China hopes to expand military exchanges and cooperation with its Southeast Asian neighbors, Premier Wen Jiabao (
Wen met with ASEAN leaders in Nanning yesterday for a summit showcasing Beijing's influence and increasingly close ties with its neighbors.
The one-day talks, held to commemorate 15 years of formal ties between China and ASEAN, were expected to focus on progress toward expanding regional free trade. But the dispute over North Korea's nuclear program and other tensions were also on the agenda.
"We should expand military dialogue and exchanges, conduct and institutionalize cooperation'' and pursue a ``code of conduct" regarding territorial disputes in the South China Sea, Wen said.
Wen said Beijing favored setting up a nuclear weapons-free zone in Southeast Asia and was ready to sign a protocol to a treaty to that effect.
"China is committed to good neighborly relations, friendship and cooperation," Wen said.
"We should also step up cooperation on cross-border issues concerning counterterrorism, transnational crimes, maritime security, rescue operations and disaster relief," he said.
Despite growing economic ties, Beijing and its neighbors are still grappling with territorial disputes and other tensions.
The gathering is an important forum for such issues, said Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, speaking at the summit's opening.
"In light of the recent events in North Korea, regional security has never been more important," Arroyo said, adding "It helps tie the region together and strengthens solidarity in times of crisis."
"What is important is what happens next, what will the situation be like 15 years later," she said.
Wen met with counterparts from Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Cambodia yesterday before the summit's opening, but the content of those closed-door talks was not available.
China and ASEAN approved a watered-down 2002 accord aimed at avoiding armed conflicts after Chinese officials rejected proposals for a stronger conduct code that could be perceived as a binding pact, Philippine diplomat Benito Valeriano told reporters last week.
The two sides are trying to devise an improved accord that could be approved on the sidelines of ASEAN's annual summit in December, he said.
A Zurich city councilor has apologized and reportedly sought police protection against threats after she fired a sport pistol at an auction poster of a 14th-century Madonna and child painting, and posted images of their bullet-ridden faces on social media. Green-Liberal party official Sanija Ameti, 32, put the images on Instagram over the weekend before quickly pulling them down. She later wrote on social media that she had been practicing shots from about 10m and only found the poster as “big enough” for a suitable target. “I apologize to the people who were hurt by my post. I deleted it immediately when I
The governor of Ohio is to send law enforcement and millions of dollars in healthcare resources to the city of Springfield as it faces a surge in temporary Haitian migrants. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on Tuesday said that he does not oppose the Temporary Protected Status program under which about 15,000 Haitians have arrived in the city of about 59,000 people since 2020, but said the federal government must do more to help affected communities. On Monday, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost directed his office to research legal avenues — including filing a lawsuit — to stop the federal government from sending
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is to visit Russia next month for a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) said on Thursday, a move that comes as Moscow and Beijing seek to counter the West’s global influence. Xi’s visit to Russia would be his second since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. China claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but it has backed the Kremlin’s contentions that Russia’s action was provoked by the West, and it continues to supply key components needed by Moscow for
Japan scrambled fighter jets after Russian aircraft flew around the archipelago for the first time in five years, Tokyo said yesterday. From Thursday morning to afternoon, the Russian Tu-142 aircraft flew from the sea between Japan and South Korea toward the southern Okinawa region, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said in a statement. They then traveled north over the Pacific Ocean and finished their journey off the northern island of Hokkaido, it added. The planes did not enter Japanese airspace, but flew over an area subject to a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia, a ministry official said. “In response, we mobilized Air Self-Defense
RSS