Sustainable Peace for Sustainable Future

--- Sidelights on Commemoration of the International Day of Peace 2012 & China-Southeast Asia Peace and Development Forum

From September 20 to 22, the Commemoration of the  International Day of Peace 2012 & China—Southeast Asia Peace and Development Forum was held in Shenzhen. It was co-sponsored by the Chinese People’s Association for Peace and Disarmament (CPAPD), the UN System in China and the Shenzhen Municipal People’s Government, and jointly organized by the Chinese Association for International Understanding, the China NGO Network for International Exchanges and China Foundation for Peace and Development. Mr. Wang Yang, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Secretary of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee, Mr. Han Qide, Vice-Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and President of the CPAPD, attended the forum and delivered speeches. Mr. Wang Rong, Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee and Secretary of the CPC Shenzhen Municipal Committee, gave a welcome address. The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also sent a video message to congratulate the opening of the event.

More than 1,000 people attended the event, including current and former political leaders from Malaysia, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, East Timor, the Philippines, Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries, the CPAPD council members, representatives of NGOs and civil groups, experts and scholars as well as local people from all walks of life.

Building Consensus and Maintaining the Hard-Won Peace

The opening ceremony of the Commemoration of the  International Day of Peace 2012& China—Southeast Asia Peace and Development Forum was convened on September 21 which is known as “prime time of the Autumn” in China. Outside the venue in Shenzhen, green silk flags symbolizing peace waved in the wind, while the auditorium was in full capacity.

The theme of the event, “Sustainable Peace for Sustainable Future”, was written on the backdrop of the stage. Around 10 am on September 21, Mr. Wang Yang, Mr. Han Qide and other home and foreign guests walked into the room under thunderous applause.

“Harmony” has always been cherished as a core value since ancient times, Mr. Wang Yang said, and “amity between people and concord among states” has been a consistent pursuit in the Chinese cultural traditions. The Chinese people once suffered from cruel invasion and bullying. However, such historical experience allows us to keenly understand the value of peace and the importance of development.

China sticks to the path of peaceful development, maintaining world peace for and with our development. In 1992, Mr. Deng Xiaoping said during his visit to South China that socialist China should prove to the world that it is a firm force for maintaining world peace. After two decades, developing China has proved to the world that it has been striving for peaceful, open-type, cooperative and win-win development. It calls for all countries to join in the efforts to cope with different challenges and seek a new way for inclusive development from the perspective of the Community of Destiny, and bear in mind the new concept of cooperation for mutual benefit at the same time. In this way, peace will be more sustainable.

According to Mr. Wang Yang, Guangdong and Southeast Asian countries are close neighbors and thus sharing some common culture and business connections. Globally, there are more than 20 million Guangdong-originated overseas Chinese and over 70% of them live in Southeast Asia. For more than 20 years, the relationship between China and ASEAN has experienced a number of historical breakthroughs, from comprehensive dialogue partners to good neighbors and mutual trust partners and then to strategic partners. A comprehensive, wide-coverage and multi-level cooperation mode has been set up. Now, we believe that all governments and peoples in the world have found better ways to deal with conflicts and disputes in a more rational and flexible way and solve the problems through dialogues and negotiations so as to promote common development and prosperity.

It is unprecedented in human history for China, with a total population of more than one billion, to take the path of peaceful development. We hope that the international community can acknowledge the long-standing Chinese tradition and culture and understand that the biggest developing country has to overcome a great number of difficulties. We also hope that the expectations and dreams of the Chinese people for sustainable peace, national sovereignty and security, territorial integrity and social stability can be respected and cherished by the international community along with the belief that both the CPC and the Chinese government are sincere in their determination for peaceful development, Mr. Wang Yang added finally.

Mr. Han Qide said that as the biggest non-governmental peace organization in China, the CPAPD has been following the call of the UN to organize commemorative activities on International Day of Peace every year to disseminate the concept of peace. So far, great achievements have been made. Southeast Asian countries and China are close neighbors and their bilateral dialogues have lasted for 21 years.

As developing countries in the same region, we face the same situation and challenges and share similar positions and views on many major issues. We have the same objectives and pursuits. We understand that the road to regional and global peace and development is no smooth journey. We need to stay together in face of both opportunities and challenges. A peaceful and stable Southeast Asia has offered a conductive atmosphere for China’s development and in return, the peaceful development of China has provided opportunities for the development of Southeast Asia. Han called on that to maintain regional peace and stability and to promote cooperation for peaceful development in the region rely on the support of the people as much as the efforts of the governments. We sincerely hope to deepen our friendship and cooperation with all peoples in Southeast Asia and create a regional environment for peaceful development featuring peace, cooperation and harmony on the basis of the existing solid friendship.

A video message from the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was played at the opening ceremony. Mr. Ban Ki-moon expressed his high appreciation to the CPAPD for its contribution to maintaining world peace. He also called on all parties involved in conflicts throughout the world to try to solve problems in a peaceful way on the International Day of Peace and make joint efforts to build a safe, just and prosperous future.

Ms. Renata Dessallien, the UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in China, recognized China’s role in maintaining world peace. She said China has made valuable contribution through increased participation in peacekeeping operations; the rich cultural heritage of China on peace disseminates the peace-loving thinking is also contribution to world peace. She played the video entitled “2032: The Future We Want” made by the United Nations Development Program. In the video, 32 people from different places in China talked about their expectations for a sustainable future. The video showed the expectations of the Chinese people for a good future and their wishes for peace, arousing strong resonance among attendees.

Mr. Abu Zahar, President of the Senate of Malaysian Parliament, Mr. U Khin Aung Myint, Speaker of the Amyotha Hluttaw of the Union of Myanmar, and Mr. Asang Laoly, Member of the Central Political Bureau of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party and Vice-Premier of Laos, all highly appraised the commemorative activities on the International Day of Peace. They believe that it would be helpful to guide the public on sustainable peace and a sustainable future, which fully embody the eagerness of the Chinese people for long-term peace and stability.

The relationship between China and Southeast Asian countries has been improving through continuously expanding and deepening cooperation in a wide range of fields among each other. This provides a great support for the maintenance of regional peace. Considering the constant global conflicts, to realize a sustainable peace has become a long-term strategic task shouldered by all human beings. It can only be realized with a clear vision, continuous hard work and innovation as well as great courage to deal with all difficulties and risks. The speakers also stated their opinions on the South China Sea issue and provided suggestions for solutions.

Suggestions on Cooperation for Common Development

On the afternoon of September 21, the plenary session of the Commemoration of the International Day of Peace 2012 & China—Southeast Asia Peace and Development Forum was convened. It was jointly chaired by Mr. Li Jinjun, Vice-Minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee (IDCPC) and the CPAPD advisor, Mr. Liu Jingqin, Vice-President of the CPAPD, and Mr. Ung Huot, former Prime Minister of Cambodia and Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace.

Mr. Xu Qin, Mayor of Shenzhen introduced the development and advantages of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone and stated the assumptions to enhance communication and cooperation with Southeast Asian countries. He said Shenzhen is located in the heart of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, and the establishment and continued development of the Free Trade Area presents broader prospects for new cooperation and exchanges between Shenzhen and Southeast Asian countries. Shenzhen would like to strengthen friendship and partnership with Southeast Asian cities to jointly cope with new challenges and realize common development.

Mr. Zhang Jiuhuan, CPPCC delegate and former Chinese Ambassador to Thailand, reviewed the development of the relationship between China and ASEAN. He said strengthening trust and eliminating suspicions are fundamental guarantees for a bilateral relationship. As an example, when the financial crisis hit Southeast Asia in 1997, China decided not to depreciate the RMB to overcome the challenges alongside Southeast Asian peoples, which well manifests that a friend in need is a friend indeed and that mutual trust is important.

Concerning the South China Sea issue, Zhang said the first thing was to observe and review the changes of current international and regional situation from the historical and international perspectives, and then suspicions should be cleared up relying on accumulated mutual trust. He also said that suspicions should also be cleared up through more exchanges and communications. Dr. Surakiart Sathirathai, former Vice Prime Minister of Thailand, expressed opinions on the South China Sea issue. He said international disputes should be settled in a peaceful way based on previous successful examples, and disputes should be changed into agreements while conflicting zones should be changed into mutual development zones. He also gave an example concerning Thailand and Malaysia. The two countries were engaged in mutual development of the disputed territory and shared the benefits together without impact on boundary negotiation. Asia is a “triangular society”, where a third party as a mediator is needed to solve conflicts. However, the mediator should not only be able to win the trust and respect of both sides, but also have the will to prevent itself and other external powers from being part of the conflict.

Senator Panfilo M. Lacson from the Philippines mentioned that dialogue and friendship are of great significance to the countries for peaceful co-existence, while conflicts only result in disasters.

The concept of “sustainable peace for sustainable future” deserves the widest promotion. To really recover from the trauma by sanguinary conflicts and wars, these countries should put aside the differences in ideology and religious beliefs. Mr. Mao Rubai, former Chairman of the 10th NPC Environment Protection and Resources Conservation Committee and the CPAPD Advisor, was quoted as saying “the friendship between the two peoples is the foundation for the healthy development of the relations between the two countries concerned. Therefore, we should work to promote people-to-people exchanges and improve amity between the peoples so as to lay a solid foundation for the development of friendly relations between China and Southeast Asian countries.”

There were sub-forums to enhance communication and cooperation between China and Southeast Asian countries in politics and economic development. Profound dialogues were made under two themes, namely “Political Trust and Peaceful Development of China and Southeast Asian Countries” and “Shenzhen (China)—Southeast Asian Countries Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum”. The guests spoke out their opinions freely.

On September 22, the sponsors of the event held a series of supporting activities on the Kite Square of the Shenzhen Lianhua Mountain Park, including the signing activity themed on “Peace for Development” and pigeons releasing. The home and foreign guests also drew pictures together with local children to express their expectations for a peaceful future. The peace pigeons flew with expectations and wishes of the Chinese and Southeast Asian peoples for ever-lasting peace in the region.

The participating political leaders and experts unanimously agreed that the commemorative event was convened at a right time when further development of the relationship between China and Southeast Asian countries was especially needed. Sound common development will be achieved, and regional stability and world peace will be well maintained as long as the parties concerned can uphold the principles of political mutual trust, treat each other with sincerity and maintain frequent exchanges.