A pact aimed at fighting ethnic and religious militancy and promoting trade and investment was agreed in Shanghai yesterday by six central Asia countries, including China and Russia.
The Shanghai Pact was signed by the so-called Shanghai Five group, made up of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, as well as its new member, Uzbekistan. The group has now been renamed the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO).
The agreement pledges to combat in particular Islamic militancy, and the SCO members are united in opposing the US missile defence plans.
President Jiang Zemin of China said the signing of the Shanghai Pact has laid the legal foundation for cracking down on terrorism, separatism and extremism and reflects the firm determination of the six states on safeguarding regional security.
"Our co-operation within this area will be further strengthened," he said.
The group's defence ministers signed a communique declaring their support for the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM), which Washington wants to change to set up a national missile defence (NMD) system protecting it against attacks from "rogue" states.
The ministers also opposed US plans for a theatre missile defence (TMD) system in Asia, which China fears could be used to shield Taiwan.
The communique said the ABM treaty was "a cornerstone of global stability and an important condition for further promoting the process of arms reduction".
It added: "Any violation of this treaty will bring enormous harm to the international community's efforts over many years and to the co-operation of different countries on arms control and disarmament and will have serious negative consequences for international and regional stability and security."
The group's agreement on fighting Islamic militants would set a legal framework for co-operation between security services and pave the way for the establishment of an anti-terrorism centre in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek.
Their chief concern is the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), which has led armed incursions across the region over the last two years in an attempt to create an independent Islamic state.
Underlining its determination to crack down on the group, Uzbekistan jailed 73 people last week for up to 18 years for aiding IMU gunmen who killed 20 Uzbek soldiers in a raid on the south of the country last year.
China fears such unrest will add fuel to a separatist movement in its northwestern region of Xinjiang, where Muslim radicals from the Uighur ethnic minority have carried out bomb attacks and murdered government officials.