Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi Thursday gave a comprehensive
outline of China's stand and view on the security situation of the
Asia-Pacific region.
Addressing the 14th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) held in the
Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City, Metro
Manila, Yang highlighted the need for countries in the Asia-Pacific
region to adopt a new thinking on security and dumping the old
thinking on security which had done a lot of harm in the past
century.
Yang said peace, development and cooperation have remained the
general trend in the Asia-Pacific region in the past year, as the
economy in the region has maintained good momentum of growth and
inter-dependence among Asia-Pacific countries is growing.
He said friendly exchanges among countries in the region have
expanded and deepened, and the relations among major countries
remain stable, citing the role being played by ASEAN Plus Three
cooperation, as well as good interaction among the ARF, East Asia
summit, Asia Cooperation Dialogue and APEC in promoting development
and stability.
Yang also said the six-party talks on the Korean Nuclear issue
have yielded good progress, moving towards achieving the
denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
But Yang stressed that Asia-Pacific region still faces many
challenges, including acute imbalance in the development, wide
wealth gap, tensions and conflicts, non-traditional security
issues, and problems concerning energy, resources, ecology and
environment.
Yang pointed out that under the influence of the Cold War
mentality, there is a trend among certain countries in the
Asia-Pacific region towards building up bilateral military
alliances to gain absolute military superiority over others.
"This undermines efforts to build political mutual trust, cause
uncertainty to regional security and has become a source of concern
to people," he said, adding "Upholding and sustaining the hard-won
peace in the Asia-Pacific region is an issue of critical concern to
all of us."
Yang said countries in the Asia-Pacific region must learn from
the lessons in the past century and build a new thinking on
security, which many countries in the region have already begun to
adopt and practice since the end of the Cold War.
"As a Chinese saying goes, revisiting the past will give people
new inspirations. There is much we can benefit from the new
thinking on security as practiced in the Asia-Pacific region in the
post Cold War era and the growth of the ARF in the past 14 years,"
he said.
Yang said the old thinking on security based on security
alliances, national strength, deterrence and raw power, instead of
bringing security and peace to the world, only subjected it to
dominance, conquer and even conflicts and wars in the last
century.
Yang said small, weak and poor countries were invariably victims
of such policy and practices.
"Asia-Pacific region has enjoyed relative peace since the end of
the Cold War because countries in the region have endeavored to
foster a new thinking on security rooted in mutual respect and
equality," he said.
Yang praised many countries in Asia-Pacific region for
recognizing and respecting differences in ideologies, values,
social systems and development level, and for transcending such
differences and striving to build equal, healthy and sound
state-to-state relations.
"They have abandoned the old thinking on and logic of security
based on mutual suspicion, raw power and imposing one's own values
and ideologies on others. They are thus able to work together to
enhance dialogue, exchanges and security cooperation," he said.
Yang cited the ARF and Shanghai Cooperation Organization as
examples of following the new thinking on security, with both of
them being non-aligned, not targeting at any third country and not
defining friend and foe on ideological ground.
Yang said as globalization is gaining pace, security has
acquired new dimensions, and security risks are mounting with
different security factors being interconnected and exerting impact
on one another, which is broadening the scope of security
cooperation.
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"The countries in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly developing
ones, face growing challenge in their efforts to uphold their
security in economy, trade, finance, industries, technology,
information and culture and addressing non-traditional security
issues," he said.
Yang said that as security interests of countries in the region
are interconnected, they could focus on common interests, respect
diversity, strengthen coordination, put differences in proper
perspectives and avoid confrontation when conducting security
dialogue and cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.
"To pursue cooperation based on a particular type of values
which runs counter to the goal of achieving common security can
only hamper dialogue and cooperation," he added.
Yang said that historical experience and lessons show that
dialogue and cooperation are important and effective ways to deepen
understanding and trust, narrow differences and defuse conflict,
and bilateral alliances and military means by themselves will
neither settle disputes nor foster enduring peace.
He noted the new thinking on security "takes mutual trust,
mutual benefit, equality and cooperation as its core values" and is
"comprehensive in nature and aims to promote common security,
development and cooperation".
(Xinhua News Agency August 2, 2007)
