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Peace
and development are the major themes of the present era. The
striving for peace and cooperation, and the promotion of development
have become irresistible historical trends.
In general,
the present international security situation has continued
to tend toward relaxation. With the end of the cold war, a
tendency toward multipolarity has further developed both globally
or regionally in the political, economic and other fields
as various world forces are experiencing new splits and realignments.
The relations among the major powers are undergoing significant
and profound readjustments; various kinds of partnerships
are gradually developing along the line of institutionalization;
and each country is enhancing its consciousness of independence,
unity for strength, and coordinated development. The overall
strength of the developing countries is growing, and they
are becoming an important force on the international stage.
The sustained development of the multipolarity tendency and
economic globalization has further deepened their mutual reliance
and mutual condition and helped toward world peace, stability
and prosperity. The factors for safeguarding world peace are
growing constantly.
The influence
of armed conflicts and local wars on the overall international
situation has been remarkably weakened. In the past, when
the two major military blocs confronted each other, armed
conflicts and local wars in some regions seriously disturbed
world security and stability. For a time in the post-cold
war period, regional conflicts were still frequent, even showing
a trend of escalation. In the past few years, however, some
conflicts and wars that had lasted for many years have been
settled, and some are being put on the track of political
settlement, or are gradually being cooled down. At present,
armed conflicts and local wars touched off by disputes about
territory, natural resources, ethnicity or religion are relatively
limited in terms of scale, intensity and region, and are under
control to varying degrees. The international community is
making more and more efforts to mediate such disputes, with
its capability to do so improving constantly.
Military
factors still occupy an important position in state security.
In the new international security environment, while stressing
the settlement of disputes through political, economic and
diplomatic means, most countries still regard military means
and the reinforcement of military strength as important ways
to safeguard their own security and national interests. A
profound reform in the military field led by the development
of high-tech weapons is taking place throughout the world.
This reform, which is developing rapidly, will exert an important
and profound influence on weaponry, military system and setup,
combat training and military theory. To adapt to the new situation
and strive for their own advantages, many countries have readjusted
their defense policies and military strategies, reduced the
scale of armaments and paid more attention to improving the
quality of their armed forces.
Economic
security is becoming daily more important for state security.
In international relations, geopolitical, military security
and ideological factors still play a role that cannot be ignored,
but the role of economic factors is becoming more outstanding,
along with growing economic contacts among nations. The competition
to excel in overall national strength, focused on economy
and science and technology, is being further intensified;
globewide struggles centered on markets, natural resources
and other economic rights and interests are daily becoming
sharper; and the quickening of economic globalization and
intensification of the formation of regional blocs render
the economic development of a country more vulnerable to outside
influences and impacts. Therefore, more and more countries
regard economic security as an important aspect of state security.
The financial crisis in Asia has made the issue of economic
security more prominent, and has set a new task for governments
of all countries to strengthen coordination and face challenges
together in the course of economic globalization.
The political
security situation in the Asia-Pacific region is relatively
stable. The development of the trend toward multipolarity
in this region is being quickened, and the relations among
the big nations are being readjusted strategically and gradually
becoming stable. Despite the emergence of a nancial crisis
in Asia, the Asia-Pacific region remains one of the areas
with the greatest economic development vitality in the world,
and developing the economy is the most important task for
each country. The countries in the Asia-Pacific region rely
more and more on each other economically, and, to solve their
disputes by peaceful means, to stress the search for the meeting
points of their common interests and to strengthen cooperation
and coordination are becoming the main current of the relations
among the countries of the region. Various forms of regional
and sub-regional multilateral cooperation are constantly being
developed, and security dialogues and cooperation are being
carried out at many levels and through many channels.
However,
there still exist some factors of instability both globally
and regionally: Hegemonism and power politics remain the main
source of threats to world peace and stability; cold war mentality
and its influence still have a certain currency, and the enlargement
of military blocs and the strengthening of military alliances
have added factors of instability to international security;
some countries, by relying on their military advantages, pose
military threats to other countries, even resorting to armed
intervention; the old unfair and irrational international
economic order still damages the interests of developing countries;
local conflicts caused by ethnic, religious, territorial,
natural resources and other factors arise now and then, and
questions left over by history among countries remain unsolved;
terrorism, arms proliferation, smuggling and trafficking in
narcotics, environmental pollution, waves of refugees, and
other transnational issues also pose new threats to international
security.
In May
1998, in defiance of strong opposition by the international
community India flagrantly carried out nuclear tests, thus
provoking a nuclear arms race in South Asia. Then Pakistan
followed suit, in response to India's nuclear tests. The nuclear
tests successively conducted by India and Pakistan have seriously
impeded the international non-nuclear arms proliferation efforts
and produced grave consequences on peace and stability in
the South Asian region and the rest of the world. The task
for the international community to strengthen non-proliferation
mechanisms has become even more pressing now.
History
has proved that the concepts and systems of security with
military alliances as the basis and increasing military might
as the means could not be conducive to peace during the cold
war. Under the new situation, especially, enlarging military
blocs and strengthening military alliances run counter to
the tide of the times. Security cannot be guaranteed by an
increase in arms, nor by military alliances. Security should
be based on mutual trust and common interests. We should promote
trust through dialogue, seek security through cooperation,
respect each other's sovereignty, solve disputes through peaceful
means and strive for common development. To obtain lasting
peace, it is imperative to abandon the cold war mentality,
cultivate a new concept of security and seek a new way to
safeguard peace. China believes that this new concept and
way should include the following:
-- The
relations among nations should be established on the basis
of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence: mutual respect
for territorial integrity and sovereignty, mutual non-aggression,
non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality
and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence. These are the
political basis and premise of global and regional security.
Each country has the right to choose its own social system,
development strategy and way of life, and no country should
interfere in the internal affairs of any other country in
any way or under any pretext, much less resort to military
threats or aggression.
-- In
the economic field, all countries should strengthen mutually
beneficial cooperation, open up to each other, eliminate inequalities
and discriminatory policies in economic and trade relations,
gradually reduce the development gaps between countries and
seek common prosperity. Such steps can form the economic basis
of global and regional security. Maintaining a normal and
sound economic, trade and financial order calls for not only
a perfect macro-economic management system as well as a sound
system of economic operations, it also calls for strengthening
regional and international economic contacts and cooperation,
so as to jointly create a stable and secure external economic
environment.
-- All
countries should promote mutual understanding and trust through
dialogue and cooperation, and seek the settlement of divergences
and disputes among nations through peaceful means. These are
the realistic ways to guarantee peace and security. Security
is mutual, and security dialogues and cooperation should be
aimed at promoting trust, not at creating confrontations,
still less at directing the spearhead against a third country
or infringing upon the security interests of any other nation.
As a
country in the Asia-Pacific region, China places great importance
on the region's security, stability, peace and development.
China's Asia-Pacific security strategy has three objectives,
i.e., China's own stability and prosperity, peace and stability
in its surrounding regions, and conducting dialogue and cooperation
with all countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Hence China
devotes its efforts to promoting equal treatment and friendly
cooperation with other countries, and attaches importance
to developing healthy and stable relations with all countries
and all major forces in the region; actively participates
in regional economic cooperation and promotes an open type
of regionalism; insists on handling and settling disputes
among countries through peaceful means; and takes an active
part in the dialogue and cooperation process aimed at regional
security.
On the
basis of equal consultation, mutual understanding and mutual
accommodation, China has solved in an appropriate manner border
issues with most of its neighbors. As for remaining disputes
on territorial and marine rights and interests between China
and neighboring countries, China maintains that they are to
be solved through consultation by putting the interests of
the whole above everything else, so that the disputes will
not hamper the normal development of state relations or the
stability of the region. China has clearly stated that relevant
disputes should be properly solved through peaceful negotiation
and consultation, in accordance with commonly accepted international
laws and modern maritime laws, including the basic principles
and legal systems as prescribed in the United Nations Convention
on the Law of the Sea.
Taiwan
is an inseparable part of Chinese territory. It is a lofty
mission and a common aspiration of all Chinese people, including
the Taiwan compatriots, to put an end to the cleavage between
the two sides of the Taiwan Straits and realize the reunification
of the motherland. The Chinese government adheres to its stand
for solving the issue of Taiwan according to the basic principle
of "peaceful reunification, and one country, two systems,''
and resolutely opposes any attempt, by words or deeds, to
split the country by creating an "independent Taiwan,'' "two
Chinas,'' or "one China, one Taiwan.'' The issue of Taiwan
is entirely an internal affair of China. Directly or indirectly
incorporating the Taiwan Straits into the security and cooperation
sphere of any country or any military alliance is an infringement
upon and interference in China's sovereignty. The Chinese
government seeks to achieve the reunification of the country
by peaceful means, but will not commit itself not to resort
to force. Every sovereign state has the right to use all means
it thinks necessary, including military means, to safeguard
its own sovereignty and territorial integrity. In deciding
which way to deal with the issue of Taiwan, the Chinese government
has no obligation to make a commitment to any country or any
person attempting to split China. The Chinese government opposes
any country selling arms to Taiwan, which not only violates
the basic norms of international law but also threatens China's
security and regional peace and stability.
The Chinese
government steadfastly follows an independent foreign policy
of peace, and stands for establishing and developing relations
of friendship and cooperation with all countries on the basis
of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and other commonly
recognized international relationship norms. China is willing
to make unswerving efforts to safeguard world peace and promote
international security together with other countries.
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