Brics co-operation ushers in new era

Brics co-operation ushers in new era

SHANNON Ebrahim: China recently hosted a very successful Brics Summit in Xiamen. What do you consider the most important outcomes?

LS: The Brics Xiamen Summit has injected new momentum for the open world economy, global governance and international co-operation, further boosting the influence of the Brics. The main outcomes are three-fold.

First, Brics co-operation has ushered in another new golden decade. President Xi raised three important points for Brics partners, namely, treating each other as equals and seeking common ground while shelving differences, taking a results-oriented innovative approach to make our co-operation benefit all, and developing ourselves to help others while bearing in mind the well-being of the whole world. These ideas will chart the future course of Brics co-operation.

Second, Brics co-operation is driven forward by three wheels - political mutual trust, economic mutual benefit as well as people-to-people exchange and cultural mutual learning, and more than 60 tangible co-operation outcomes have been achieved. We have developed co-operation in areas such as trade in services, e-commerce, trade facilitation, IPO, economic and technological co-operation, innovation co-operation and public and private partnership.

Third, the Brics co-operation mechanism has become stronger, more solid and effective. We have held the first stand-alone Brics foreign ministers’ meeting and instituted regular consultations among our permanent representatives in New York, Geneva and Vienna. The African Regional Centre of the New Development Bank was launched in South Africa, marking a new stride towards a global development agency.

SE: How will the border dispute between China and India affect relations between the two countries?

LS: As each other’s important neighbour, China and India are the two largest developing countries and emerging markets in the world. A sound and stable China-India relationship serves the fundamental interests of the two peoples and is the shared aspiration of this region and the international community at large.

In his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the Brics Summit last month, President Xi Jinping pointed out that China and India should stay committed to the basic judgement that the two sides present development opportunities rather than a threat to each other. We hope the Indian side could put China’s development in a correct and rational perspective. We shall show the world that peaceful co-existence and win-win co-operation are the only right choice for China and India. China and India should jointly uphold peace and tranquillity in the border areas.

SE: Will India’s antagonism towards the One Belt One Road Initiative affect the project in any way?

LS: More than four years on after the Belt and Road Initiative was proposed, over 100 countries around the world and organisations have supported and participated in this initiative.

President Xi Jinping said we should build the Belt and Road into a road for peace, co-operation and prosperity. All countries should respect each other’s sovereignty, dignity and territorial integrity and accommodate each other’s core interests and major concerns.

Regarding the issue of Kashmir which the Indian side is concerned about, it has long been our position that the Belt and Road is a co-operation initiative for the common development and prosperity of the region. As an important part of the Belt and Road, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is not directed at any third parties, has nothing to do with territorial disputes, and does not affect China’s position on the Kashmir issue. We have repeatedly stated that the Belt and Road is an open and inclusive initiative. We welcome the participation of all countries to share the development opportunities brought by the initiative.

SE: China advocates dialogue with North Korea, but how can the international community bring North Korea to the negotiating table when even the harshest sanctions have failed to do so?

LS: We believe that a nuclear-free, peaceful and stable Korean Peninsula serves the common interests of the region and beyond. It also represents the common responsibility of all parties. China advocates for a peaceful resolution of the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue through dialogue and consultation. Both sanctions and promoting peace talks are the requirements of the DPRK-related resolutions of the UN Security Council. Overemphasising one and overlooking the other is not consistent with the spirit of UN Security Council resolutions.

To break the deadlock on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, all parties need to work in good faith for the shared goal. The foreign ministries of China and Russia have issued a joint statement on the Korean Peninsula issue, which sets forth a joint initiative based on the “dual-track approach” and the “suspension for suspension” initiative proposed by China and the step-by-step concept by Russia.

We hope that all relevant parties can play a constructive role in jointly promoting the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula and safeguarding peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.

SE: How will China attempt to reduce tension between the US and North Korea?

LS: I think that the US and North Korea are the main parties to the tension on the Korean Peninsula. We maintain that relevant issues be settled through dialogue and consultation between the US and the DPRK and between the ROK and the DPRK. The Korean Peninsula nuclear issue bears on the vital interests of all relevant parties as well as regional peace and stability. It is China’s consistent position to oppose war and chaos on the Korean Peninsula.

Recently, Susan Thornton, the Acting Assistant Secretary of the US State Department, told a hearing of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs that the pressure campaign of the US was aimed at bringing the DPRK back to the negotiating table. Meanwhile, the US has been clear about its strategy towards the DPRK, namely, the US does not seek regime change or collapse of the DPRK; the US does not seek an accelerated reunification of Korea, nor an excuse to garrison troops north of the Armistice Agreement’s Military Demarcation Line; the US has no desire to inflict harm on the long-suffering DPRK people.

We hope that the US can translate these commitments into concrete actions and that the DPRK side can work for the shared goal.

SE: Now that THAAD has been operationalised in South Korea, will tension continue between the two countries?

LS: It has been China’s clear-cut, consistent and firm position to oppose the THAAD deployment in the ROK by the US. The THAAD deployment in the ROK will in no way address the security concerns of the relevant countries and only severely undermine regional strategic balance and jeopardise the strategic security interests of China and other regional countries.