issue and 
hopes that the nuclear problem can be resolved through 
negotiations. 
 
¶3. (C) Zhang said coordination among current members has to 
be strengthened before the SCO will be in a position to 
invite new members or observers.  The SCO requires all 
decisions to be made by consensus, which blocks swift action. 
 The SCO has just begun implementing a few projects in member 
countries.  Not only has it not begun any project in an 
observer country, but Zhang lacks instructions to even 
discuss specific projects in member states with observer 
members.  Word has gotten out that the SCO will not expand 
quickly and is not accepting applications for new observer 
members, he said. 
 
Afghanistan Relationship Unchanged 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (C) Zhang said he does not anticipate any change in the 
SCO's special "contact group" relationship with Afghanistan. 
Responding to the Ambassador's questions, Zhang said the SCO 
agrees with continued United States' counterterrorism efforts 
in Afghanistan and believes that helping Afghanistan 
establish stability and develop economically will benefit all 
parties in the region.  SCO members have different views 
about the Coalition military presence in Afghanistan, he 
acknowledged.  The Ambassador emphasized that any attempt to 
push Coalition forces out of Afghanistan and Central Asia 
would strengthen the view that the SCO is an anti-U.S. 
organization. 
 
Military Exercises 
------------------ 
 
¶5. (C) Western scholars who suggest that the SCO is a 
NATO-like military organization misunderstand the SCO's 
focus, Zhang told the Ambassador.  The SCO will continue to 
 
BEIJING 00024302  002 OF 003 
 
 
engage in combined counterterrorism exercises but has no 
formal relationship with the Collective Treaty Security 
Organization (CTSO), he said.  Zhang said he had seen media 
reports that the 2007 combined SCO military exercise in 
Russia would involve the CTSO and its non-SCO members Belarus 
or Armenia.  But he denied that non-SCO members would 
participate with the SCO in combined exercises and deflected 
the Ambassador's questions about details of the SCO's 
military exercises. 
 
Energy: Russia's Views Differ From Other SCO Members 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶6. (C) The Ambassador asked whether Russia's proposal to form 
an SCO energy club constituted a prelude to efforts to limit 
the United States' participation in energy development in 
Central Asia.  The SCO has no interest in establishing an 
exclusive sphere of interest that the United States or the 
European Union cannot enter, Zhang said.  Even those who 
might want to minimize outside influence in Central Asia 
canno do so, he said, pointing to the United States' 
position as the largest investor in Kazakhstan's energy 
sector.  Zhang said he personally believes Central Asia 
should be open to development by all, but recognizes that 
Russian interests with respect to the SCO and specifically 
energy are not necessarily the same as those of other SCO 
members.  During Soviet times, the USSR kept Central Asia 
isolated and some in Russia today cannot adjust to a more 
open Central Asia, he said, adding that this is his personal 
opinion as a long-time observer of Russia. 
 
Economic Aid Moving Slowly, Bilaterally 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (C) The United States welcomes development aid to Central 
Asia, the Ambassador said, but would be concerned if such aid 
were given in an attempt to build a political relationship 
that excludes the United States.  Most economic aid remains 
bilateral and the vast majority of SCO-backed economic 
projects exist in name only, as no actual work has begun on 
energy, pipeline or most other infrastructure projects, Zhang 
said.  Road work on a transport corridor has begun with 
funding from an SCO-backed banking consortium.  Transport 
improvements are well-suited to multilateral support because 
they require setting common standards in customs, border 
defense and other fields.  During the September SCO Leaders' 
Meeting, members agreed to accelerate work on an Asian 
Development Bank-funded project to build a transport corridor 
from China's Pacific coast to Europe via Kazakhstan and 
Turkey or via Russia. 
 
ASEAN-SCO Academic Forum Opens In Jakarta 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (C) In advance of upcoming ASEAN meetings in the 
Philippines, the SCO and ASEAN opened an expert-level 
academic forum December 4 in Jakarta to discuss how the two 
regional organizations might better coordinate their 
activities, Zhang said.  The forum is the first activity 
conducted under a Memorandum of Understanding signed between 
the SCO and ASEAN.  The SCO has no relationship with other 
ASEAN-related organizations, including ASEAN-Plus-Three or 
the East Asia Summit, he said. 
 
Questions About American Policy, "Color Revolutions" 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶9. (C) Zhang asked several questions about American policy on 
Central Asia and about "color revolutions."  Many in Central 
Asia and even in China adhered to the view that USG-backed 
non-government organizations, including organized religious 
groups, are intentionally fomenting color revolutions in 
Central Asia, Zhang said.  Based on his contact with American 
officials and his review of the September Congressional 
hearing at which SCA A/S Boucher testified, Zhang said he 
personally believes the United States' view is more balanced, 
including economic, security and democracy goals in Central 
Asia.  The Ambassador emphasized that the United States 
supports democracy and stability in Central Asia.  The USG 
does not direct NGOs or religious groups. 
 
BEIJING 00024302  003 OF 003 
 
 
 
New Secretary General and Institutional Changes 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶10. (C) Kazakhstan's Ambassador to Japan Bolat Nurgaliyev 
will succeed Zhang as SCO Secretary General effective January 
¶1.  The SCO succession sequence is China, Kazakhstan, 
Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, which Zhang 
said is alphabetical according to the Russian alphabet.  Each 
SCO Secretary General serves a three-year non-renewable term, 
he said.  A former Chinese Vice Foreign Minister, Zhang will 
remain affiliated with China's MFA after he departs from the 
SCO but will likely work on research projects.  SCO 
Secretariat staff will remain unchanged, he said, although 
 
SIPDIS 
the Secretariat has expanded to include five officials of 
Deputy Secretary General rank.  The Deputy Secretary Generals 
will be responsible for, respectively, politics, economics 
and culture, news and analysis, law and administration and 
the Tashkent-based SCO Counterterrorism Center.  Zhang noted 
grumpily that, formerly, the Director of the SCO 
Counterterrorism Center held the same rank as the Secretary 
General.  This anomaly had been cured, he assured the 
Ambassador. 
 
¶11. (C) Comment: Zhang requested the meeting to thank the 
Ambassador for his past hospitality and frank exchanges, 
especially at a lunch meeting just before the SCO's June 
Summit at which Iran's participation was a significant 
concern.  Zhang spoke candidly about divergence of views 
among SCO members, Iran and other topics in the initial part 
of the meeting, which included only Chinese staff of the SCO. 
 He became noticeably more cautious in his comments when we 
shifted into the lunch part of the meeting, which included 
SCO staff members from Russia and Kyrgyzstan. 
 
¶12. (SBU) This message was resent to add addressees omitted 
from the original message Beijing 24273. 
 
¶13. (U) Minimize considered. 
Randt