Asian Peoples Make Great Contributions to Progress of Mankind: Hu JintaoChinese Vice-President Hu Jintao Monday said that the industrious, courageous and talented people of Asian have created the splendid oriental culture, thus making significant contributions to the progress of mankind.Addressing at the Indonesian Council on World Affairs, Hu said in the extraordinary 20th century, the unyielding and hard-working Asian people have written another grand epic of political awakening and economic takeoff through their unremitting efforts for prosperity. "They have thus strongly promoted the historical and social progress," Hu said. According to Hu, progress and development as such can be highlighted in the three dimensions : Firstly, the Asian people have scored a great and historic victory in the struggle for state independence and national liberation. Secondly, the Asian people have performed an economic miracle in the process of revitalizing the economy and getting rid of poverty and backwardness. Thirdly, the Asian people have made indelible contributions to the establishment of the fair and reasonable norms underpinning the post-War International relations. In connection with the struggle for independence, Hu said that the scourge of the Second World War inflicted tremendous sufferings upon the Asian people, but it also awakened them to an unprecedented extent. "Through hard and bitter struggles, dozens of Asian nations gained independence and billions of Asian people shook off the shackles of the colonial rule. As a new and emerging force, the vast number of developing countries in Asia have played an important role in regional and international affairs," Hu said. Hu said that in the 1960s and 1970s, quite a number of countries and regions in Asia adopted a catching-up and overtaking development strategy in light of their own realities. "As a result, they have risen rapidly from the rubbles of wars to embrace a sustained and rapid economic growth, hence improving significantly the livelihood of their people and emerging as a new driving force behind the world economic growth. Notably, East Asia has become the most dynamic region with the biggest potential of economic growth in the whole world. It success has opened up a new way for backward economies to leapfrog," Hu said. Commenting on the contribution of the Asian people to the establishment of a fair and reasonable international relations, Hu said that the Asian people have already played and will continue to play a significant role in promoting the establishment of a new international political and economic order that is fair and rational. It was in Asia where famous Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and the Ten Principles of the Bandung Conference which reflect the solidarity and cooperation among countries in Asia and Africa were born in 1950s. "Having been commonly accepted as the norms governing state-to- state relations, these principles have played a positive role in the peaceful coexistence of countries with different social systems and in the promotion of friendship and cooperation between developing countries. They have already played and will continue to play a significant role in promoting the establishment of a new international political and economic order that is fair and rational," he added. |
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