Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) meets with Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah in Bangkok, Thailand, Aug. 2, 2019. (Xinhua/Zhang Keren)
BANGKOK, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) — Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met here Friday with foreign ministers from Malaysia, Mongolia, Timor-Leste, Canada and Australia.
Meeting with Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah, Wang hailed the sound momentum of China-Malaysia relations, saying that this year marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic ties between the two countries.
China stands ready to work with Malaysia to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, consolidate strategic mutual trust and further promote mutually beneficial cooperation, he said.
Noting that the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative upholds the principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits; adopts open, green and clean approaches and promotes high-standard, livelihood-improving and sustainable development, Wang said the initiative focuses on interconnectivity and is highly matched with the development strategies of Malaysia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
The Chinese state councilor called on the two sides to step up the development of the joint industrial park in each other’s country and boost industrial and innovative cooperation, saying that China welcomes the relaunch of the East Coast Rail Link project.
China and Malaysia should enhance coordination and cooperation in multilateral affairs and resolutely supports multilateralism and free trade.
Saifuddin, for his part, said that Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad have made two visits to China in half a year since assuming office, which fully showed the importance the country attaches to the relations with China.
Malaysia-China relations enjoy a long history and transcends trade and business ties, he said, noting that Malaysia is willing to actively participate in the Belt and Road development.
When meeting with Mongolian Foreign Minister Damdin Tsogtbaatar, Wang said this year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries, calling on the two sides to take this opportunity to further synergize the Belt and Road Initiative and Mongolia’s Steppe Road program in a bid to achieve substantive results at an early date.
Hailing the initiative a symbol of multilateralism, Tsogtbaatar said Mongolia is ready to spare no effort to support and participate in the initiative which is conducive to promoting sustainable growth in the region.
The two sides vowed to consolidate mutual political trust and strengthen pragmatic cooperation so as to bring the bilateral relations to a new high.
In his meeting with Timor-Leste’s Foreign Minister Dionisio da Costa Babo Soares, Wang said China and Timor-Leste are good partners. In recent years the two countries have actively carried out cooperation on jointly building the Belt and Road, with a number of projects built by Chinese companies benefitting the people’s livelihood in Timor-Leste and welcomed by the locals.
Wang said China is ready to draw up cooperation plans with the Timor-Leste side on Belt and Road cooperation at an early date and expand cooperation in such areas as petrochemical industry, trade as well as framing and fishing sectors.
China supports Timor-Leste in playing a bigger role in regional and international affairs, Wang said.
Soares said bilateral relations between Timor-Leste and China have maintained healthy and stable development.
He said Timor-Leste sees China as a trustworthy friend, and is grateful to the assistance China has provided for the country’s economic development. Timor-Leste is willing to actively participate in Belt and Road cooperation, enhance inter-connectivity, and work with the Chinese side toward greater development of the bilateral comprehensive cooperative partnership.
In his meeting with Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, Wang said it is regrettable that Canada arbitrarily detained a Chinese citizen in December last year, which aroused strong indignation of the Chinese people and brought serious difficulties to the China-canada relations.
The Chinese government firmly upholds the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens and enterprises. “We hope that this issue will be properly resolved as soon as possible so as to bring the China-Canadian relations back to the right and healthy track at an early date,” he said.
For her part, Freeland said there was no historical grudge between both countries. It is indeed heartbreaking that China-Canada relations are what they are today.
Next year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries. Canada values the relations with China and is willing to work with China for healthy and stable development of bilateral relations, she said.
While meeting with Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne, Wang hoped that Australia will meet China halfway, uphold the principles of mutual respect and treating each other equally, properly handle differences, promote consensus and trust so as to push the China-Australia relations back to the right track.
Welcoming Australia to share the opportunities brought by China’s reform and opening up, the Chinese state councilor also hoped that Australia sticks to openness and inclusiveness to create a fair, transparent and indiscriminative business environment for Chinese enterprises.
Payne said the Australian side values and recognizes China’s growth and its development potential and speaks highly of China’s significant achievements in poverty reduction and development.
Although there are some differences in the bilateral ties, Australia is ready to join hands with China to promote dialogue and communication, seek more consensus, expand cooperation on trade and investment and push forward healthy development of bilateral ties on the basis of mutual respect, the Australian foreign minister said.
On the issue of 5G, Australia will make its decision independently and adopt no policies discriminating specific countries or enterprises, Payne said.
Source: Xinhua
CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon 
China set to join Arms Trade Treaty that Donald Trump threatened to abandon
China said it has begun preparations to join an international arms control treaty that the United States has threatened to abandon, while also warning Washington against deploying missiles in the Asia-Pacific region.
Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Friday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that signing up to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) was further evidence of Beijing’s commitment to defending multilateralism.
said in April that he intended to withdraw from the pact, which regulates the US$70 billion global trade in conventional arms.
The White House said at the time that the ATT “will only constrain responsible countries while allowing the irresponsible arms trade to continue”, as major arms exporters like Russia and China were not part of it.
Wang said on Friday that any unilateral move to leave the treaty would have a “negative impact in various areas”. He stopped short of naming the United States or its president.
China’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday that it had begun the legal process of joining the treaty, adding that it attached great importance to the issues caused by the illegal sale and misuse of arms, and supported the aims of the ATT in seeking to regulate the international weapons trade.
Wang also spoke out against the possible deployment of ground-launched missiles in the Asia-Pacific region.
According to figures released in May by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the United States is the world’s largest arms exporter, supplying weapons worth 58 per cent more than those of its nearest competitor, Russia.
Together with France, Germany and China, the five nations accounted for 75 per cent of all weapons sold around the world between 2014 and last year, the institute said.
Although China is among the world’s big five arms suppliers, its sales – most of which go to Asia and Oceania – are dwarfed by those of the US, accounting for just 5.2 per cent of the 2014-18 total, compared to America’s 36 per cent.
Several major arms importers, including India, Australia, South Korea and Vietnam, refuse to buy arms from China for political reasons.
Beijing’s decision to join the ATT is in keeping with the image it has sought to present of China as a defender of multilateralism. The stance is also in sharp contrast to the US’ position under Trump, who has repeatedly scrapped multilateral trade agreements in favour of bilateral deals.
Since taking office in 2016, he has withdrawn the US from the Paris climate accord, the Iran nuclear deal and the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Military observers said Beijing might seek to pressure on Washington to stay in the deal to try to maintain the strategic and military balance in the region.
Song Zhongping, a Hong Kong-based military affairs commentator, said Beijing might be trying to avoid misuse of conventional weapons.
“Beijing may want to press big exporters, such as the US and Russia, to join the deal because without proper regulations, the risk of illegal trade and misuse of conventional weapons could be running high,” he said.
“This could also threaten regional stability or even trigger unnecessary arms races.”
Adam Ni, a China specialist at Sydney’s Macquarie University, said the treaty would put some limits on the arms trade “but it would not mean that China would not be able to do deals. It will still be able to do [most deals]”.
Retired PLA colonel Yue Gang said the strategy could also improve China’s international reputation.
Source: SCMP
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