China to Further Promote Ties With ASEAN
China will further identify options for bilateral cooperation with various ASEAN countries in the new century so as to bring their mutually beneficial cooperation onto a new level, Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan said on July 28.
This will be done through strengthening the China-ASEAN full dialogue mechanism, Tang said.
Tang, who has held discussions with his counterparts from ASEAN countries and their dialogue partners here in the past few days, said in an interview with Xinhua that he reached broad consensus with them on ways of promoting a 21st century-oriented partnership of good-neighborliness and mutual trust between China and ASEAN.
Tang attended the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the Post-Ministerial Conference (PMC) and the China-ASEAN Dialogue between July 26 and 28 after the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting, or the ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting, which was held on July 23 and 24.
These meetings, which were held against the backdrop of the new and significant changes in the international and regional situation, were important, Tang said.
Tang said he had had extensive and in-depth discussions with his counterparts in the past few days on political, economic and security issues of common concern.
The meetings proceeded in a candid atmosphere and the discussions were useful, he said.
It is natural that the participants held divergent views on the current situation and differed on some other issues, he said. It is precisely because there are differences that it has become all the more necessary to boost dialogue, deepen understanding, enhance trust and promote cooperation, he said.
The ARF, the most important regional forum for multilateral security dialogue and cooperation, needs, by way of increased dialogue, to make vigorous explorations on new security concepts and new security-seeking modalities under the general trend of peace, development, cooperation and stability that all countries in the world aspire after in the post-Cold War period, Tang said.
What is particularly important is that the purposes and spirit enshrined in the UN Charter and the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and other basic norms governing international relations, must be adhered to, he said.
In handling relations between states, the multilateral security dialogue and cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region should be aimed at mutual respect instead of the strong bullying the weak, mutual cooperation instead of confrontation and seeking consensus instead of imposing one's own views on others, he said.
Only by this way, can the ARF have lasting vitality and play a positive and practical role in maintaining and enhancing security and cooperation in the region, Tang said.
China is happy to see and backs the expansion and strengthening of ASEAN, an important force in the Asia-Pacific region for peace and development, he said.
At the China-ASEAN Dialogue on Tuesday, the Chinese foreign minister said, he had a friendly exchange of views with his ASEAN counterparts on how to develop a 21st century-oriented partnership of good-neighborliness and mutual trust between China and ASEAN and they reached broad consensus.
Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji has decided to attend the summit meeting of ASEAN leaders in November in Manila, the Philippines, and China has agreed in principle to accede to the protocol to the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone Treaty, he said.
Tang also praised the host Singapore for its commendable efforts to make the ASEAN meetings a success. (Xinhua)
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