China Applauds ASEAN Ties, Proposes Cooperation Measures
China said on July 27 that its friendly relations and cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) enjoy a solid foundation, promise tremendous potentials and have broad prospects.
In an address to the China-ASEAN Dialogue in Singapore, Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan also called for continued efforts to carry out the principles and tasks set out in the China-ASEAN Joint Statement so that their partnership of good-neighborliness and mutual trust will grow more steadily.
China has become a full dialogue partner of ASEAN from a consultative dialogue partner in only a few years, and Chinese President Jiang Zemin and ASEAN leaders held their first-ever summit in 1997 and issued a joint statement, in which they announced their decision to establish a 21st century-oriented partnership of good-neighborliness and mutual trust between China and ASEAN, Tang said.
The joint statement "charts the future course and sets a framework for the all-round and in-depth development of relations between our two sides," he said.
"The evolution of China-ASEAN relations is a process of enhancing understanding and friendship, strengthening mutual trust and cooperation, and expanding good-neighborly friendship," Tang said.
"China-ASEAN friendly relations and cooperation based on the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence are firmly founded and widely endorsed, and promise tremendous potentials and broad prospects," he said.
So long as countries in the world respect each other, treat each other as equals, seek common ground while shelving differences and conduct mutually-beneficial cooperation, they will be able to co-exist in harmony and achieve common development, he said.
"This is useful experience gained in the ever-growing China-ASEAN relations, and it serves the fundamental interests of people of all countries, contributes to regional peace and stability, and can facilitate the establishment of a new, just and rational order of peace and cooperation," the Chinese foreign minister said.
"Observance of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, the purposes and spirit of the U.N. Charter as well as the principles enshrined in the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia are the soul of China-ASEAN relations," he said. "It is also of vital significance to the international relations and international order in the 21st century."
"So long as we continue to pursue the objectives and implement the principles and tasks set out in the China-ASEAN Joint Statement with immense ardor and through concrete actions, our cooperation in various fields will surely expand and deepen, guided by the principles of reciprocity, mutual benefit and complementarity, and our partnership of good-neighborliness and mutual trust will surely grow in a more steady and sound manner," Tang said.
"After many years of joint endeavor and continuous explorations, I think we now have a clearer idea on how our two sides should consolidate and develop our friendly relations and cooperation and how we can bring such relations forward," Tang told the dialogue meeting.
He summed up the general approach as follows:
-- First, to further generate concrete contents into the partnership of good-neighborliness and mutual trust.
Efforts are to be made to strengthen the full dialogue cooperation mechanism and maintain the friendly exchanges between the two sides at all levels, in all fields, and through all channels so as to enhance mutual trust and friendship, he said.
Within the overall framework of partnership of good-neighborliness and mutual trust, and in light of the specific features of the relations between China and various ASEAN countries, further efforts have to be made to explore and identify options for bilateral cooperation in the new century, he said.
-- Secondly, to open up multiple channels and employ multiple ways and means to deepen and broaden the mutually-beneficial cooperation in various fields with the focus on economic, trade, scientific and technological cooperation, in accordance with the principles of "equality, mutual benefit, efficiency, long-term cooperation and common development."
As China and ASEAN countries are fairly complementary economically, there is a huge potential for the two sides to tap each other's markets, he said.
-- Thirdly, to expand regional and international cooperation.
Efforts are needed to increase regional and sub-regional economic cooperation such as East Asia dialogue and cooperation and the Mekong Basin development cooperation, to enhance coordination and cooperation in the reform of international financial and economic order, to reinforce regional multilateral and bilateral security dialogue and cooperation, and to strengthen mutual support in the United Nations and other international organizations, he said.
Tang said Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji will attend the third ASEAN plus China, Japan and ROK (Republic of Korea) informal summit to be held in Manila of the Philippines in November this year to exchange views and ideas with heads of state or government of East Asian countries on the strengthening of cooperation in the region.
"I would like to reiterate as well that China will take concrete measures to support Southeast Asian countries' effort to establish a nuclear weapon-free zone," he said.
-- Fourthly, to proceed from the overall interests of regional peace and stability, strictly abide by the political consensus reached between China and ASEAN at the top level, persist in the approach of seeking common ground while shelving differences, and handle differences and disputes between the two sides by peaceful means and through bilateral friendly consultations and refrain from letting these disputes affect the vital interest of the good-neighborly friendship.
As a good neighbor, good friend and good partner of ASEAN, China has "witnessed with joy and admiration that the long-cherished vision of the founders of ASEAN for 'ASEAN-10' has been realized, and that positive progress has been made by ASEAN in tiding over the Asian financial crisis and achieving economic recovery," Tang said.
The expansion of ASEAN tallies with the trend of global multi-polarization, and an ASEAN that is united and prosperous and strives for development through its own efforts is instrumental to lasting peace and development of the Asia-Pacific region, he said.
Although there are still many difficulties and challenges facing ASEAN, after more than 30 years of development, ASEAN has already emerged as an important force in the Asia-Pacific region and the world at large, he said, adding that China will, as always, support ASEAN in its effort to play an active role in regional and international affairs. (Xinhua)
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