BEIJING - China has
issued a major white paper on its "peaceful
development", stating that this is the way for the
country to achieve modernization.
The
32-page paper, titled "China's Peaceful
Development Road" and published by the Information
Office of China's State Council, explains the
"inevitability" of the country pursuing peaceful
development. It also outlines the major policies
China has taken to achieve the goal and
demonstrates the country's resolve to
"stick to the road of
peaceful development now and in the future".
"China's road of peaceful development is a
brand new one for mankind in pursuit of
civilization and progress, the inevitable way for
China to achieve modernization, and a serious
choice and solemn promise made by the Chinese
government and the Chinese people," said the white
paper.
Coincidentally, Japanese Foreign
Minister Taro Aso told a press conference on
Thursday that China was beginning to pose a
"considerable threat" because of its military
buildup. China is "a neighbor equipped with
nuclear bombs and has expanded its military
outlays for 12 years in a row," Aso said. "It is
beginning to be a considerable threat."
The remarks possibly signal a new approach
in Tokyo's handling of China. Japan normally
emphasizes accommodation, not criticism, in its
comments on China, despite the recently fractious
relationship.
China has increased its
defense spending as its economy has expanded. The
government in March said it would spend US$29.9
billion on defense in 2005, a 12.6% increase in
its publicly disclosed defense budget. US defense
officials believe that actual spending is about
three times that.
Japan has announced that
it will cut its overall defense spending by 0.9%
to 4.8137 trillion yen ($41.35 billion), out of a
total budget of $684 billion.
Aso's
comments drew a response from Beijing, which has
called off a number of official contacts with
Japanese officials because of Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi's visits to the Yasukuni shrine
that honors war dead, including war criminals.
"The key responsibility of the poor state
of China-Japan relations lies with the Japanese
side," Qin Gang, spokesman at the Chinese Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, said at a press conference
when asked about Aso's comments. "China's military
budget is public knowledge. Our defense white
paper is a public document. If Japan's foreign
minister hasn't seen this paper, we'd gladly mail
him a copy."
The white paper said it was
inevitable, based on China's national conditions,
its historical and cultural tradition and the
present world development trend, that China
persisted "unswervingly in taking the road of
peaceful development". "The road of peaceful
development accords with the fundamental interests
of the Chinese people," it said.
The white
paper recalled that since the policies of reform
and opening up were introduced at the end of the
1970s, China has successfully embarked on a road
of peaceful development compatible with its
national conditions and the characteristics of the
times. Along this road, the Chinese people were
working hard to build China into a prosperous,
powerful, democratic, civilized and harmonious
modern country, and continually making new
contributions to human progress with China's own
development.
China's development needs a
peaceful international environment, noted the
paper, pointing to the fact that for years the
Chinese government and people have made
unremitting efforts to create such an environment.
"They cherish dearly the peaceful international
environment jointly created by the peace-loving
and progress-seeking countries and peoples," said
the white paper.
The paper listed many
statistics to illustrate the country's
achievements, saying that China's development "had
made positive contributions to world peace and
development".
The country's per capita
gross domestic product rose from less than $300 in
1978 to more than $1,400 in 2004. China had
created a "miracle" by feeding nearly 22% of the
world's population on less than 10% of the world's
arable land. The Chinese government had lifted 220
million people out of poverty, and had provided
minimum living allowances to 22.05 million urban
residents and aid to 60 million disabled people,
according to the paper.
"China cannot
develop independently without the rest of the
world. Likewise, the world needs China if it is to
attain prosperity," said the white paper.
In recent years, despite increasingly
severe global economic fluctuations, China's
economy has maintained a stable and relatively
fast growth, bringing hope and a new driving force
to world economic development.
Statistics
released by the World Bank show that China's
economic growth contributed an average 13% to
world economic growth from 2000 to 2004. China
imported $500 billion worth of commodities
annually during the period from December 2001 to
September 2005, which meant 10 million jobs for
the countries and regions concerned, according to
the white paper.
In the next few years, it
will import $600 billion worth of goods annually,
and the amount will exceed $1 trillion by 2010.
"Over the years, China has persisted in
the policies of peace, development and
cooperation, and pursued an independent foreign
policy of peace," said the paper. "China has been
playing a constructive role in, and making efforts
to attain the lofty goal of building a harmonious
world together with all other countries."
According to the white paper, China has
joined more than 130 inter-governmental
international organizations, is committed to 267
international multilateral treaties and actively
participates in international cooperation in such
fields as anti-terrorism, arms control,
non-proliferation, peacekeeping, economy and
trade, development, human rights, law enforcement,
and environmental protection.
Thanks to
joint efforts with various countries, China has
signed boundary treaties with 12 continental
neighbors, and settled long-running border issues.
China has also provided assistance to more
than 110 countries and regional organizations for
over 2,000 projects. It has reduced or canceled
198 debts totaling 16.6 billion yuan ($2.1
billion) owed to it by 44 developing countries.
The white paper said the Chinese
government and people are well aware that China is
still a developing country facing a lot of
difficulties and problems on its road of
development.
"Past experience indicates
that fundamentally China must rely on itself to
solve the problems in its development," said the
white paper. "China will not shift its own
problems and contradictions onto other countries,
much less will it plunder other countries to
further its own development."
