Wang Yi talks about peripheral diplomacy: finding a unique way of getting along with Asia

On March 7, 2024, Wang Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister, discussed peripheral diplomacy at the two sessions press conference.

Wang Yi said that Chinese people often say that distant relatives are not as good as close neighbors. China and its neighboring countries are neighbors that cannot be moved away. Asia is our common home. Building this home well is the common aspiration of countries in the region. Since President Xi Jinping proposed the concept of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness in neighboring countries, China has created a new situation of good-neighborly friendship with neighboring countries, and has also forged a unique way of getting along with Asia.

We insist on being kind to our neighbors. We should respect each other’s core and major concerns, maintain close high-level exchanges, and enhance people-to-people mutual understanding and mutual understanding, so that good-neighborly friendship will be deeply rooted in the hearts of the people and the awareness of a community with a shared future will take root.

We insist on treating each other with sincerity. We advocate seeking common ground while reserving differences, taking care of each other’s comfort, enhancing understanding and trust through sincere communication, resolving differences and frictions through dialogue and negotiation, jointly coping with various risks and challenges, and jointly writing a story of neighbors sharing weal and woe.

We insist on mutual benefit. Leveraging complementary advantages to assist each other’s development and revitalization, a large number of cooperation projects such as the China-Laos Railway, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, the China-Central Asia Natural Gas Pipeline, the China-Malaysia “Twin Parks”, and the China-Indonesia Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed ​​Railway have accelerated regional growth.

We insist on openness and inclusiveness. We should practice open regionalism, actively participate in East Asia cooperation, support the central position of ASEAN, and promote China-Japan-ROK cooperation to become deeper and more solid. The China-Central Asia Summit and the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Mechanism are booming, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has developed into the largest and most populous regional cooperation organization in the world.

Wang Yi said that this year marks the 70th anniversary of the promulgation of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. The Five Principles were born in Asia, transcending social systems and ideological differences, becoming the basic norms of international relations and the basic principles of international law, contributing Eastern wisdom to the correct handling of state-to-state relations. 70 years have passed, and the Five Principles have not become obsolete, but have shown even greater vitality. We are willing to work with neighboring countries to build a community with a shared future for Asia and mankind by carrying forward the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, continue to make Asia’s contribution to world peace, and continue to provide Asia’s driving force for global growth.