Premier Wen Jiabao on Monday put forward a three-point
proposal on the direction of East Asia cooperation at the 2nd East
Asia Summit in Cebu, the second largest city of the
Philippines.
In a speech, Wen said East Asia cooperation should enhance
common development and prosperity of the region.
"We should start such cooperation in areas in which the parties
have extensive common interest and consensus. Priority should be
given to sharing development practice and advanced information and
other technologies to enable the participating countries to benefit
from cooperation and thus build up confidence in and momentum of
cooperation," he said.
"We should ensure that East Asia cooperation grow in a balanced
way and bring benefits to all, so that we can, through practical
cooperation at bilateral and multilateral levels, build strong
economic and trade linkages and put in place a cooperation
framework based on mutual benefit and drawing on mutual strength,"
he added.
The East Asia cooperation should lead to harmony among all
countries in the region, Wen said.
"We should create a new community of common destiny whose
members enjoy common development in times of peace and meet
challenges together in times of crisis," Wen said.
The goal of East Asia cooperation is to promote peace, stability
and development of the region. "To achieve this goal, we should
foster a regional security environment of mutual trust and enduring
stability by bridging differences through dialogue on an equal
footing and resolving disputes through friendly consultation," he
said.
East Asia cooperation should respect diversified development of
social systems and cultures, Wen said.
"We should bear in mind the particular national conditions of
and uneven development in East Asian countries, respect each other
and accommodate the needs and capabilities of different countries
and advance cooperation step by step," he said.
East Asia cooperation should be open. Participation by countries
and organizations outside the region should be welcome to widen the
scope and reinforce the foundation of the cooperation, he
added.
"China supports ASEAN in continuing to play a leading role in
East Asia cooperation," Wen pledged.
(Xinhua News Agency January 15, 2007)
