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Original title: Video | What are the main issues that the four ASEAN foreign ministers will discuss during their collective visit to China?
At the invitation of State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian, Malaysian Foreign Minister Hishammuddin, Indonesian Foreign Minister Leitno and Philippine Foreign Minister Lochin visited China from March 31 to April 2, which aroused great attention from the outside world. .
China-ASEAN from the Golden Decade to the Diamond Decade
From Alaska in the United States to Guilin in Guangxi, passing through six countries in the Middle East, Wang Yi came to receive friends from Southeast Asia after finishing such an intense diplomatic trip. What are the main topics to discuss?
China and its neighbors “come and go frequently, getting closer and closer.” The spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hua Chunying, described the visits of the foreign ministers of the four Southeast Asian countries. He stressed that China has always attached great importance to developing relations with Southeast Asian countries, and China has always regarded Southeast Asian countries as the priority direction of its neighboring diplomacy.
Already earlier this year, when Wang Yi wrapped up his six-day visit to Myanmar, Indonesia, Brunei and the Philippines, he had already achieved full coverage of bilateral offline exchanges in all ten ASEAN countries since the epidemic. Therefore, the visit of the foreign ministers of the four Southeast Asian countries to China is also a courtesy exchange.
It is worth mentioning that in 2021, China and ASEAN will usher in the 30th anniversary of the establishment of a dialogue relationship, and the cooperation between the two sides has entered a new year.
At this year’s Two National Sessions press conference, Wang Yi said that at a new starting point, we are willing to build a closer community of shared future with ASEAN and create a more exciting next 30 years.
Huang Rihan, director of the Center for Dialogue of World Civilizations at Huaqiao University, told Knews that since the completion of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area in 2010, cooperation between the two sides has accelerated. Now is an important node moment from the Golden Decade to the Diamond Decade. It is necessary to improve cooperation.
China has maintained the status of ASEAN’s largest trading partner for 11 consecutive years. In 2020, when the epidemic hits the world, the total import and export value of China and ASEAN has grown against trend. ASEAN has become China’s largest trading partner, achieving the first time for both sides that they are each other’s most important trading partners.
This momentum continues. According to statistics from the General Administration of Customs, ASEAN continued to maintain its position as China’s largest trading partner in the first two months of 2021.
The deep meaning of “enhancing strategic mutual trust”
What is the key to improve the quality of cooperation between the two parties? In Huang Rihan’s view, Hua Chunying’s words “I hope to strengthen strategic mutual trust through this visit” have pointed out the key points.
With the successful signing of the “Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement” (RCEP) in 2020, it marks the official launch of the free trade zone with the largest population, the largest economic and commercial scale, and the greatest development potential in the world. The already closely linked China-ASEAN relationship has not only moved to a new level, but has also greatly promoted global free trade.
Just a week ago, China announced that it was the first to complete the approval and approval of the RCEP deal, which once again demonstrated to the outside world China’s determination to accelerate the implementation of RCEP. However, because Australia and New Zealand belong to the Five Eyes alliance, Japan and South Korea often do so “unintentionally.” The EU-China investment agreement has just been suspended for consideration by the European Union. People are inevitably concerned that the RCEP will be hit by the stumbling block.
Huang Rihan pointed out that the prerequisite for deepening cooperation is mutual trust. The four Southeast Asian countries visited this time are all very important RCEP member states. The exchanges between the two sides will undoubtedly lay the foundation for mutual trust for future RCEP cooperation and further promote ratification of the agreement by RCEP member states. safe for landing on New Years Day next year.
In the eyes of some international observers, the four countries invited by Foreign Minister Wang Yi on this occasion are all the countries surrounding the South China Sea. Singapore guards the Straits of Malacca, while the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia are claimants to the South China Sea. Today, the United States and other Western countries are constantly promoting the “South China Sea problem.” Inviting the foreign ministers of these four countries to visit China is also of profound strategic importance in enhancing mutual trust in the South China Sea issue and stabilizing the regional situation.
Comprehensive cooperation and firm friendship
So what other issues will be involved in the collective visit of the four ASEAN foreign ministers to China?
Huang Rihan pointed out that there are only three main areas, one is the fight against the epidemic, the second is economic and trade cooperation, and the third is the joint construction of the “Belt and Road”.
Deng Xijun, China’s ambassador to ASEAN, noted in an article signed in January that in the face of the sudden epidemic in 2020, China and ASEAN will help each other and help each other to fight the epidemic, promote growth and protect people. . livelihoods, propelling all of East Asia to become a global model against the epidemic. The district leader and economic recovery.
Today, the main battlefield in the fight against the epidemic has become vaccines. Already in Indonesia and other countries, China successfully carried out cooperation in phase III clinical trials of vaccines, and the effect was very significant. A few days ago, high-level officials in the Philippines, Malaysia and other countries took the lead in injecting Chinese vaccines. Southeast Asian countries also have great confidence in Chinese vaccines and have asked for Chinese vaccines.
Therefore, Huang Rihan believes that the four foreign ministers coming to China to accelerate the development and procurement of vaccines should also be on the agenda.
Once the vaccination is implemented, the epidemic will be effectively controlled, the economic and trade exchanges between China and ASEAN will be more frequent, and the joint construction of the “Belt and Road” will also advance in depth. In recent years, China has been helping Southeast Asian countries to vigorously build transportation routes, such as the China-Laos railway, the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway, and the China-Thailand railway, which have brought them enormous economic benefits. . China has also become a major investment force for these countries.
Huang Rihan pointed out that in addition to the areas of long-term cooperation between China and ASEAN in energy and infrastructure engineering industries, the booming development of e-commerce and digital economy in recent years has opened up new opportunities for the cooperation and development between China and China. ASEAN: China and ASEAN can continue in these important industrial fields Strengthen cooperation.
At the end of January this year, the “ASEAN Digital Master Plan 2025” was published at the first ASEAN Digital Ministerial Conference (ADGMIN). A statement was issued at the meeting, stating that the participating ministers hope ASEAN and China will strengthen policy coordination and deepen cooperation in areas such as technology and digital applications.
In addition, people-to-people connections are also a highlight of China-Southeast Asia cooperation. Huang Rihan further noted that the increasingly close cooperation between the two sides in the fields of education, culture and people-to-people exchanges has strengthened their friendship and may resist ulterior motives.
Prior to this, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong made it clear that Singapore would not choose between China and the United States, and also warned the United States not to try to exclude China from the world order.
(Looks at news editor Li Yao)
Copyright Statement: This article is an exclusive Knews article and may not be reproduced without permission.
