On South China Sea disputes, China stands on the side of history, logic and the law
Tung Chee-hwa lays out the legal and historical context in which China has declined to participate in international court proceedings on the disputed islands, and says Beijing’s actions have been anything but aggressive
You may ask, what is China pursuing internationally? What is its long-term strategic intent? For China to realise its vision – to join the ranks of the developed countries of the world – it needs to pursue peace with its neighbours and countries around the world.
United States to remain world’s Number 1 power ‘for a fairly long time’: Beijing
During the last 100 years of the Qing dynasty, China lost one-third of its territory to foreign powers. Therefore, territorial integrity is an emotional and sensitive issue to the Chinese people.
China has no aspirations to colonise or conquer foreign lands
China shares a border with 14 neighbours, more than any other country. At the time of the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, its border demarcation with neighbouring countries was very often ambiguous. There were many complicated discussions to settle border disputes. But, as of today, the record shows that China has successfully concluded territorial disputes with 12 of its 14 neighbours. This is quite an accomplishment. Despite enormous difficulties, solving remaining territorial disputes continues to be pursued peacefully.
In fact, China has no aspirations to colonise or conquer foreign lands. Nor does it uphold any religious or ideological motives to influence other people or to take over foreign lands. At the height of the Ming dynasty, when China had 30 per cent of the world’s gross domestic product, it remained peaceful and did not make incursions into foreign lands. The purpose of modernising its military is to act as a deterrent to foreign aggression against China.
Why the US will gain nothing from seeking to contain China
Today’s US-China relationship began in 1972, when president Richard Nixon visited chairman Mao Zedong ( 毛澤東 ) in China. Since then, eight US presidents and five national leaders of China have worked tirelessly to nurture this important relationship. Despite ups and downs, the relationship has been moving forward positively – particularly on trade, direct investment, people-to-people exchanges and, increasingly, collaboration on the global front. This partnership has great potential to expand.