China's vision for Asia-Pacific, world promotes peace, development, say experts

PHNOM PENH, June 13 (Xinhua) -- China's vision for the Asia-Pacific has provided new ideas to achieve long-term global peace and stable development, academics have said.

China's vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security "is essential to ensure long-term world peace and stability, which are the prerequisite for a country's development," Kin Phea, director-general of the International Relations Institute at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, told Xinhua.

China is a key contributor to world peace and stability and an engine of global growth, said Phea.

At the 19th Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Sunday, Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe expounded on China's vision for regional order.

Countries should seek peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation rather than hegemony and power politics. Wei said that global affairs should be handled through consultation by all stakeholders instead of being dictated by just one country or a small group of countries.

China is committed to building a new type of international relations based on mutual respect, fairness and justice, and win-win cooperation, he added.

Joseph Matthews, senior professor at the BELTEI International University in Phnom Penh, said China's vision of global development has created new opportunities, millions of jobs and bolstered globalization on all continents.

"China's efforts in the world are paying off as most countries are distancing themselves from countries that are committed to promoting war and arms races, undermining peace, security and economic development," Matthews said.

Meanwhile, the U.S. strategy in the Asia-Pacific region has directly threatened the centrality of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which is the soul and spirit of the bloc, said Matthews.

He said that the so-called Indo-Pacific Economic Framework is hardly a trade agreement, let alone a free trade one, and will not strengthen regional economic and social development.

"The U.S. has created this group to counter China's influence in the region, undermine the unity and neutrality of ASEAN, trigger conflict and tension, destabilize peace and economic development," Matthews said.

Echoing Matthews, Phea said the United States has tried to contain and encircle China by establishing many layers of alliances, including the military pact among the United States, Britain and Australia, or AUKUS, the Five Eyes Alliance and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework.

Seun Sam, a policy analyst at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, said the United States opposes anyone who is seen as a challenger to its status as the world's sole superpower.

Sam said the United States "will use whatever strategy" it can to confront a rival, even if the rival simply wants to cooperate and live in peace.