Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) yesterday called for Asian nations to cooperate more in security matters to avoid disagreements in a region increasingly beset by rival territorial claims — often involving China.
Hu offered only vague ideas about a “new security concept,” but his remarks appeared designed to reassure neighbors unsettled by Beijing’s soaring economic growth and its beefed-up military, which has been more assertive in staking China’s territorial claims.
“We need to seek common ground while shelving differences and enhance common security,” Hu told participants at a regional gathering in southern China. “We should reject a Cold War mentality and zero-sum approach, and -advocate a new security concept featuring mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and coordination.”
The remarks appeared significant in part because of the venue: the Boao Forum for Asia, which China bills as an Asian version of the World Economic Forum in the Swiss town of Davos.
On the stage with Hu were Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, South African President Jacob Zuma, South Korean Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik and former Japanese prime minister Yasuo Fukuda.
The appeal for greater cooperation comes as China has sparred in the past two years with most of its maritime neighbors over islands or rights to exploit the seas. Boao itself lies off the South China Sea — a region of key shipping lanes that is at the center of overlapping sovereignty claims between China and five other governments.
China has sought to ease concerns over its claim to the entire sea and its island groups, saying it would not impede transit and trade through the region.
However, in recent years, Beijing has designated the South China Sea a vital national interest and seized fishing boats from the Philippines and Vietnam, prompting a regional backlash that has drawn those countries closer to the US, the region’s dominant naval power.
At the same time, Japan and South Korea have also strengthened their military alliances with the US, partly as a result of China’s military expansion.
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