Jiang, Putin Encourage Youth to Work for Friendship

Home>>China

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, December 04, 2002

Jiang, Putin Encourage Youth to Work for Friendship

President Jiang Zemin and his visiting Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin Tuesday urged young people to work for Sino-Russian friendship and cooperation and contribute to world peace and development.

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

'The Future of the World Rests on the Younger Generation'

President Jiang Zemin and his visiting Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin Tuesday urged young people to work for Sino-Russian friendship and cooperation and contribute to world peace and development.

During their speeches here late Tuesday morning at China's prestigious university, Beijing University, Jiang and Putin also reviewed the growth of bilateral ties in the past decade and elaborated on the bright future of bilateral friendship.

President Jiang described President Putin's decision to speak to an audience of over 600 at the university as a sign of his strategic perspective as a statesman because the friendship between China and Russia and among all peoples worldwide eventually hinged on the younger generations for its continuation and development.

"The future of China, the future of Russia, and the future of the world all belong to the young generations," he said.

Jiang said he was convinced that the diligent and courageous Russian people were bound to build a brand-new, prosperous and strong country.

The Sino-Russian relationship, he recalled, had evolved in a healthy and positive manner over the past 10 years.

"Facts have demonstrated that China and Russia are good neighbors, good partners and good friends," he said.

Noting that China and Russia formed a strategic and cooperative partnership six years ago, he said that the two countries had continued to strengthen mutual political trust, to expand cooperation in all fields, to further consolidate the traditional friendship and to strengthen cooperation and mutual support in international affairs.

The development of the partnership forged between China and Russia conformed to the common aspirations of both peoples and was in the fundamental interests of the two countries, he said. It also helped to maintain world peace and stability and to promote development and progress in all countries.

The China-Russia treaty of friendship and cooperation signed in July last year, he said, required the two countries to make a long-term commitment to the development of friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation.

President Jiang said the friendly cooperation between the two countries had continued in practical terms in the spirit of the treaty.

"Good neighbors are better than distant relatives," Jiang quoted Chinese and Russian adages as saying. The Chinese people always thought of "neighbors as good partners".

As both China and Russia were in a new era of development, bilateral cooperation enjoyed broad prospects for development, Jiang said.

In compliance with the trends of keeping the pace with the times, both countries should grasp historic opportunities to develop cooperation and work together for a better future, he said.

Before his speech, President Putin presented the Russian version of Jiang's book on building Socialism with Chinese characteristics to the university's president Xu Zhihong, who chaired the one-hour event.

Putin said Beijing University, which initiated the May 4 Movement of 1919, a turning-point in China's new-democratic revolution, was a symbol of China's history and the current rapid development.

He noted that the just-concluded 16th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party was also of historic significance for the growth of Russia-China relations.

He acknowledged that both Russia and China boasted ancient civilizations which determined the contents of bilateral relations and their roles in international affairs.

In the 20th century, Russia and China experienced profound social changes and withstood harsh historical trials, said Putin, stressing that they were now faced with identical or similar challenges in a host of aspects.

He reviewed his Monday talks with Jiang, during which they discussed and summarized the development of bilateral relations in the past decade when the two countries became true strategic and cooperative partners with increasing mutual trust.

On this basis, he and President Jiang signed the treaty of friendship and cooperation, said Putin, adding that the two countries were not only good neighbors, but also equal and mutually-trusting partners.

He stated that Russia and China, both permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, shouldered special responsibilities for safeguarding world peace and stability, and such responsibilities had become ever more important with globalization.

Moreover, he added, they also faced common challenges such as combating terrorism and separatism, preventing regional conflicts and fighting transnational crimes, and securing peace and stability in central Asia in particular, said Putin.

The international community should increase cooperation in such fields as the war against terrorism and the prevention of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and actively take political and diplomatic measures under the framework of the United Nations Security Council and in accordance with the UN Charter and international law to resolve these issues, he said.

He pointed out that Russia opposed double standards and unilateralism in these fields, and Russia and China shared identical positions and views on these issues.

The high-level meetings between the two sides during his visit were epoch-making and would play an important role in pushing forward bilateral exchanges and cooperation, he said.

He cited fruitful cooperation in environmental protection, energy, new- and high-technology, communications and culture, as well as direct exchanges between different areas of the two countries.

He had met and conferred on Monday with Hu Jintao, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and Chinese vice-president. And Putin noted that he could be said to have already forged good personal relations with the new generation of Chinese leaders.

Putin quoted the Chinese saying, "One generation plants the trees in whose shade another generation rests" to make clear that the younger generations of both countries should make more effortsto further the existing friendship.

After his speech, President Putin answered questions concerning bilateral cultural exchanges, Russia's domestic reform and the NATO's eastward expansion.

He also talked about his two daughters' love and affections for China as they are learning Chinese martial arts and one of them is learning the Chinese language.

This fully epitomize the Russian youth's growing interest in China and bilateral relations were bound to have a better future, noted President Putin.

Questions?Comments? Click here

Russian President Putin Concludes China Tour

Putin Delivers Speech in Beijing University

China, Russia Issue Joint Statement

>> Full Coverage

Cabbage Tells Changes of Beijingers' Life ( 12 Messages)

A 'Xiaokang' Society Means Not Merely Money ( 5 Messages)

China Starts Working out Law on Citizen ID Card ( 33 Messages)

Differences between US and NATO Widen: Opinion ( 2 Messages)

Sino-US Relations Improve Despite Neo-realism ( 27 Messages)