Chinese Top Legislator Stresses Principles on Int'l CooperationChinese top legislator Li Peng stressed Wednesday that it is essential to enhance cooperation among national parliaments and to further promote international cooperation at large.Speaking at the opening of the Conference of Presiding Officers of National Parliaments, organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Li, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) of China, said the difference among national parliaments in the parliamentarian system, form of democracy and values should not become an obstacle for the dialogue between parliaments. Instead, he said, they should serve to encourage them to draw upon each other's experience and enhance their cooperation. "To enhance international cooperation, it is essential to observe the principle of respecting each other and treating each other as equals. All countries, irrespective of their sizes, wealth and strength, are equal members of the international community," he stressed. In the meantime, it is important to follow the principle of mutual benefit and common development in trying to enhance international cooperation in the economic field, the Chinese leader said. Pointing out that without progress in the developing countries, the developed countries can hardly maintain a lasting prosperity, Li called on the developed countries to reduce the debt burden of the developing countries and provide them with market access, technological transfer and capital so as to contribute to the common prosperity of mankind. In addition, Li said that to enhance international cooperation, it is essential to respect all peoples' sacred right to independently choose their road of development. Given that the human society is a diverse and colorful one and that countries differ in the development level and social system, he said, it is only proper for the people of any given country to decide on their own road to development in the light of their own national conditions. Besides, it is also necessary to effectively safeguard the role and authority of the United Nations and its Security Council in order to enhance international cooperation, he said. "No country or group of countries should be allowed to place itself above the U.N. or do whatever it likes," Li said. Furthermore, the "most fundamental thing to do" for enhancing international cooperation is to establish a just and equitable new international political and economic order of peace and stability, he said. About 150 parliamentary leaders from more than 140 countries are attending the conference, which is scheduled to run through Friday, the first of its kind in the 111-year history of the IPU. |
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