Intl legal experts hail 60-year-old peace principles

The Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, the tenets governing relations between states, will continue to contribute to world peace and justice, predicted international legal experts on Tuesday, the 60th anniversary of the principles' creation.

The Five Principles have had an extremely significant impact on international law and international relations. The ideas enshrined in them are also included in the United Nations (UN) charter, formulating answers to complex questions, said Miguel de Serpa Soares, legal counsel of the UN, at a colloquium organized to commemorate the anniversary in Beijing.

The Five Principles, together with other UN tenets, with all their universal applicability and vitality, will continue to evolve and be adapted to ever-changing circumstances, he said.

As the polarization of the world and economic globalization intensify and global challenges and non-conventional threats grow, states are becoming an interdependent community of common destiny, with shared risks and opportunities, making it more important than ever to apply and develop the Five Principles, said Li Shishi, president of the Chinese Society of International Law.

The colloquium was attended by more than 70 participants from China, India, Myanmar, Indonesia, Pakistan, Russia, Bangladesh as well international organizations including the UN, the International Court of Justice and Asian, American and European societies of international law.

Rahmat Bin Mohamad, secretary general of the Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization, said while the Five Principles were raised to respond to imperialism, colonialism and hegemony six decades ago, their spirit needs to be revitalized today to ensure that the Asian-African community continues to contribute to developing international law.

As the world is facing growing challenges from the rich-poor gap to climate change, the Five Principles must continue to be significant and relevant in the international legal system, he said.

Win-win progress is the principles' fundamental concept. It is especially important for Asian countries with diversified culture to engage in mutually beneficial cooperation on the basis of equality, according to Mohamad. "So the win-win concept will become a permanent nature of the Five Principles."

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin said the intrinsic requirement of the Five Principles is the concept of justice.

"No country shall place itself above international law, apply international law selectively, or adopt double standards in the application of international law." Liu noted.

He was echoed by Sajid Qureshi, legal counsel of Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The worlds need to adopt the Five Principles as a whole in an unconditional way, Qureshi said .

You cannot accept one of the principles while ignoring the others based on the interests of a single country. Otherwise, international order will continue to be dominated by superpowers, he argued.

In 1954, China, India and Myanmar initiated the five principles, which stand for mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence.