China's good-neighborly foreign policy benefits both: Pakistan experts

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China's good-neighborly foreign policy benefits both: Pakistan experts

(Xinhua) 19:50, November 01, 2013

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ISLAMABAD, Nov. 1 -- China's efforts to make its ties with neighboring countries a priority have yielded fruits, and will be conducive to the development, stability and peace of the country and the whole region as a whole, Pakistani experts said.

"China has a long history of having friendly relations with everyone, especially with its neighbors that share borders with it," Ikram Sehgal, a Pakistani security expert and defense analyst, said recently in an interview with Xinhua.

"It is good for regional development and peace that China is paying attention to its neighbors, and sharing its huge economic growth with them," he said, commenting on Chinese President Xi Jinping's speech at a diplomatic work conference held on Oct. 24-25 in Beijing.

At the conference, Xi stressed that the basic tenet of China's diplomacy with neighbors is to treat them as friends and partners, to make them feel safe and to help them develop.

Khalid Rahman, director general of the Institute of Policy Studies in Islamabad, also said China has been following the principle of treating neighbors with good will and "taking them as partners, friends and shareholders in its efforts to develop the region."

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which has become a platform to strengthen cooperation with Russia and Central Asia, as well as China's cooperation with ASEAN, showed the maturity of Chinese leadership, as they know that "their good relations with neighbors will lead to achieving their centenary goal," Rahman said.

The new leadership has built on their focus on neighbors, he said, citing Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's visit to Pakistan soon after taking office.

China's economic relations with its neighbors have also increased, and Xi's recent proposal for a new Silk Road economic belt will bring an "economic revolution" to the region, he added.

Dismissing China threat theory as "fake and a pack of lies itself," Sehgal said China has been adhering to the principle of friendly and mutually beneficial relationships with neighboring countries, and the latter has also been "happy with China and getting fruits from its progress."

He branded the so-called theory is "propaganda of those countries that are not willing to see China's progress."

（Editor：DuMingming、Zhang Qian）