Remarks at the Opening Ceremony of the ‘Peace and Development: Exhibition of the Achievements of China’s Foreign Policy in 55 years’

--By Mr. Yang Wenchang, Commissioner of Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Hong Kong SAR

The Honorable Vice Chairman Fok Ying-tung,

Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa,

Distinguished Guests and friends, Ladies and Gentlemen,

First of all, on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to the Friends of Hong Kong Association, Wen Wei Po of Hong Kong, the Education and Manpower Bureau of the Hong Kong SAR Government and the Hong Kong branch of Xinhua News Agency for jointly organizing the ‘Peace and Development: Exhibition of the Achievements of China’s Foreign Policy in 55 years’. The exhibition reviews the extraordinary development of China’s foreign policy of more than 50 years, and reflects from a certain perspective the brilliant history of the Chinese nation striving from weakness to revitalization.

 

Over the past 55 years, we have all along pursued an independent foreign policy of peace, firmly safeguarded national independence, sovereignty and dignity, and stood the tests of vicissitudes in the international situation. At the birth of the New China, the primary task of China’s foreign policy was to break the isolation and blockade of the West and to ensure that the People’s Republic of China stood firm on its own in the complicated international environment. Guided by the principle of ‘clearing the house before let the guest in’ put forward by Chairman Mao Zedong, we established friendly relations of cooperation with the former Soviet Union and various Asian and African countries. In the early 1970s, China regained its seat in the United Nations, followed by a wave of diplomatic recognition by the international community. Up to 1979 when Sino-US diplomatic relations were established, the number of countries that had diplomatic relations with China had climbed to 117, starting from 32 in the late 1950s. The international environment improved remarkably for China. Today, after 26 years of reform and opening up, there are altogether 165 countries that have diplomatic relations with China. The People’s Republic of China enjoys enhanced international status and increasing world influence, with its friends all over the world.

 

What I would like to stress today is the new strategic assessment that Mr. Deng Xiaoping made in the late 1970s in accordance with the changes in the international situation. As he put forward, peace and development were the major themes of the time, and world wars would unlikely break out again in a considerable period of time. Therefore, the decision was made to shift the focus of the Party and the Government to economic construction, and thus requiring the foreign policy to create a peaceful and stable external environment and to serve the purpose of national economic development. Since then, China, while safeguarding national sovereignty and security, energetically developed friendly relations of cooperation with all the countries in the world and upheld the peace and stability of the region and the world at large. In the 1990s, guided by the diplomatic theory of Mr. Deng, the third generation of leaders headed by President Jiang Zemin adhered to the foreign policy that served the purpose of national economic construction, and sought all-round, multi-level diplomatic relations with all countries in the world based on the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. While attaching due importance to maintaining world peace, China also vigorously developed economic and trade relations with all countries in the world, and has grown into an important trade power. It is especially worth mentioning that both Hong Kong and Macau returned to their motherland in the late 1990s. China’s foreign policy has made significant contribution to the domestic modernization drive, the cause of national peaceful reunification as well as world peace and development.

 

Looking back at the memorable years of more than half a century, the development of New China’s foreign policy is an epic of continuous exploration and hard-won triumph over twists and turns, which embodies the wisdom of the Chinese people and manifests the progress of national revitalization. In retrospect, every Chinese should be proud of the brilliant history. We owe these remarkable achievements to the wisdom and vision of three generations of Chinese leaders, to the growth of overall national strength, to the support of all ethnic groups of the Chinese people, the compatriots in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and overseas, as well as to the diligence and devotion of generations of Chinese diplomats.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

The first two decades of the 21^st century is a vital period of strategic opportunities for China. The new generation of leaders headed by President Hu Jintao, has inherited the foreign policy of Mr. Deng Xiaoping and reaffirmed that China will stick to the cause of peace and development. It has been assured that the essential task and purpose of China’s foreign policy is to sustain this important period of strategic opportunities; to create sound environment in four perspectives, namely, peaceful and stable international environment, good-neighborly and friendly surrounding environment, equitable and mutually beneficial environment of cooperation, and objective and amicable environment of world public opinion; in a word, to serve the purpose of building an all-round well-off society.

 

In the 21^st century, peace and development remain the major themes of the world. Political multi-polarization and economic globalization will continue to develop. China cannot develop alone without the world, and the future of the world cannot be without China. At this juncture, China's foreign policy has a heavy and long agenda, with rare opportunities and severe challenges. So long as we adhere to the good tradition and unique style formed in the practice of foreign policy in the past 55 years, stick to the independent foreign policy of peace and the path of peace, cooperation and development, keep pace with the times and forge ahead with pioneering spirit, we will surely open up new horizon for our diplomatic work, and make greater contribution to the grand cause of revitalizing the Chinese nation.     

 

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to our compatriots in Hong Kong and Macau for their unswerving support for China’s diplomacy, for the nation’s reform and opening up, and for the peaceful reunification of the motherland. Please be assured that the diplomats of China will not let their people down. We will work with our heart and soul for the prosperity of the nation as well as the stability and development of Hong Kong.