China is willing to add new dimensions to the Five Principles of
Peaceful Co-existence that have guided the country's diplomatic practices for
half a century, said former Vice-Premier Qian Qichen.
He said that in order to bring new life to the five principles, countries
worldwide should foster a new sense of security featuring mutual trust and
benefits, equality and co-ordination.
Meanwhile, respecting the diversity of the world and promoting
multilateralism are also among the new contents, he added.
Qian made the remarks Monday at the opening ceremony of an international
seminar to honour the 50th anniversary of the principles Monday in Beijing.
More than 100 senior domestic and foreign statesmen, scholars and experts
from China and 12 other countries across the world attend the two-day seminar
that was sponsored by the Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs.
Qian said that in a world where economic globalization is surging forward
rapidly and interdependence is deepening, the Five Principles still had a
potentially wide application as the fundamental theory guiding international
relations.
Qian's view was echoed by Indian former President K. R. Narayanan.
"The appropriate code of conduct for a globalized world would be the Five
Principles of Peaceful Co-existence and not the over-lordship of one super power
or group of nations," he added.
The Five Principles, initiated by China, India and Myanmar in 1954, include
mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression,
non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit,
and peaceful co-existence.
Butros Butros-Ghali, former secretary-general of the United Nations, said
that the Five Principles had been incorporated into the UN Charter and gradually
accepted by the international community as fundamental rules in dealing with
state-to-state relations.
But he noted that some of the five principles are facing challenges under the
new circumstance such as the principle of non-interference that has been
severely weakened by humanitarian intervention and unilateral sanctions applied
by member states without approval by the UN.
"The Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence have close links with the UN,
and if the UN becomes weak, then the principles will be weak," said Ghali,
replying to China Daily's questions in a joint interview with Chinese media over
the weekend in Beijing.
Taking the principle of non-interference for instance, the 82-year-old former
secretary general said: "When a poor African country is confronted with anarchy
and chaos, how can we be sure that the international intervention is not related
to political reasons without any links to the internal dispute?"
Ghali, as well as former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, former US Secretary
of State Henry A. Kissinger and George P. Shultz, also gave speeches at Monday's
seminar.
