CHINA / National
Hu urges peaceful solution to regional conflicts
By Sun Shangwu (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2006-11-19 14:52
HANOI: President Hu Jintao urged all members in the Asia-Pacific region
to seek peaceful solutions to conflicts in the region so as to create a
stable environment for development.
"When disputes and problems occur that may affect regional stability, we
need to enhance trust, remove misunderstanding, reduce difference and
defuse conflicts through dialogue, consultation and negotiation and seek
peaceful resolution of such disputes and problems," he said.
President Hu made the remarks on Saturday at the first session of the
14th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting.
His remarks came in the wake of the nuclear crisis on the Korean
Peninsula, which was caused by the nuclear test of Democratic People's
Republic of Korea early last month. China, as a major host of Six-Party
talks, advocates for dialogues to resolve the problem.
Hu asked all members to crack down hard on terrorism and transnational
crimes of all forms and pay special attention to addressing their root
causes.
In response to the deep-rooted structural problems hindering the economic
and social progress of the region, Hu urged the developed APEC members to
act with the long-term interest in mind and take effective steps to
narrow the development gap and promote common prosperity.
"This concerted effort will help to achieve comprehensive, coordinated
and sustainable development of the Asia-Pacific economy," he noted.
The Chinese President called for the mode of "win-win co-operation" to
handle global and regional challenges.
The Asia-Pacific still faces high energy prices, imbalances in economic
development and occurrence of major communicable diseases, according to
Hu.
"Common challenges often create opportunities of co-operation. We should
seize opportunities, meet challenges, expand common interests and strive
for win-win progress," he said.
He told APEC leaders to "be open and inclusive" because there are a
number of regional and sub-regional co-operation mechanisms in the
Asia-Pacific region.
"We should support their parallel development so as to foster in the
Asia-Pacific an environment of co-operation that is open and inclusive
and that thrives on diversity. We should also be open towards mechanisms
in other regions and be committed to open regionalism," he added.
Leaders of the 21 member economies of the APEC began their annual meeting
in Hanoi on Saturday to facilitate free trade and promote sustainable
development in the region.
During the close-door meeting, the leaders approved a Hanoi Action Plan
for implementing the Busan Roadmap towards the Bogor Goals.
APEC leaders in 2005 developed a blueprint in Busan, South Korea, for
improving trade and investment facilitation measures. According to Bogor
Goals, a free and open trade and investment in the APEC region will be
achieved by 2010 for industrialized economies and 2020 for developing
economies.
President Hu said that APEC should play a greater role in the following
areas:
First, support the development of the multilateral trading system. A
stable and healthy multilateral trading system is crucial to the growth
of both global economy and the economy of the Asia-Pacific.
"Should the Doha Round of negotiations fail, no country would gain any
benefit," said Hu "the top priority now is to resume negotiation
speedily, reach agreement on key issues and deliver in good faith the
commitment that the Doha Round is a round of development."
Second, strive to meet the Bogor Goals. The Bogor Goals chart the future
course of APEC and are a criterion for gauging the performance of the
Organization. China supports the Hanoi Plan of Action aimed at attaining
the Bogor Goals as scheduled.
Third, enhance economic and technical co-operation, which is an important
means to narrow development gap and promote common prosperity.
In recent years, a number of new problems and challenges have emerged in
areas of financial security, energy security and public health security.
Many APEC members lack adequate experience and capability to respond to
them.
"We should increase input, make our co-operation more effective and
focused and help developing members of APEC improve their international
competitiveness and their capacity to meet challenges," he added.
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