BEIJING, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will continue to support the Chinese government's efforts to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and oppose external forces' interference in internal affairs of sovereign states, SCO Secretary-General Nurlan Yermekbayev said in a written interview with Xinhua on Wednesday.

Recently, the United States approved massive arms sales to China's Taiwan region, blatantly interfering in China's internal affairs, seriously undermining China's sovereignty, security and territorial integrity, damaging peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and sending a gravely wrong signal to "Taiwan independence" separatist forces.

All member states of the SCO have firmly supported the one-China principle and emphasized non-interference in one country's internal affairs, as well as mutual backing in safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

In the interview, Yermekbayev said that on Sept. 1 this year, the SCO Tianjin Summit approved a development strategy for the next decade. The document emphasized that the SCO member states oppose double standards, strictly abide by the norms and principles governing international relations, and resolutely oppose all attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of member states or undermine the unity of the SCO.

In the Tianjin Declaration adopted at the summit, the member states emphasized that the principles of mutual respect for sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, equality and mutual benefit, non-interference in internal affairs, and the non-use or threat of force constitute the foundation for the stable development of international relations, the secretary-general added.

With regard to the one-China principle, as early as June 2002, the declaration adopted at the St. Petersburg Summit of heads of state of the SCO members included relevant provisions, reaffirming that the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China, and that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory, Yermekbayev said.

"In this regard, the SCO will, in accordance with the principles of the United Nations Charter and SCO's own charter, continue to support the Chinese government's efforts to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and oppose interference by external forces in the internal affairs of sovereign states," he said. ■