Xi urges joint efforts to open up new prospects for Asian security, development

Chinese President Xi Jinping addresses the fifth summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, June 15, 2019. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday urged Asian countries and their partners to join hands in opening up new prospects for Asian security and development under new circumstances.

Addressing the fifth summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) held in Tajikistan, Xi called on CICA members to build an Asia featuring mutual respect and trust, security and stability, development and prosperity, openness and inclusiveness, as well as cooperation and innovation.

China will steadfastly pursue a peaceful development path, stick to opening up and all-win approaches, uphold multilateralism, and work together with all sides to create a better future for Asia and the world, said the Chinese president.

Hosted by Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, the CICA summit was attended by leaders or representatives of Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Qatar, Russia, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Uzbekistan and other member countries, as well as representatives of observer states and relevant international and regional organizations.

Participants exchanged views on the theme "Shared Vision for a Secure and More Prosperous CICA Region," held in-depth discussion on international and regional issues of common concerns, jointly planned for Asia's long-lasting peace and shared prosperity, and reached extensive consensus.

In his address, Xi hailed the CICA's positive contributions to promoting peace and development in Asia since its establishment 27 years ago, saying that the mechanism has been committed to increasing mutual trust and collaboration among member countries and safeguarding regional security and stability.

Xi recalled that on the 2014 CICA Shanghai summit, he put forward a new vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, and proposed exploring a new security and development path that fits Asian features and the common interests of relevant countries, which received positive responses from various parties.

China stands ready to work with all sides to deepen cooperation in various fields and push forward the CICA process onto new stages, he said.

Calling Asia one of the most dynamic and most promising regions in the world, Xi said Asian countries also face common challenges including insufficient political mutual trust, imbalanced economic development, and outstanding security and governance issues, and thus there is a long way to go to realize long-lasting peace and shared prosperity.

Hailing the progress made by Asian countries in building an Asian community with a shared future in the past few years, Xi encouraged CICA members to hold on to their goals, jointly seize opportunities and address challenges, and make concerted efforts in opening up new prospects for Asian security and development under the new circumstances.

Xi said that building an Asia featuring mutual respect and mutual trust is CICA members' shared expectation, calling on them to adhere to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, respect each other's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, as well as their respective choice of political systems and development paths.

We should discard zero-sum game and protectionism, enhance policy communication, improve political mutual trust and gradually expand strategic consensus, said Xi.

Noting that building a safe and stable Asia is a common goal of regional countries, Xi called for dialogue rather than confrontation, and partnership instead of alliance among CICA members.

To properly address various traditional and non-traditional security problems, we should stand firm in cracking down on terrorism of all forms, take all kinds of effective precaution measures and extinguish extremism from its roots, the president said, urging CICA members to explore a regional security structure with Asian features to realize collective security and common security for Asia.

Building a prosperous Asia is a shared aspiration of Asian countries, and development is the key to all problems, Xi said, adding that CICA members should work together to promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, implement the consensus reached at the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in April, strengthen the synergy of their development strategies, boost comprehensive connectivity and promote high-quality economic development in all countries.

Building an open and inclusive Asia is a common pursuit of Asian countries, said Xi. He urged CICA members to well implement the consensus reached at the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations held in May in Beijing, and develop a vision of civilizations based on equality, mutual learning, dialogue and inclusiveness.

We should ensure that diversified coexistence will replace civilization superiority, harmonious symbiosis will replace civilization clashes, exchanges and sharing will replace civilization estrangement, as well as joint prosperity and progress will replace civilization rigidity, said Xi.

Building a cooperative and innovative Asia is our common need, the president said, calling for innovation in such areas as theory, institution, science and technology as well as culture, and efforts to seek new answers to old problems and good answers to new problems, so as to crack various difficult problems facing Asia.

China has always insisted on developing good-neighborly relations with Asian countries, Xi said.

As a member of the Asian family and a responsible major country of the international community, China will continue to be a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development and a defender of the international order, he said, adding that it will push forward the construction of a new type of international relations and a community with a shared future for mankind.

Firstly, China will steadfastly pursue a peaceful development path, Xi said, vowing never to seek benefits at the expense of others.

China will continue to deepen friendly cooperation with all countries on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, address territorial and maritime disputes with relevant countries through peaceful means, and support dialogue and consultation in solving regional hot-spot issues, the president said.

Secondly, China will stick to opening-up and all-win approaches, and share development opportunities with various countries, Xi said, adding that China is willing to work with all sides to take the advantage of the Belt and Road international cooperation platform to inject powerful momentum into their common development.

China will hold the second China International Import Expo this year, which will create more conveniences for all parties to access the Chinese market, he said.

Thirdly, the Chinese president pledged to firmly uphold multilateralism and safeguard the international order based on international laws.

China stands ready to work with all countries to promote a global governance vision featuring extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, staunchly protect the international system with the United Nations (UN) at its core, and firmly safeguard the multilateral trade system with the World Trade Organization at its core, Xi said.

He called for equal dialogue and consultation based on mutual respect, and adherence to the norms of international relations and multilateral trade rules in addressing economic and trade problems, stressing that relevant sides should never readily resort to protectionism and unilateralism.

Such a stance held by China, Xi said, is not just to protect the legitimate right of development for all countries, but also to protect international fairness and justice.

Applauding Xi's address, other CICA participants thanked China for its contributions in promoting dialogue and cooperation within the CICA framework during its previous presidency.

All sides agreed that they should continue to advance the CICA process based on Asia's realities, implement the confidence-building measures, seek common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, respect cultural diversity and build Asia into a harmonious region with lasting peace and prosperity.

CICA members reiterated that they adhere to the UN Charter and generally-accepted international laws and norms, uphold the efficient multilateralism with the United Nations at its core, fully support the principle of noninterference in each other's internal affairs, jointly build an open world economy and stand against protectionism in any forms.

They also pledged to jointly combat international terrorism, extremism and transnational organized crimes, join efforts in addressing various risks and challenges, promote peace and stability in Asia and the world, strive to build a new type of international relations featuring mutual respect, fairness and justice, and win-win cooperation, and forge a community with a shared future for mankind.

A joint declaration of the fifth CICA summit was issued.

After the summit, Xi attended a welcoming banquet held by Rahmon for leaders and representatives participating in the summit.

Xi arrived here Friday for the CICA summit and a state visit to Tajikistan.

Tajikistan is the second leg of Xi's two-country Central Asia trip, which also took him to Kyrgyzstan for a state visit and the 19th Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit.