New SCO Initiative: Kyrgyzstan Establishes Center for Combating Transnational Crime

International security cooperation enters a new phase. Kyrgyzstan is promoting the establishment of a Center for Combating Transnational Crime within the SCO framework, providing a new platform for addressing global security threats.

In September 2025, at a meeting of the Council of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (SCO's Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure), Khamchibek Tashiyev, Chairman of the National Security Council of Kyrgyzstan, announced the establishment of a Center for Combating Transnational Organized Crime in Bishkek.

This initiative, supported by SCO member states, marks a new upgrade in the SCO's security cooperation mechanism.

01 A New Platform for International Security Cooperation

Since its establishment in 2001, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has prioritized security cooperation. The organization, originally derived from the "Shanghai Five" summit mechanism established in 1997, aims to address regional security challenges through multilateral cooperation.

The world today is undergoing global changes, entering a new era of rapid development and profound transformation. The widening technological and digital divide, continued volatility in global financial markets, and the rise of protectionist measures have all exacerbated global economic instability and uncertainty.

Transnational crime, as a non-traditional security threat, is becoming increasingly complex with the acceleration of globalization. Transnational criminal activities such as terrorism, drug trafficking, and cybercrime pose a serious threat to the international community.

Against this backdrop, SCO member states recognize the need to innovate security cooperation mechanisms to more effectively address these challenges.

02 Strategic Significance of the Center's Establishment

The establishment of the Center for Combating Transnational Crime is a major innovation in the SCO's security cooperation mechanism. The Center will be dedicated to coordinating member states' cooperation in combating transnational organized crime, including intelligence sharing, joint operations, and capacity building.

Kyrgyzstan's National Security Council Chairman Tashiyev stated that the Center will be "an important step in strengthening security cooperation among SCO member states" and demonstrates the countries' determination to jointly combat terrorism, extremism, and separatism.

The choice of the Center also holds strategic significance. Bishkek, a key city in Central Asia, lies at the heart of the Eurasian continent and serves as a bridge connecting East and West.

This geographical location makes Kyrgyzstan an ideal base for combating transnational crime and effectively coordinating regional cooperation.

03 The Evolution of SCO Security Cooperation

The SCO's security cooperation mechanism is built on a systematic framework. The Council of Heads of State serves as the top-level framework, overseeing the overall planning of the organization's security cooperation strategy.

This framework includes multi-level security cooperation mechanisms involving relevant departments, such as regular meetings of defense ministers, security council secretaries, public security (interior affairs) ministers, and border security leaders.

The Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (RATS) has played an important role as a key coordination platform.

Data shows that from 2013 to 2019, the SCO RATS prevented over 960 terrorist-related criminal activities and apprehended over 2,600 members of international terrorist organizations.

In recent years, SCO security cooperation has expanded from counterterrorism to defense and law enforcement cooperation, cracking down on drug trafficking, cybercrime, and transnational organized crime, and gradually focusing on non-traditional security challenges such as information security, data security, and biosecurity.

04 Real Challenges of Global Security Governance

Currently, international security cooperation faces multiple obstacles. Unilateralism erodes the mutual trust that underpins cooperation. Some countries stubbornly pursue "national priorities" policies, continuously withdrawing from multilateral agreements and international organizations, and undermining global strategic stability.

Power politics undermines the equal premise of security cooperation. Some countries promote the law of the jungle, advocating "peace through strength" in the security field and using military superiority as a means to safeguard their own security.

International security cooperation lacks effective consensus, and the global security governance system has failed to adapt to the profound changes in the international landscape.

Cooperation consensus among countries in areas such as counter-terrorism, cybersecurity, and climate change is weak, and the fragmentation of global security governance is intensifying.

Transnational criminal groups exploit these loopholes and increasingly conduct illegal activities across borders. They employ advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence and cyberspace, further complicating the task of combating crime.

05 Core Functions and Operational Mechanisms of the Center

The Center for Combating Transnational Crime will focus on several key areas: strengthening information sharing, preventing terrorists from exploiting modern technology, conducting joint exercises, and preventing extremism.

Information sharing will be one of the center's core functions. Member states will use the platform to exchange intelligence in real time, improving their early warning and response capabilities against transnational criminal activities.

In terms of technological responses, the center will focus specifically on preventing terrorists from exploiting modern technologies such as artificial intelligence and cyberspace to carry out criminal activities. This function is particularly urgent as criminal groups increasingly utilize digital technologies to conduct illegal activities.

The center will also coordinate joint exercises to enhance interoperability among member states' law enforcement agencies. The SCO has previously conducted over 40 joint counter-terrorism exercises and operations, including "Peace Mission," "Tianshan," and "Cooperation."

Preventing extremism is also a key area of ​​the center's work. Through cooperation among member states, the center will promote the implementation of de-extremism strategies and fundamentally reduce the social foundations of transnational crime.

06 Significance for Global Security Governance

The establishment of the Bishkek Center for Combating Transnational Crime is another example of the international community's joint response to security challenges. It embodies the value of multilateralism in the security field and provides new perspectives for global security governance.

SCO member states believe that the international community should work together to prevent attempts to recruit young people into terrorist, separatist, and extremist activities, and attach great importance to combating the spread of ideologies such as religious intolerance, violent nationalism, racial discrimination, and xenophobia.

The Center's work will help strengthen global counter-terrorism cooperation, reject politicization and double standards, and respect the sovereignty and independence of all states.

This is also a positive response to the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy and demonstrates the SCO's support for the multilateral international system.

Analysts believe that the establishment of the Center will promote security cooperation between the SCO and other international and regional organizations and contribute to building a more just and effective global security governance system.

With the launch of its first joint operation, the Center will become a new hub for SCO security cooperation.

In the coming years, the Center will participate in and coordinate dozens of transnational investigations, combating a wide range of illegal activities, from drug trafficking to cybercrime.

The Center not only strengthens security ties among SCO member states but also provides a new paradigm for global security governance.

Its establishment demonstrates that in an era of increasingly complex transnational threats, multilateral cooperation is not an option but a necessity.