News
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Peaceful development, China’s contribution and commitment
Liu Jian
The Chinese government published a white paper earlier this year on China’s peaceful development, which elaborates on China’s strategic intentions for development and the guiding principles in handling international affairs. “Being the Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan, I feel a sense of duty to brief more on our path of development, so as to introduce a comprehensive and vivid image of China, for our Pakistani friends’ kind reference. For this purpose, I would like to answer some questions with regard to China’s strategy of peaceful development.”What is China’s peaceful development in general?
It means that China will develop itself in a peaceful environment and will contribute more to world peace as it gets stronger. It means seeking progress and harmony at home, and cooperation and peace abroad. It is a new path, a clean break from zero-sum politics, cold war mentality and hegemony. It is an important contribution to the human civilisation. It is China’s strategic choice for realising modernisation and prosperity.
Our commitments are no preaching but action. As the will of the state, it has been translated into the national development plan and various policies, and practiced in its international commitments. By the end of 2009, China had given assistance worth RMB 256.3 billion to 161 countries and over 30 international organisations, reduced and cancelled 380 debts incurred by 50 least-developed countries, trained 120,000 people for other developing countries, and sent 21,000 medical personnel and nearly 10,000 teachers abroad to help others. China has dispatched about 21,000 personnel on 30 UN peacekeeping missions. It is a member of over 100 intergovernmental international organisations, a party to over 300 international conventions.
How the concept comes from?
The idea of peaceful development is not water without source, but is based on China’s long and profound historical and cultural tradition. Valuing harmony and peace is deeply embedded in the mind of every generation of Chinese, and has become a philosophy underpinning the conduct of relationship between men and nations. Once suffered of invasion by imperial powers, China will not do to others what we don’t want done to ourselves. Moreover, the trend toward multi-polarity and globalisation is irresistible. Countries are more interdependent than ever before. Sharing benefits of development and managing challenges together has become a prevailing trend.
What are the defining features?
China’ path of peaceful development has six highlights. The first is scientific development. It puts people first, promotes comprehensive, balanced, and sustainable development. The second is independent development. It focuses on domestic development and relies on itself for indecency. The third is open development. China adopts open-up policy, makes best use foreign resources, and integrates itself with the rest of the world. The fourth is peaceful development. China never engages in aggression or expansion, never seeks hegemony, and remains a staunch force for upholding regional and world peace and stability. The fifth is cooperative development. China uses cooperation as a way to pursue peace, promote development and settle disputes. The sixth is common development. China works to ensure that its own development and the development of other countries are mutually reinforcing, with the trend of economic globalisation.
How to view China’s future path?
China’s commitment to peaceful development is not an act of expediency, but based on its basic national conditions. China faces a range of challenges, big urban-rural divide and regional disparities, acute imbalances in socio-economic development, and growing strains on resources and the environment. Our modernisation effort requires peace and stability at home as well as cooperation and friendship abroad. What’s more, even when China becomes stronger in the future, peace will remain the essential precondition and guarantee of China’s development. China can not and will not deviate from the path of peaceful development.
China cannot develop itself in isolation from the rest of the world, and global prosperity and stability can not be maintained without China. China owes much of its achievement to the long-term friendly cooperation of other countries. And China will continue to count on the understanding, support and cooperation of the international community as it confronts future difficulties and problems. We welcome all friendly suggestions and well-intentioned criticism.
What is its implication to Pakistan, the region and the world?
China actively enhances friendly cooperation with neighbouring countries, and does not seek regional hegemony. Its development represents an opportunity rather than a threat to its neighbours. The China-Pakistan relationship in the past 60 years, as a good example, shows that China has always been a good neighbour, a close friend, and a trustworthy partner while it is growing stronger. It also indicates that peaceful development can make countries of different social system coexist in harmony, and bring tangible benefits to both peoples, as well as contribute positively to regional peace and development.
China advocates that all countries in this region, should respect each other, seek common ground while putting aside differences, and settle disputes through dialogue and friendly negotiation. We should further promote regional economic integration, and improve the current regional and sub-regional cooperative mechanisms, so as to build a harmonious Asia.
China’s path of development is a great exploration which is unprecedented in the history of human development and will benefit the people of the world at large. Meanwhile, we firmly believe that there is no best, almighty or stereotyped model of development in the world, only the path of development conforming to the reality of its own can sustain. What we have learnt from the past decades is this: we must not waver, must not lose sight of our goal, must not stand still, and must not back pedal.
The author is Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk