Chinese leaders are soberly aware of China's current comprehensive strength. While they stress making full use of the country's increasing power to safeguard its national interests, they understand that there are still serious bottlenecks for China's development. In the meantime, China's reunification, territorial integrity, national unity and development path are facing multiple external challenges. The security situation of neighboring countries also poses potential threats to China's national security. Therefore, China should focus on domestic reform and development and never abuse its diplomatic resources or practice diplomatic activities that infringe upon other countries' sovereignty. What China needs to do is to enrich and develop the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, making the principles a banner for promoting common development, safeguarding international security, respecting diversity of world civilizations, strengthening multilateralism and pushing for democracy in international relations.

Diplomatic practice

The Chinese Government doesn't want to become mired in the debate. Instead, it is willing to accumulate experience in practice, make adjustments, and increase its influence on the domestic and foreign policies of surrounding countries and participation in international affairs.

The Korean Peninsula situation is deeply connected with China's strategic security interests. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, after taking power in 2011, took a tough stance on both domestic affairs and foreign policies. Despite international opposition, Kim conducted his country's third nuclear test in 2013, further deteriorating relations with the international community and further complicating China's surrounding environment. China first tried to persuade Pyongyang to continue dialogue with other parties. Later, while maintaining regular working-level communication and normal economic and trade contacts, Beijing temporarily closed the door to top-level official visits with Pyongyang and earnestly implemented the UN sanctions on North Korea. However, China didn't give up its efforts to bring North Korea back into dialogue. Since February, China has sent Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin and Wu Dawei, the country's special representative for Korean Peninsula affairs, to visit Pyongyang, in an attempt to restart the long-stalled six-party talks as well as urging Pyongyang to improve its relations with other countries and focus on economic development.

As for the current Ukrainian crisis, China's stance is crucial as it keeps strategic partnerships with all the parties concerned—Ukraine, Russia, the European Union and the United States. The annexation of Crimea by Russia has undermined the sovereignty of Ukraine, which goes against China's long-held diplomatic principles. However, China believes that there are complex historical and practical reasons for the move. The U.S.-led NATO enlargement under the Cold War mentality, which extrudes the strategic space of Russia, is actually the blasting fuse of the tensions. Under these circumstances, China chooses not to take sides but promotes peace talks. China's proposal of setting up an international coordination mechanism for political settlement of the crisis has won the understanding and respect of all parties.

Regarding Sino-U.S. relations, one of the most important bilateral relationships in the world, China's top leaders have called for building a new type of major-power relationship between the two countries. This new-type relationship aims to ensure the sound and stable development of Sino-U.S. relations. Featuring non-confrontation, non-conflict, mutual respect and win-win cooperation, the vision can help the two countries to avoid a possible lose-lose situation resulting from competition between the emerging power and the established power. To an extent, the notion of new-type major-power relations is the extension and development of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence in handling big power relations, which will surely have a far-reaching influence on international relations.

The author is an op-ed contributor to Beijing Review

Email us at: yanwei@bjreview.com

Origins of the Principles

The Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence—mutual respect for each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence—were first put forward by Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai at a meeting with the Indian delegation for negotiations on bilateral relations in China's Tibet region in December 1953. The principles were later incorporated into the Agreement on Trade and Intercourse Between the Tibet Region of China and India released on April 29, 1954.

In June 1954, Premier Zhou visited India and Burma, now known as Myanmar. The joint statements issued between Zhou and his Indian and Burmese counterparts both affirmed the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence as guiding principles for China-India and China-Burma relations. The three nations also jointly proposed that the principles should be established as norms governing international relations in general.

(Source: China's Foreign Ministry)