Interview: China advocates, practices true multilateralism -- former Japanese PM

TOKYO, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- By putting forward the vision of building a human community with a shared future and the Belt and Road Initiative, China has safeguarded fairness and justice in the international community, and advocated and practiced true multilateralism, former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has said.

In a recent interview with Xinhua, Hatoyama applauded China's remarkable achievements and development.

He said the world today faces both geopolitical conflicts and difficulties rarely seen in history, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. But the fate of countries around the world is linked, and a crisis in one country affects other countries.

Therefore, it is very important to have an overall view of a human community with a shared future, and China's proposal of this concept is correct and of great significance, Hatoyama said.

He said he has studied the report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and very much agrees with "the Chinese path to modernization" and other important contents.

Every country needs to achieve modernization with a development approach suited to its own national conditions. Therefore, it is important for each country to develop in its own way, and it is wrong to force a particular approach on others, Hatoyama said.

Hatoyama pointed out that some countries always believe that they are 100 percent right, and keep imposing their own definitions of "freedom," "democracy" and "human rights" on other countries, which is what has caused the world to fall into the danger of division and the emergence of an exclusive "clique."

China's emphasis on "the Chinese path to modernization" is admirable, Hatoyama said, adding that China has adopted the right approach by advocating a development model that suits its own national conditions and adapting to the trend of the times.

Speaking of the relationship between China and Japan, Hatoyama said that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

He hopes that, in this special year, the two sides will carry out cooperation having the new era in mind and make joint efforts to promote the development of Asia and the world.