Chinese NPC Vice-Chairman Calls for World Peace, StabilityChinese National People's Congress (NPC) Vice-Chairman Xu Jialu Monday called on countries, both developed and developing, to work hand in hand in creating lasting peace and stability in the world.Addressing the 104th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Conference here, Xu stressed that international disputes must be solved peacefully. "International disputes must be resolved through peaceful means. Willful use or threat of force must be opposed. Cold War mentality and hegemonic acts arising therefrom should be abandoned once and for all. It is necessary to vigorously promote the democratic process of international relations and to insist that the affairs of each country be determined by its own people," he said. Xu also said China is a staunch force for world peace and regional stability and is committed to seeking common development. "In international relations, it sticks to non-alignment and does not go in for military bloc, arms race or military expansion. China pursues an independent foreign policy of peace and a national defense policy of a defensive nature. A developed China will contribute to peace and prosperity of the region and the world and will pose threat to no one. China will unswervingly pursue the independent foreign policy of peace and stand on the side of all peace-loving countries and peoples to oppose hegemonism in any form," he said. In connection with the tension in the Middle East, Xu expressed great concern over the escalation of clashes between Israel and Palestine. "China strongly hopes that Israel and Palestine can both exercise restraint and take prompt measures to prevent the situation from further worsening and that the two sides, on the basis of relevant U.N. resolutions, can adopt a flexible and pragmatic attitude in order to seek a final resolution to the question of Palestine and to restore the legitimate national rights and interests of the Palestinian people," he said. On economic issues, Xu underlined the importance of a close economic relation between countries and the acceleration of the restructuring of the international financial system process. "It is our hope that the developed countries show their political sincerity and take earnest and effective measures to speed up the reform of the international financial system, substantially reduce the debt burdens of the developing countries, reverse the tendency toward the decline of official development assistance, further open their markets to the developing countries so as to realize the shared prosperity of humankind," he said. China, though not well-off, committed itself not long ago to writing off 10 billion RMB yuan of debts of the African countries in two years, he added. The week-long IPU conference was opened on Sunday by Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid. |
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