China and Russia Friday issued a joint statement on a new world order in the 21st century, setting forth their common stand on major international issues, such as UN reforms, globalization, North-South cooperation, and world economy and trade.  

The statement was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao after their talks in Moscow.

During their talks, the two leaders discussed ways to further enhance the strategic and cooperative partnership between China and Russia, and exchanged views on major regional and international issues.

The joint statement said the two countries are determined to strengthen their strategic coordination in international affairs and promote peace, stability and prosperity of the world.

UN reforms

The joint statement says that UN reforms should be aimed at strengthening the world body's leading role in international affairs, improving its efficiency and increasing its potential for dealing with new challenges and threats.

UN reforms should be based on consensus through consultations, and should fully embody the common interests of the vast number of member countries.

The UN is the world's most comprehensive, representative and authoritative organization, and both its role and function are irreplaceable, says the statement on a new world order in the 21st century.

The UN should play a leading role in global affairs and be the core for establishing and executing basic norms of international law, it adds.

The statement calls for UN peacekeeping operations to be carried out in accordance with the tenets and principles of the UN Charter.

Resolutions of the UN Security Council must be strictly abided by. Cooperation between the UN and regional and subregional organizations should be developed, according to the statement.

It also calls on the world body to play a bigger role in the study of global economic and development problems.

Multilateralism

The joint statement says that countries must be allowed to decide autonomously on their internal affairs while international issues should be solved through dialogue and consultations on the basis of multilateralism.

The international community should completely renounce the mentality of confrontation and alliance; there should be no pursuit of monopoly or domination of world affairs; and countries of the world should not be divided into a leading camp and a subordinate camp, the statement says.

Every country must be assured of the right to choose its own path of development that fits its national realities, the right to participate in international affairs as an equal, and the right to development on an equal footing, it says.

Differences and disputes must be solved through peaceful means rather than through unilateralism or coercion. There should be no use or threatened use of force, it says.

Only on the basis of universally recognized tenets and norms of international law, and under an impartial and rational world order, can problems facing mankind be solved, it says.

All countries should strictly observe the principles of mutual respect for each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence, it says.

The statement believes that the world is undergoing a historic change. The establishment of a new world order will be a long and complicated process, it says.

The central task of mankind in the 21st century is to safeguard peace, stability and security for the whole mankind, and to realize full-scale coordinated development on the basis of equality, maintenance of sovereignty, mutual respect, mutual benefit and guarantee of good development prospects for future generations.

New security framework

The joint statement calls on the international community to establish a new security framework on the basis of mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and cooperation.

The framework should have the universally recognized norms of international relations as its political foundation, and mutually beneficial cooperation and common prosperity as its economic foundation, it says.

The establishment of this framework should be based on the equal security rights of all nations while dialogue, consultation and negotiation on an equal footing should be the means for settling conflicts and maintaining peace, it says.

China and Russia support efforts to maintain global strategic stability, and the multilateral process of establishing legal systems on arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation, it says.

The two sides will work together to put the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty into effect as soon as possible and to push for the universality and effectiveness of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the Biological Weapons Convention and the Convention on the Banning of Chemical Weapons (CWC).

They also call for the peaceful use of outer space, and voice opposition to weapons deployment and arm races in outer space. They push for relevant international legislation to this end.

The two leaders believe that in face of new threats and challenges, further effective measures should be taken to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) as well as their carriers and relevant materials, according to the joint statement.

It says the two sides have decided to cooperate more closely in related international organizations and forums and expand cooperation with other like-minded countries. The issue of proliferation of WMDs should be resolved through political, diplomatic and international cooperation within the framework of international law.

The two sides think that a UN-led global system should be set up to deal with new threats and challenges on the basis of the UN Charter and international law, it says.

It says regional integration is an important character in the development of the current international situation.

Open, non-exclusive regional organizations are playing a positive role in shaping a new world order.

The two countries appeal for the promotion of further economic cooperation in regional integration and for the establishment of security cooperation mechanisms.

They also voice support for regional organizations to set up ties with each other and produce an atmosphere of mutual trust and cooperation, it says.

Attention to gap of disparity

All countries should have an equal opportunity to enjoy the profits of globalization in such fields as economy, society, science, technology, information and culture, said the joint statement, calling for mutually beneficial cooperation and common development.

Developed and developing countries should make efforts to eliminate discrimination in economic relations, and narrow the gap of disparity between the rich and the poor, it says.

The international community should formulate a comprehensive economic and trade regime acceptable to all, through negotiation on an equal footing. Pressure and sanctions should not be used to force a country into unilaterally making economic concessions, it says.

It also calls for respect for the history and traditions of those countries with diverse ethnic groups and their efforts to maintain national unity. Attempts to encourage secession or incite ethnic hatred within a country should not be accepted.

Diversity in cultures and civilizations should not be the source of conflict, but rather resources from which all countries can exploit.

Different historic backgrounds, cultures, social and political systems, values and modes of development should not be used as pretext for interference in other countries' internal affairs, it says.

President Hu arrived in Moscow Thursday for a state visit. He will also visit Kazakhstan, where he will attend a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, and the UK, where he will attend the G8+5 summit.

(Xinhua News Agency July 2, 2005)