Chinese President Jiang Zemin made a speech Friday
at the opening ceremony of the Third ASEM Foreign Ministers'
Meeting. The following is the full text:
Distinguished
Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Friends, In the first
year of the new century, it is of great significance for
foreign ministers of the ASEM member states to meet in
Beijing and discuss major plans for Asia-Europe cooperation.
I would like to extend, on behalf of the Chinese Government
and people and in my own name, our warm welcome to all the
guests, and our heartfelt congratulations on the convocation
of the Third ASEM Foreign Ministers' Meeting.
The pursuit for peace, stability,
development and cooperation represents the trend of our
times and the common aspirations of all the people in the
world. This is also the goal the Asian and European people
are striving to achieve. The emergence of ASEM has been a
strategic choice for closer Asia-Europe exchanges and
cooperation against the backdrop of the new international
situation.
Asia and Europe, both with a
time-honored history and splendid culture, are home to many
renowned thinkers, artists and scientists. People on the two
continents have made indelible contributions to the
advancement of human civilization and the promotion of world
peace and development. Leaders and
people of countries in Asia and Europe have made persistent
efforts to explore and create new communication channels and
cooperation frameworks. This not only contributes to the
economic and social progress of their respective countries
and helps establish a new type of Asia-Europe partnership of
equality, but it is of great importance to world peace,
stability and development. Over the
past five years, ASEM has initiated extensive dialogues and
cooperation of various forms. Leaders in Asia and Europe
have had useful discussions on some major regional and world
issues. The two sides have pushed the Asia-Europe relations
to a greater depth through exchanges and cooperation in such
fields as economic relations and trade, finance, science and
technology, culture and environment.
The present international situation is, on the whole,
moving towards relaxation. Economic globalization and
multi-polarization continue to develop. Science and
technology are advancing by leaps and bounds, giving new
impetus to world development. The cause of human progress
has a bright prospect in the new
century.
However, the development of the world
is unbalanced or even inharmonious. It still faces many
difficulties and complicated problems. The goal of realizing
democracy in international relations is far from being
attained. The unjust and irrational international political
and economic order remains unchanged. The gap of wealth
between the North and the South as well as the digital
divide are widening further. Regional conflicts keep
cropping up. It will be a long and uphill journey to bring
about a lasting peace and common development of mankind.
In the new century, it
is the responsibility of statesmen and people of all
countries to find ways to seize the rare opportunities for
development, appropriately tackle various contradictions in
the world, jointly overcome difficulties on our way ahead
and push forward the development of the human
society. Asia and Europe can not
develop in isolation from the rest of the world, and
Asia-Europe cooperation can bring benefit to the world. As a
highly influential trans-regional cooperation mechanism,
ASEM should make more contributions to peace, security,
development and prosperity of Asia, Europe and the world at
large. In this connection, I would like to share with you
some of my views.
1. ASEM should be developed
as a role model for inter-continental cooperation based on
equality. Countries in Asia and Europe differ in
historical progress, social system, economic development,
cultural tradition and values. Such diversity may
serve precisely as an important driving force for the two
sides to seek common progress by learning from each other.
Facts prove that as long as Asia and Europe can observe the
principles of equality and democracy, the two sides will
have deeper understanding, wider common grounds, better
cooperation and closer relations. Mutually beneficial
cooperation as such between equal partners should be
advocated in developing all bilateral and multilateral
relations. 2. ASEM should play a
greater role in promoting all-round cooperation between the
two continents. The 2.5 billion odd population of
its member states, or 40 percent of the world's total,
produces half of the world's GDP. With considerable
economic, scientific and technological strength, rich human
resources and vast market potentials, Asia and Europe have a
solid foundation for closer cooperation. A long-term
cooperation program should be worked out under the
principles of mutual benefit, reciprocity and mutual
complementarity to explore effective measures to deepen
comprehensive cooperation and exchanges in economic
relations and trade, finance, science and technology,
education, environment and other sectors so that Asia-Europe
cooperation will become more extensive and continue to
attain new achievements.
3. ASEM should become
a major channel for exchanges between Eastern and Western
civilizations. Both Asia and Europe are cradles of human
civilizations and have long been associated with each other.
The ancient Silk Road, which used to be an important passage
of interflow between Asian and European civilizations, has
played a unique role in the exchanges between Eastern and
Western civilizations. ASEM should build up a new Silk Road
to actively boost exchanges between these two civilizations
in the new century so that countries in Asia and Europe will
build on their respective civilizations and respect, learn
from, complement and benefit each other.
4. ASEM should be an important force for
promoting the establishment of a new international political
and economic order. The two continents have mutual interests
in maintaining world peace and enhancing common development.
It is imperative to abide by the UN Charter and the
universally-acknowledged basic principles of international
law, strengthen consultation, coordination and cooperation,
properly handle major political, security and economic
questions, and pay close attention to the interests and
demands of the vast number of developing countries. ASEM
should play a constructive role in helping build a just and
rational new international political and economic order and
carry forward the lofty cause of peace and development in
the world. As an ASEM member, China
has consistently supported and actively participated in the
Asia-Europe cooperation. We stand ready to work with other
countries in Asia and Europe for sound development of ASEM,
deeper understanding and cooperation between the peoples in
these two continents, and a better future of prosperity and
strength in Asia and Europe.
Finally, I wish the current foreign
ministers' meeting a great success.
|