With its active and vivid diplomatic activities in the first half this year, China has not only effectively safeguarded its own national interests, but also has become a positive factor in promoting world peace and development.
The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States last year brought more variable factors to already complex international relations and further protruded the accumulating contradictions and conflicts of the post-Cold War era.
Conflicts and clashes, such as the Afghan issue, the Israel-Palestine clashes and India-Pakistan conflict -- initiated from questions of ethnics, religions, territory and natural resources, and non-traditional security problems have become prominent. All countries are readjusting their own foreign policies to cope with changes in international relations and the structure of the world.
China has maneuvered its diplomacy in line with its own judgments on the international situation, which President Jiang Zemin describes as "globally peaceful and stable but locally tenseand turbulent".
Since the beginning of this year, Chinese leaders have visited countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and America while playing host to a number of visiting foreign leaders to exchange views on a wide range of issues.
Frequent high-level exchanges have stabilized China's relationswith countries around the world, big or small, developed or developing, varied and diversified.
Sino-US ties maintained overall stability during this period. In February, full 30 years to the day after late US President Richard Nixon's "ice-breaking" China trip, President George W. Bush paid a 30-hour event-packed working visit to China.
The visit was the second meeting between President Jiang and President Bush within four months. This event itself has indicatedthe importance the two heads of state attach to the relationship between their countries.
During their talks, the two leaders stressed their willingness to jointly enhance the two nations' constructive and cooperative relations and acknowledged the importance of good Sino-US ties to world peace and stability. Meanwhile, neither of them shunned words on the two nations' disagreements.
While the media reported Bush had deliberately climbed a few steps further than Nixon when ascending the Great Wall, insightfulpeople from both countries expressed the hope that the US president would also "take a higher view" when dealing with "the most important bilateral relations in the world."
Chinese Vice-President Hu Jintao visited the U.S. in late Apriland early May. By making extensive contacts with personalities from all walks of life, Hu kept the momentum of the two nations' high-level dialogue and increased bilateral understanding.
Ties between China and Russia have continued to gain a very good trend for growth since early this year. Jiang and Russian President Vladimir Putin during their two formal meetings in Juneconferred on regional and international issues and put a high value on the steady progress of the two nations' strategic partnership of cooperation.
During their meetings, they had an in-depth discussion of issues of common concern and gave a high appraisal of the steady growth of Sino-Russian strategic partnership.
China and Russia held a variety of celebrations to mark the first anniversary of the signing of the Sino-Russian good-neighborly treaty of friendship and cooperation, a document vital to long-lasting bilateral good relations.
The two nations' cooperation in relation to multinational organizations like the United Nations and major international affairs have also been very fruitful. Together with other member countries, they have promoted the setting up of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the cooperation in the areas ofsecurity and trade so that the organization would play an increasingly important role in safeguarding regional peace and stability and boosting regional economic development.
Sino-European relations have been proceeding smoothly. While visiting Germany, Jiang pointed out that "China and Europe are both important forces in the world arena and share broad interestsin safeguarding world peace and promoting common development."
Cooperation between China and Europe has become increasingly substantial, and their political dialogue and consultations at various levels have borne fruits.
Their common ground in international and regional affairs continues to expand and communication in trade and economics, science, technology, culture and education keeps deepening. The substantial cooperation between the two sides is expected to be further enhanced by the Asia-Europe summit scheduled to be held within the year.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the normalization of Sino-Japanese ties. The successful visit to Japan by Chairman Li Peng of the Chinese National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee and a number of political and economic delegations sent by Japan to China have further nurtured a favorable atmosphere forthe progress of their bilateral relations.
And non-official activities to commemorate the anniversary havealso added to the progress.
Nevertheless, the Yashukuni Shrine visit on the Japanese side has hurt the feelings of Chinese and other Asian peoples and aroused their grave concern and strong indignation.
People from both sides unanimously hold that the zig-zag growth of bilateral ties has proven that development of friendly relations can bring both nations benefit, leading to "win-win", cooperative relations.
China's diplomacy with neighboring countries has also recorded new progress. Premier Zhu Rongji's India and Bangladesh visit at the beginning of the year and Vice-President Hu Jintao's Malaysia and Singapore tour in April have further boosted China's ties withthese nations.
China has also maintained "family-like" high-level visits with friendly neighbors like Vietnam and Laos, provided timely aid to war-devastated Afghanistan and actively participated in the country's post-war reconstruction.
With regard to the India-Pakistan tensions, China, as a friend of both countries and their biggest neighbor, has spared no effortto persuade them to be at peace again. During the summit meeting of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, Jiang met separately with both Indian and Pakistani leaders, underlining the importance of maintaining friendly ties between the two sides.
Besides, China has also shown its clear-cut support to the improvement of relations between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRk) and the Republic of Korea (ROK), the improvement of the relations between DPRK and the U.S, and actively promoted peace and stability on the peninsula.
When a new country, East Timor, was founded this year, China was the first country to forge diplomatic ties with the new-born nation.
China's diplomacy this year was also characterized by the nation's dedication to coordination and consultation and the consolidation of substantial cooperation with developing countriesin the political sphere.
President Jiang's April visit to Nigeria and Libya, which was his fourth African tour, gave an eloquent proof of the high heed China gives to developing friendly and cooperative ties with African nations. China in the past six months also received leaders from other countries like Greece and Ecuador. Agreements have been signed during nearly all the high-level visits.
Leaders of many developing countries consider China important in the process of global multipolarization, and believe that it will help maintain world peace and stability.
During the first six months of 2002, China also established diplomatic relations with Nauru, bringing the number of nations ithas diplomatic relations with to 165.
Dialogue on security and economic cooperation have been high onChina's diplomatic agenda in the past few months. While attending the summit meeting of the Conference on Interaction and ConfidenceBuilding Measures in Asia and the SCO St. Petersburg summit, President Jiang actively advocated reciprocal regional cooperation,and promoted a new view of security characterized by mutual trust,mutual benefit, equality and cooperation.
The "Shanghai spirit" won not only recognition from the SCO members but acclamations from a large number of other countries.
China has continued to actively participate in discussions on security and cooperation under the framework of the ASEAN regionalforum, urging nations in this region to enhance non-traditional security cooperation in line with the new situation after the Sept.11 incident.
Giving importance to the "10+3" and "10+1" cooperation, China has also promoted a reaching of consensus on the establishment of a free trade area in the region within 10 years. As well as all this, China has also taken an active part in activities of the Asian cooperation dialogue.
In a word, the Chinese government has still adhered to an independent foreign policy of peace in the complex and changing international situation, to develop friendly contacts and mutual cooperation with all countries based on the five principles of peaceful coexistence.
"China with its concrete actions has proved and will continue to prove itself as a staunch force for safeguarding peace and promoting development in the region and the world at large," as President Jiang said.
(Xinhua News Agency August 30, 2002)
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