China’s Xi Jinping calls on nations to unite against ‘iron curtains of confrontation’
- China will never seek hegemony on basis of strength, President Xi Jinping says in marking 70 years of ‘Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence’
His comments to mark a key foreign policy milestone come as Beijing continues to position itself as a leader of the Global South and an international peace broker.
The “Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence” had been “the bedrock” of Chinese foreign policy since the 1950s, Xi said in a keynote address at an event in Beijing marking the 70th anniversary of the concept.
The principles, stressing mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity and non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, were first included in an agreement between China and India in 1954, known as the “Panchsheel” treaty in India.
The principles had shown “everlasting relevance” and become “universally applicable basic norms for international relations”, Xi said.