China vows to improve ties with neighbors for development
BBeijing – President Xi Jinping has directed Foreign Ministry to evolve new friendly political, economic and security cooperation policies to tie the neighbouring nations with China.
“We must strive to make our neighbours more friendly in politics, economically more closely tied to us, and we must have deeper security cooperation and closer people-to-people ties,” Xi told a meeting of the top diplomats and foreign ministry officials here.
His speech enunciating a more friendly neighbourhood policy came after China hosted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Mongolian Prime Minister Norovyn Altankhuyag this week.
He emphasised that the basic tenet of diplomacy with neighbours is to treat them as friends and partners, to make them feel safe and to help them develop, state-run Xinhua quoted him as saying in the two day conference which concluded yesterday.
Great efforts must be made towards win-win reciprocity, accurately identifying convergence points for cooperation; making use of China’s advantages in economy, trade, technology, and finance and actively taking part in regional economic cooperation, Xi said.
China should work with its neighbours to hasten interconnectivity and establish a Silk Road economic belt and a maritime silk road for the 21st century.
China should accelerate establishment of free trade zones, with neighbours as the foundation stone, expand trade and investment and create a new pattern of regional economic integration, he said.
He said China should continuously expand regional financial cooperation by playing an active role in establishing an Asian investment bank for infrastructure construction and improving the regional financial safety network.
Singh’s three-day visit to China was concluded on Thursday with a feel good factor as the two countries signed a border defence agreement to deal with aggressive patrolling of troops from either side and an upgraded MOU on trans border rivers.
The new neighbourhood policy is being projected as China grappled very tense atmosphere in dealing with the South China Sea dispute with a host of
East Asian countries as well as with Japan over disputed islands and the tensions arising out of the unresolved border dispute with India.
China is also reshaping its foreign policy in the face of big American push into Asia Pacific, the backyard of Beijing where Washington said it would deploy majority of its military assets.
In his address to the meeting attended by all top Communist Party leaders, Xi said China would strive for a sound neighbouring environment for its own development and seek common development with neighbouring countries.
Dealing with neighbouring countries “should have a three-dimensional, multi-element perspective, beyond time and space,” he said.
China’s neighbourhood, full of vigour and vitality, boasts obvious advantages and potentials in development. The region is stable on the whole, and most of the neighbouring countries have a friendly and mutually beneficial relationship with China, Xi said.
In diplomacy, one must understand the trend of the time, devise strategy and plan carefully, Xi said.
The strategic goal of China’s diplomacy with neighbouring countries is to serve the cause of national rejuvenation, for which China must consolidate its friendly relations with neighbouring countries and make the best use of the strategic opportunities China now has, Xi said.
