Canberra, Australia - China's pursuit of a peaceful development
road is a choice made by its people in accordance with its national
interests, said Cai Wu, minister in charge of the State Council
Information Office. Cai is heading a Chinese media delegation on a
weeklong visit to Australia.
Addressing the National Press Club of Australia in Canberra on
Wednesday, Cai said that China's peaceful development should be
interpreted as an attempt to accelerate growth in a peaceful
international environment while simultaneously promoting world
peace and prosperity through its own development.
"It requires China to show an all-dimensional openness to the
world, " Cai said. " It aims for mutually beneficial win-win
results and common development with the international community in
step with the trend of economic globalization.
"China's peaceful development is development characterized by
peace, opening up, harmony and cooperation," he emphasized.
For some time, China's rapid economic ascension has aroused
concerns in the international community, at times even stoking the
"China threat" theory.
China noticed that at a recent occasion, Australian Foreign
Minister Alexander Downer made an explicit denial of the policy of
containment of China, describing it as a grave mistake, Cai told
his audience at the press club.
"We don't want to pursue a policy of containment towards China,"
said Downer in mid March at tri-party security talks with foreign
ministers from Australia, Japan and the United States. "There's
nothing wrong with the growing economic power of China. It's a good
thing for Australia."
"This is wise policy," said the Chinese cabinet minister, adding
that what China's growth brings to the world are investment
opportunities, a huge and profitable market, and more production
and employment opportunities.
Cai said Sino-Australia cooperation and friendship is bound by
history for the good of mutual prosperity and peace in the
Asian-Pacific region.
Cai noted that Chinese President Hu Jintao has reaffirmed once again that "China
will always regard Australia as an important partner - past,
present and future."
Top leaders from both countries have paid visits to each other's
capital cities, which is a sign of improving relations, he
said.
Cai Wu meets with Kim Randall, chairman
of Australian National Press Club at Canberra, April 12,
2006.
Although the two countries have different social systems, and
have different historical and cultural backgrounds; China and
Australia have neither historical grievances nor conflicts of
fundamental interests, Cai said. During the past 34 years since
bilateral diplomatic relations were established, China and
Australia have always showed respect for each other's interests and
concerns over major issues.
The agreements that China and Australia clinched during Premier
Wen Jiabao's just-concluded visit are expected to open the door for
wider cooperation, especially in the area of trade; with one
country a rich reservoir of natural resources and the other a huge,
stable and rising market. Two-way trade, at US$27.5 billion in
2005, has grown at a remarkable 30 percent annually in the past few
years.
However, as China has a population of 1.3 billion, its
per-capita GDP of US$1,703 last year is a mere one-18th that of
Australia, explained Cai, adding China has a lot to learn from
developed Australia.
Recalling his first trip to Australia some 20 years ago, Cai
highly appreciates Australia's all-round achievements. "In just
over 100 years, the 'Southern Continent' has sprouted into a modern
country," said Cai.
With an innate geological affinity, China and Australia were
first connected 600 years ago by the Chinese explorer Zheng He.
Zheng was the first Chinese to set foot in Australia during his
epic voyage.
"We Chinese hold strong sense of history, which in this case
serves as a tie connecting the two peoples," said Cai, adding that
the relationship is not confined to the past alone.
Today, nearly 100,000 Chinese students are studying in Australia.
Each year, some 800,000 people from both countries visit each
other.
As the whole of China gears up for the coming 2008 Olympic Games
in Beijing, the Chinese minister conveyed sincere admiration and
interest in the experiences of Sydney holding the successful 2000
Games.
"We need to learn from Australia's two Olympic triumphs. To
learn from Sydney's successful experience in hosting the Olympics
is partly why we are here," said Cai.
(China Daily April 12, 2006)
