Paul Evans, a professor at the University of British Columbia, agreed to the importance of security to economic development but also pointed out the difficulty of implementing the new security concept proposed by Xi in practice.
"A security situation is going to limit economic opportunities now and in the future. That happened in the most extraordinary context when a year ago we were worrying about Japanese-Chinese potential naval confrontations in and around disputed islands," Evans said.
"The concepts of comprehensive, common, cooperative and sustainable securities are all important ideas, but they are not yet clearly defined. It's truly very difficult at this point to build a regional discussion around them. It takes some imagination," Evans added.
Copyedited by Eric Daly
Comments to jijing@bjreview.com
Key Points of President Xi Jinping's Speech
- To build a community of common destiny, we need to make sure that all countries respect one another and treat each other as equals. Countries may differ in size, strength or level of development, but they are all equal members of the international community with equal rights to participate in regional and international affairs. On matters that involve us all, we should discuss and look for a solution together. Being a big country means shouldering greater responsibilities for regional and world peace and development, as opposed to seeking a greater monopoly over regional and world affairs.
- To build a community of common destiny, we need to seek win-win cooperation and common development. The old mindset of a zero-sum game should give way to a new approach of win-win and all-win cooperation. The interests of others must be accommodated while pursuing one's own interests, and common development must be promoted while seeking one's own development.
- To build a community of common destiny, we need to pursue common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security. In today's world, security means much more than before and its implications go well beyond a single region or time frame. All sorts of factors could have a bearing on a country's security. As people of all countries share a common destiny and become increasingly interdependent, no country could have its own security ensured without the security of other countries or of the wider world. The Cold-War mentality should truly be discarded and new security concepts be nurtured as we explore a path for Asia that ensures security for all, by all and of all.
- To build a community of common destiny, we need to ensure inclusiveness and mutual learning among civilizations. Civilizations are only unique, and no one is superior to the other. There need to be more exchange and dialogue among civilizations and development models, so that each could draw on the strength of the other and all could thrive and prosper by way of mutual learning and common development. Let us promote inter-civilization exchanges to build bridges of friendship for our people, drive human development and safeguard peace of the world
- The Belt and Road and the AIIB are both open initiatives. We welcome all countries along the routes and in Asia, as well as our friends and partners around the world, to take an active part in these endeavors.
The Belt and Road Initiative is not meant as rhetoric. It represents real work that can be seen and felt to bring real benefits to countries in the region. Thanks to the concerted efforts of relevant parties, a "vision and action paper" for the initiative has been developed. Substantive progress has been made in the establishment of the AIIB. The Silk Road Fund has been launched, and constructions of a number of infrastructure connectivity projects are moving forward. These early harvests have truly pointed to the broad prospects the Belt and Road Initiative will bring.
(Source: Xinhua News Agency)
Boao Forum for Asia
As a non-government, non-profit international entity, the BFA is the most prestigious forum for leaders in government, business and academia in Asia and other continents to share their vision on the most pressing regional and global issues.
A parallel may be drawn between the BFA and the World Economic Forum, which is held every winter in Davos, a ski resort in Europe, owing to their similar mission statements, strategies and selection of small locales as permanent sites.
Initiated in 1998 by Fidel V. Ramos, former President of the Philippines; Bob Hawke, former Prime Minister of Australia; and Morihiro Hosokawa, former Prime Minister of Japan, the BFA was inaugurated in February 2001.
As the permanent site of the forum since its inception, Boao covers an area of 86 square km and has a population of about 27,000. Since 2002, the BFA has held its annual conference in Boao every March or April.
Over 70 discussions were held during 2015's four-day event, which took the forms of open sessions, closed-door meetings and TV debates among other formats. The topics this year included the following:
- 3D printing
- Agricultural sector
- Art
- Artificial intelligence
- Chinese local governments' debt crisis
- Culture
- E-commerce
- Food safety
- Forging a new Asia-Pacific security architecture
- Peer-to-peer lending
- Relationship between smog and health
- Religion
- Shadow banking
(Source: www.boaoforum.org) |