Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (
Wen made the comments at a meeting in Islamabad of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue, a forum aimed at promoting economic cooperation in Asia.
Wen called for peace in Asia and urged more cooperation in energy, environmental protection and financial dialogue, and for free trade agreements among Asian nations.
"Asia needs peace. Peace is the precondition for well-being and prosperity ... a truly Asian century will never materialize unless Asia develops as a whole," Wen said at a meeting of foreign ministers and senior government officials from Asian and Middle Eastern nations.
Wen told other nations that they need not worry about an increasingly powerful and developed China.
He said Beijing will "concentrate on addressing domestic concerns" and will protect the interests of developing nations "with no political conditions attached."
"Some people are worried that a stronger and more developed China would pose a threat to other countries. Such worry is completely misplaced ... even if we become stronger and more developed, we will not stand in the way of others, still less become a threat to others. China will never seek hegemony," Wen said.
The Asia Cooperation Dialogue was formed in 2002 at the initiative of Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and includes Japan, China, South Korea, India, Pakistan, other Asian states and several Gulf countries.
Speaking at the opening of the meeting, Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said Asian nations should come together to utilize their potential to achieve peace and prosperity.
Aziz called for promotion of investment and joint business ventures among members of the forum, and regular meetings among finance ministers and central bank chiefs.
On Tuesday, Wen and Aziz signed a treaty of friendship and cooperation with Pakistan, promising to lend Beijing's support to help Islamabad resolve outstanding disputes with India.
At the meeting with Aziz in Islamabad, Wen also lent Beijing's "full support" in helping resolve issues with India -- including efforts to settle the a decades-long dispute over the divided region of Kashmir, said Salman Bashir, Pakistani ambassador to China
On Tuesday, China and Pakistan in the presence of Wen and Aziz signed 22 agreements to enhance cooperation in areas including defense and trade.
Bashir said the most important aspect of the talks between Aziz and Wen was the "clear, unambiguous, categorical assurance by China to defend Pakistan's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity."
Aziz said China will help Pakistan build its third nuclear power plant, and a groundbreaking ceremony for it will be held tomorrow.
Drug lord Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, alias “Fito,” was Ecuador’s most-wanted fugitive before his arrest on Wednesday, more than a year after he escaped prison from where he commanded the country’s leading criminal gang. The former taxi driver turned crime boss became the prime target of law enforcement early last year after escaping from a prison in the southwestern port of Guayaquil. Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa’s government released “wanted” posters with images of his face and offered US$1 million for information leading to his capture. In a country plagued by crime, members of Fito’s gang, Los Choneros, have responded with violence, using car
OVERHAUL: The move would likely mark the end to Voice of America, which was founded in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda and operated in nearly 50 languages The parent agency of Voice of America (VOA) on Friday said it had issued termination notices to more than 639 more staff, completing an 85 percent decrease in personnel since March and effectively spelling the end of a broadcasting network founded to counter Nazi propaganda. US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) senior advisor Kari Lake said the staff reduction meant 1,400 positions had been eliminated as part of US President Donald Trump’s agenda to cut staffing at the agency to a statutory minimum. “Reduction in Force Termination Notices were sent to 639 employees at USAGM and Voice of America, part of a
Canada and the EU on Monday signed a defense and security pact as the transatlantic partners seek to better confront Russia, with worries over Washington’s reliability under US President Donald Trump. The deal was announced after a summit in Brussels between Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa. “While NATO remains the cornerstone of our collective defense, this partnership will allow us to strengthen our preparedness ... to invest more and to invest smarter,” Costa told a news conference. “It opens new opportunities for companies on both sides of the
The team behind the long-awaited Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile yesterday published their first images, revealing breathtaking views of star-forming regions as well as distant galaxies. More than two decades in the making, the giant US-funded telescope sits perched at the summit of Cerro Pachon in central Chile, where dark skies and dry air provide ideal conditions for observing the cosmos. One of the debut images is a composite of 678 exposures taken over just seven hours, capturing the Trifid Nebula and the Lagoon Nebula — both several thousand light-years from Earth — glowing in vivid pinks against orange-red backdrops. The new image
RSS