Exemplifying the Chinese proverb "a near neighbor is better than a distant cousin", China's recent political exchanges with its neighbors have shown its priorities in diplomacy.
The ongoing visit to China by Vietnamese Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong will help cement Sino-Vietnamese friendship and ease the doubt caused by maritime disputes.
Political dignitaries from neighboring Russia, Thailand and Turkmenistan, as well as Belarus, are also visiting China. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Wang Yi is on an official visit to Belarus.
Earlier this month, Wang held talks with his Mongolian counterpart in Beijing and they pledged to work together to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of the World War II.
The Chinese government attaches great importance to ties with neighboring countries and neighborhood diplomacy has always been a pillar and principal for the country's diplomatic layout.
China is surrounded by the largest number of neighbors in the world's most diversified and complicated political landscape. The area is stable on the whole, and most of the neighboring countries have a friendly and mutually beneficial relationship with China. After Xi Jinping took office as state leader in 2013, neighborhood diplomacy has entered a new phase, featuring amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness.
Neighbors visited by Xi included Russia, Turkmenistan, Kazakstan, Uzbekistan, kyrghyzstan, Indonesia and Malaysia in 2013 and the Republic of Korea, Mongolia, kyrghyzstan, the Maldives, Sri Lanka and India in 2014. In November, Xi also set foot on Australia, New Zealand and Fiji, lands considered on the periphery of Chinese neighborhood diplomacy.
With proactive diplomacy reaping fruitful results, China is more actively setting the agenda for regional development. In a speech at the fourth summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia last May, Xi called for a "new Asian security concept", adding, "For most Asian countries, development means the greatest security and the master key to regional security."
He then raised the concept of a "community of common destiny" at the Boao Forum for Asia in April 2013. Last November's 22nd APEC Economic Leaders Meeting was also a diplomatic arena hosted by China.
As neighbors have been closely linked to China on the economic front, the China-proposed Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road initiatives strike a chord among the country's regional partners. Most of China's neighbors have said they will link their own policies with the "Belt and Road" strategy, which has enormous potential to benefit them.
However, China's emphasis on neighborhood diplomacy is by no means seeking hegemony. The country always treats neighbors as friends and partners, to make them feel safe and to help them develop. Cooperation with neighbors should be based on mutual benefit and common interests.
A good neighbor should not be traded for gold. As 2015 marks the 60th anniversary of the Bandung Conference, where Zhou Enlai was a diplomatic exemplar, we may review the spirit of "peaceful coexistence" and "seeking common ground while shelving differences" advocated by the late Chinese premier at the landmark Afro-Asian meeting.
