Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi stressed on Tuesday that
reconciliation, development and cooperation should be the three
major pillars underpinning peace in Africa.
Addressing a high-level meeting of the Security Council at the
UN Headquarters in New York, Yang said a harmonious world of
enduring peace and common prosperity would be beyond our reach
without stability and development in Africa.
"A stable and developing Africa is what the African people seek,
and it serves the common interests of all countries," he noted,
adding that "the United Nations, the Security Council in
particular, is duty bound to help Africa maintain and build peace
and embark on the road toward durable prosperity and
stability."
Yang pointed out that peace in Africa faces both opportunities
and challenges, stressing it is necessary to make comprehensive
efforts at the national, regional and global levels to achieve
peace.
"Reconciliation, development and cooperation should be the three
major pillars underpinning peace in Africa," he said.
Yang said reconciliation is the key to peace in Africa, and all
the ethnic groups and factions in countries concerned should put
the national interests above everything else and endeavor to
advance an inclusive political process, protect human rights,
restore the rule of law, work together to promote national
development, and enable all people to benefit from peace
dividends.
Meanwhile, he noted that development is the basis for peace in
Africa.
"In the last analysis, peace in Africa hinges on whether there
is faster economic and social progress, whether the MDGs can be met
as scheduled and whether the benefit of development can reach all,"
he declared.
"The rich natural resources in Africa should be a source of
peace, not war," Yang added, emphasizing that "conflict prevention,
peacekeeping and peace-building should all aim at promoting
development."
"We support the international community's efforts to help Africa
in terms of capital, technology and governance, but there should be
respect for African countries' national conditions and development
models and one should not impose its own way on them," Yang
said.
On cooperation, he said it is the means to achieve peace in
Africa.
Only unity among African countries can lead to a bright future
for the continent, Yang pointed out. "The African people are
capable of resolving their problem in their own way."
He voiced support for the United Nations and the Security
Council to provide more assistance to regional organizations in
institutional building, information sharing, personnel training and
peacekeeping operations.
However, Yang noted that when the Security Council decides to
take mandatory measures, it should pay particular attention to the
views of African countries.
The meeting, initiated and chaired by French President Nicolas
Sarkozy, was devoted to international efforts to settle the
continent's festering conflicts. It was attended by representatives
of 15 council members, including 11 heads of State or Government,
the chairperson of the Commission of the African Union, and UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
(Xinhua News Agency September 26, 2007)
