THE 4th IISS REGIONAL SECURITY SUMMIT
THE MANAMA DIALOGUE
Manama Sunday 9 December 2007
FRAMEWORK FOR REGIONAL SECURITY
Zhai Jun
Assistant Foreign Minister for West Asian, North African and African Affairs,
People’s Republic of China
Mr Chairman, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen:
It is my great pleasure to participate in the Fourth Manama Dialogue on the Gulf. I’d like to thank the International Institute for Strategic Studies, London, for its invitation and the efforts by the Government of Bahrain in preparation for the meeting.
The Manama Dialogue is a platform for extensive exchanges of views among the various parties on the issue of security in the Gulf. I’d like to take the advantage of this platform to share views on this issue with the participants.
The international community has always shown a great deal of concern to the security in the Gulf region. This is a region which has a great deal of political, economic and cultural significances. The region, which accounts for about 3.25% of the world’s land surface, has a share of almost 60% of the world’s oil deposit and 42% of the world’s natural gas. It enjoys the largest energy output in the world, which is hugely significant in ensuring the stability of the whole world. Over the years, many countries of the Gulf region have been committed to economic development and safeguarding the stability of the region, and have made a great deal of achievement. They have also made positive contributions to the cause of peace and development of the world.
However, the Gulf region is far from peaceful. Since the end of World War Two, the Gulf and its adjacent regions have successfully witnessed seven major wars. Certain long-standing hot issues remain unresolved, while new threats have emerged. Traditional and untraditional security risks co-exist, which are troubling the region’s security and stability. The maintenance and promotion of security in the Gulf region is a major subject for the Gulf countries, and an on-going test for the wisdom of the international community. I would therefore like to share the following views on the issue of security in the Gulf region:
First, promotion of mutual trusts through dialogues and of security through cooperation is the essential way to ease the tensions, and to achieve long-term stability in the region. Dialogues may be a protracted process or even suffer setbacks, yet steps taken as a result of communication and mutual understanding are solid and concrete. There are no winners out of confrontation, which may even lead to deeper hatred and suffering. The seven major wars witnessed by the region have provided to us more than enough lessons. Confronted by the complicated and complex contradictions in the region, no country can cope by itself, nor can any country remain unaffected. The tensions in this region can only be eased through equal dialogues, the removal of the contradictions and the mutual accommodation of each other’s concerns. Mutual understanding and trust can only be strengthened through frank exchange of views, which will lay the real foundation for a security framework in the Gulf region. It is based on the above understanding that we support the efforts by the Iraqi government to seek for reconciliation through promoting dialogue among the various factions, and hope that Iraq will seek to resolve through consultations with its neighbours each others’ concerns. We also hope the wider international community will work together to help Iraq push forward the process of reconstruction. It is also on the basis of the above understanding that we believe the Iranian nuclear issue should be resolved through the political and diplomatic channels, and support the safeguarding of the international non-proliferation regime. We do not wish to see new turbulences in the Gulf region.
Second, mutual political trusts and economic cooperation are the important pillars for security in the Gulf region. Without mutual political trusts, economic cooperation cannot be deepened. Closer economic cooperation benefits not only the flourishing economic development in a country and remove the causes for instability, but also increases the contacts among the countries of a region which will lead to the strengthening of mutual political trusts. The successful experiences of regional cooperation in different parts of the world prove that mutual political trusts and economic cooperation function as the foundation for security cooperation. Since its inception, the Gulf Cooperation Council has made significant progress in promoting economic integration, deepening mutual political trusts and developing security cooperation, which has effectively defended and enhanced the security, stability and development in its member countries. Successful experiences as such have provided meaningful examples for developing a more wide-ranging security framework in the Gulf region.
Third, peripheral stability around the Gulf region is the necessary condition for the security of the region itself. Security of the Gulf region is closely linked to the overall situation in the Middle East. The Middle East issue is the world’s longest lasting regional hot issue, which has affected the stability of the Gulf region over the past 50 years. On the basis of the relevant UN resolutions, the principle of land for peace and the peace initiatives by the Arabic countries, and through the joint efforts by the international community, the early, just, reasonable and comprehensive settlement of the Middle East issue will not only remove the shackles on the concerned parties for peace and development, and also create the favourable external conditions for stability in the Gulf region.
The Gulf region once played a significant part in the development of human history, which today still has a wide and deep-going influence on other parts of the world. Under the current international and regional circumstances, it is even more necessary than ever for the international community to be committed to mutual respect, to the replacement of conflict by dialogue and to the replacement of exclusion with inclusion, and to promote different civilisations to learn from each other in seeking common development.
The countries in the Gulf region are important members in the international community. The international community must first and foremost respect the right of the Gulf countries to independently choose their paths of development as it shows concern and promotes security in the Gulf region. In addition, their voices should be listened to and their reasonable concerns should be met. It is on such a basis that the international community can make joint efforts to promote through equal dialogue and cooperation peace and stability in the Gulf region.
The Chinese government attaches a great deal of importance to the security and stability in the Gulf region, and follows resolutely the five principles of peaceful co-existence in developing its friendly and cooperative relations with the Gulf countries, to promote mutual political trusts through dialogues on all levels, and to promote common development through equal and mutually benefiting trade and economic cooperation, and mutual understanding through rich and colourful cultural exchanges. We support and actively participate in the international efforts to resolve the regional hot issues. We are playing a constructive role through appointing special envoys, providing humanitarian aid, participating in peacekeeping and reconstruction to push the regional situation towards amelioration and stability.
Mr Chairman, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen: Against the background of deepening globalisation, the inter-dependence between countries is intensifying by the day and we are becoming part of each other. The world can hardly enjoy genuine peace and development without peace and stability in the Gulf region. It is our hope that, through the joint efforts of the concerned parties, the regional hot issues can be resolved in an appropriate manner, tensions can be eased, and dialogue and cooperation in the Gulf region can be pushed forward in order to create the conditions for a genuinely just, reasonable and balanced framework of peace in the Gulf region. China is happy to continue its own efforts to this end.
