The following are editorial opinions from newspapers from around the world which may be of interest to Royal Gazette readers.

Albuquerque (N.M.) Journal

on the Obama administration

The more things "change," it seems, the more they stay the same. So it goes with that whole "Change We Can Believe In" mantra of the current occupants of the White House.

First there were the Cabinet nominees who failed to pay back taxes. Then the tough new lobbying rules promptly set aside so a defence contractor and an anti-tobacco lobbyist could get federal gigs with the Pentagon and Health and Human Services. Then the quiet signing of a spending bill with 8,570 earmarks worth $7.7 billion sans lights, cameras and souvenir pens. Then the promise to negotiate health care reform in public until the details proved to be too unsightly.

Then the blog request to forward any "fishy" anti-health-reform e-mails. And now at least two attempts at back-room deals to keep politics as usual firmly in place. What a difference a day and a little power make.

Perhaps the American public should simply take comfort in the constancy of this ends-justify-the-means approach. Cynics would say it's a story as old as politics. Unfortunately, the Obama administration got elected on its promise to change this cynical, hackneyed script. But it has yet to call for a rewrite. ...

At the end of the day, White House officials say this is politics and that's how it works. Can anybody spell "Blagojevich?"

China Daily, Beijing,

on a Central Asian summit

President Hu Jintao's participation at the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in the Uzbekistan capital of Tashkent testifies to China's long-term commitment toward a sustained, healthy and stable development of the organisation.

The summit will pave the way for intensified cooperation among member states in politics, security, economy and culture, and seek to expand the bloc's relations with other countries and groups. Regional security and closer effort to combat the "three evil forces," the key precepts of the organisation ever since its inception in 2001, will top its agenda.

Apart from a joint declaration by leaders attending the summit, two documents, relating to admission of new members and rules of procedure, are also likely to be approved. The regional organisation is certainly gaining in both strength and maturity, and the documents will lay the legal groundwork for the bloc's expansion in the foreseeable future.

Several observer members of the grouping — Mongolia, Pakistan, Iran and India — have sought full membership. While new members may not be admitted during the current summit, the bloc's expansion process will certainly be accelerated.

In recent years, the SCO, which groups China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, has played an indispensable role in safeguarding regional peace and stability. It has become an important regional forum — with international influence — for building political trust and cementing cooperation in Eurasia.

The world is undergoing profound changes. It is facing lots of uncertainties and challenges, especially with regard to climate change, food security and energy security. The "three evil forces" continue to plague the people of central Asia. ... Its member nations' mutual pursuit of peace, security and development will only lead to greater cohesiveness and unity in the years to come.