On June 6, 2011, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi attended the 10th Foreign Ministers' Meeting of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), which was held in the Hungarian town of Gede Le. He delivered a speech calling for Asian and European countries to strengthen mutual trust and cooperation, jointly safeguard regional peace and stability, promote sustainable development, and deal with non-traditional security issues.
Yang said that with the joining of new members, ASEM's status and influence will continue to rise. There are promising prospects for Asia-Europe cooperation, which should be advanced from a strategic and long-term perspective. All parties should strengthen communication and coordination and comprehensively upgrade the level of strategic cooperation between Asia and Europe. All parties should forge closer economic and trade ties and steadily increase the scale of trade and investment between Asia and Europe. All parties should deepen exchanges and mutual learning and jointly promote the progress of cultures and civilizations in the world. All parties should improve the working methods and achieve stable and healthy development of Asia-Europe cooperation.
Yang said that peace and stability is the prerequisite for development, the basis for the livelihood of the people, and the primary responsibility of the government. All parties should resolve international disputes by peaceful means and through dialogues and consultations. All parties should abide by the purposes and principles of the UN "Charter" and give full play to the central role of the United Nations in safeguarding world peace, promoting common development and advancing international cooperation.
Yang said that sustainable development is an important means to the achievement of balanced development and common prosperity of the world. All parties should adhere to the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities", jointly tackle common challenges of climate change, increase input in development efforts, and strive to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Developed countries should fulfill their commitments in aid increase, debt relief, market opening, technology transfer and other areas.
Yang said that non-traditional security problems have become more prominent, and have brought serious challenges to the economic development and social stability of countries. Countries must, in the principle of mutual benefits and win-win outcome, take a comprehensive approach to tackle both the symptoms and root causes of the problems, focus on both punishment and prevention, and work together to meet challenges. China is willing to make continuous contributions to this end.
Yang pointed out that in recent years Asia has achieved rapid development. This is the result of wisdom and cooperation of Asian countries. Countries should properly handle differences and maintain common interests. The situation in the South China Sea is stable. For anyone who respects the facts, the maritime safety, freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea are obvious. Any attempt to complicate the situation is neither in line with the interest of all parties, nor in line with the expectation of the international community, especially countries in the region.
Yang also expounded China's positions on regional and international issues such as the reform of the UN Security Council, the situation in West Asia, North Africa, Myanmar and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The theme of the meeting is "Working Together on Non-Traditional Security Challenges". The parties focused the discussions on strengthening cooperation between Asian and European countries, jointly safeguarding international and regional peace and stability, responding to the global financial crisis, tackling non-traditional security challenges, achieving sustainable development and other issues. The meeting will issue a Chairman Statement.