Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said in Kuala Lumpur today that the
healthy development of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) should be
based on recognition and respect of diversity in the Asia-Pacific
region, and achieved at a measured pace through hard work.
In his address at the 13th ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian
Nations) Regional Forum Foreign Ministers' Meeting, Li said
confidence building should be the underlying theme for the whole
development process of the ARF, an official forum for conducting
multilateral security dialogue and cooperation in the Asia-Pacific
region.
Li said multilateral mechanism for security dialogue and
cooperation represented by the ARF have played an active role in
increasing trust among countries, preparing the countries in the
region to meet new security challenges and maintaining regional
peace and stability.
On the basis of respect for sovereignty, an incremental approach
may be taken to explore ways and means of conducting preventive
diplomacy and more concrete steps can be taken to foster regional
security, he said.
Maintaining ASEAN's driving role is essential to ensure ARF's
sound growth, Li noted. Under ASEAN's leadership, the ARF should
strengthen the chairman's role in line with such effective
principles as non-interference, decision-making by consensus and
moving at a pace comfortable to all.
The ARF should become a pace setter of regional multilateralism
by continuing to advocate equality and harmonious coexistence among
countries, encouraging and supporting the settlement of rifts and
disputes through dialogue, consultation and negotiation, and giving
full play to the initiatives of all its members.
He called on the ARF to set priorities in light of its own
characteristics as the Asia-Pacific is a vast region facing
complicated security challenges. The involvement of defense
officials in non-traditional security issues such as
counter-terrorism, fighting transnational crime and disaster relief
should be expanded and direct exchanges between law enforcement
authorities of ARF members should be enhanced.
China is committed to peaceful development and pursuing a
foreign policy of "treating neighbors as friends and partners" and
"fostering an amicable, peaceful and prosperous neighborly
environment," Li said.
China, as a member of the Asia-Pacific community, will continue
to expand exchanges and cooperation with other countries in the
region and beyond in an equal, open, inclusive and mutually
beneficial way, so as to ensure the healthy growth of the ARF, he
said.
In addition to the 10 ASEAN members -- Brunei, Cambodia,
Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore,
Thailand and Vietnam, the ARF groups Australia, Bangladesh, Canada,
China, the EU, India, Japan, Mongolia, New Zealand, North Korea,
Papua New Guinea, Pakistan, Russia, South Korea, Timor Leste and
the US.
(Xinhua News Agency July 28, 2006)
