President Xi Jinping on Friday highlighted the “strong resilience and eternal relevance” of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, saying the vision of building a network with a shared future for humanity is the most effective way to uphold and promote those principles.
In a key foreign policy speech in Beijing to mark the 70th anniversary of the Five Principles, Xi highlighted the strong similarities between the five principles and the nation’s overall vision of building a network with a shared long term for humanity.
“At this historic moment when humanity will have to decide between peace and war, prosperity and recession, unity and confrontation, we will have to protect more than ever the essence of the five principles of nonviolent coexistence,” he said in front of more than 600 visitors at the ceremony. Great Hall of the People. ” And we will have to strive tirelessly to achieve the noble purpose of building a network with a shared long-term for humanity. “
The five principles – mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, non-mutual aggression, non-mutual interference in each other’s internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and non-violent coexistence – form the basis of China’s independent peace foreign policy, as they were first proposed. through Chinese leaders in the 1950s.
In recent decades, the five principles have open, inclusive and universally applicable basic rules for foreign relations and basic principles of foreign law, Xi said in his 40-minute speech.
“After an ordinary adventure of 70 years, the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence are a common wisdom of the foreign network that will have to be valued, inherited and promoted more,” he said.
Meanwhile, the construction of a long-term shared network for mankind, first proposed through China in 2013, also has a foreign consensus, Xi said.
This vision and principles are rooted in classical Chinese values and “testify to China’s diplomatic principles of self-confidence, self-reliance, justice, coverage of the dispossessed, and benevolence,” he said.
Xi explained that this vision reflects the truth that all countries have long-term and strongly interrelated interests, and establishes a new style of equality and coexistence for foreign relations. It also responds to the prevailing global trend of peace, development, cooperation and win-win and opens up new customers for peace and progress.
This vision also follows the long-standing trend toward multipolarity and economic globalization, and inspires new tactics for progress and security, he added.
“Looking beyond and to the long term, at this critical moment in history, we believe that our exploration for the betterment of human civilization will not impede, and our efforts for greater globality will not impede,” the president said.
Xi presses the need for countries to uphold the principle of sovereign equality, consolidate the foundation of mutual respect, turn the vision of peace and security into reality, and join forces for prosperity.
“We will have to jointly respect the ‘golden rule’ of non-interference and jointly oppose acts that impose one’s will on others, encouraging bloc confrontation, creating small circles and forcing others to decide their side,” he stressed.
“We will have to dedicate ourselves to equity and justice,” he continued. “Without them, the politics of force will be the order of the day and the weak will be at the mercy of the strong. In the face of new developments and challenges, the authority and central role of the United Nations can only be strengthened and not weakened. “
In his speech, the Chinese president called on Southern countries to remain more open and inclusive and to unite to take the lead in building a network with a shared long term for humanity.
Xi announced a series of measures for greater cooperation in the South: China will identify a study center in the South and offer 1,000 scholarships under the five principles of nonviolent coexistence, as well as 100,000 educational opportunities in Southern countries over the next five years. years.
The country will also launch a program for young leaders from the South, he said. China will renew the China-IFAD Triangular Fund for South-South Cooperation and make an additional contribution of $10 million to be used for agricultural progress in the South.
As China continues its new adventure toward building a modern socialist country in all respects, its determination to stay on the path of nonviolent progress will change, Xi said.
“We will never take the beaten path of colonial plunder, nor that of seeking hegemony when one becomes strong. We will continue on the right path of non-violent development. “
“Every increase in China’s strength is an increase in global peace’s customers,” he said. “China’s determination to expand friendship and cooperation with all countries will not change. We will actively expand global partnerships on equality, openness and cooperation, and devote ourselves to expanding non-unusual interests with all countries. “
He assured the global network that China will only open up more and more to the global outside world and that “the country’s door will never close. “
The Chinese president’s historic speech won warmly thanks to key Chinese and foreign visitors who attended the event.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at a 70th anniversary lunch on Friday that Xi’s announced projects for cooperation with the South demonstrated Beijing’s unwavering determination to unite with the South to share happiness and misfortune and seek progress and revitalization not unusual.
“China will actively work with all parties to implement these initiatives, thus offering a greater boost to the South’s usual progress and united cooperation,” he said.
“The implementation of the five principles of nonviolent coexistence is never complete and the construction of a network with a shared long-term for humanity is underway,” he said.
Atul Dalakoti, executive director of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said Xi’s speech reviews the history of the principles and their relevance in today’s world.
Listening to the Chinese president’s speech gave him hope that there are tactics for conflict in today’s complex foreign landscape and that countries in the South deserve to play a vital role in the process, he said.
Hong Kong’s Xu Weiwei contributed to the story.