Jiang gives 'good neighbour' assurance
President Jiang Zemin told Asian nations yesterday that China would be a 'good neighbour' and called for greater political and economic co-operation - in a show of friendship aimed at easing worries over its growing economic and political clout.
'No matter how the world may evolve, China will forever be a good neighbour, a good friend and a good partner to other Asian countries,' the President told the opening ceremony of the 35th annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
As if to show the gentler side of China, schoolgirls hugged the President and bank officials.
President Jiang told the audience a more powerful China was not a threat. 'A more developed China means a stronger force for peace and progress in Asia and the rest of the world.'
Some Asian nations have been alarmed at China's increased spending on defence and the often harsh rhetoric streaming out of Beijing. Southeast Asia worries about cheap Chinese goods flooding its markets, while North Asia fears the 'hollowing out' of industry as companies move their operations to the mainland.
President Jiang, however, urged more attention be paid to developing countries.
He also called for a 'multi-polar world', a frequent refrain from Beijing that points to the need to counter the world's only superpower, the United States.
This is only the second time China has hosted the annual gathering. The first meeting was held in May 1989 as student protesters filled the streets of Beijing in a push for democracy that ended with the bloody Tiananmen Square crackdown.
The President referred briefly to the previous meeting, although he did not directly refer to the political earthquake that followed. Since the 1989 meeting, 'profound changes have taken place both in China and around the world', he said.
At the last ADB meeting in China, former Communist Party chief Zhao Ziyang delivered an opening address which hardliners used to oust him for taking a moderate stance towards protesters.
