Wang urges open, inclusive cyberspace

Senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi called on Monday for building an open and inclusive cyberspace, saying that the issue of cybersecurity has become a common challenge for developing countries.

He also said that cyberspace should not be a "new battlefield" with "digital iron curtains".

Wang, director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks while attending a meeting with friends of BRICS in Johannesburg, the capital of South Africa.

South Africa is this year's chair of BRICS, the grouping of emerging economies that also includes Brazil, Russia, India and China.

Wang, together with national security advisers and high representatives from the four other BRICS economies, as well as other countries including Belarus, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Burundi, the United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan and Cuba, had in-depth discussions on cybersecurity during the meeting.

Participants agreed to join hands to reform the global governance system in cyberspace and to enhance the representation and voice of developing countries.

Noting that cybersecurity is an important cornerstone of national security, Wang said it is necessary for developing countries to enhance strategic communication, define the direction of cooperation and safeguard common interests in this regard.

Countries must uphold fairness and justice, oppose technological hegemony and cyber hegemony of any form, and allow all parties to contribute and benefit in an open and inclusive cyberspace, he said.

Wang said that true multilateralism must be practiced in order to build a fair and equitable cyberspace. This means supporting the United Nations to play a core role in the global governance of cyberspace and fully considering the reasonable concerns of developing countries, he said.

The senior diplomat said that each country's independent choice of a cybersecurity development path and its management should be respected.

Any attempt to exploit cyberspace for "color revolutions" must be firmly rejected, he said.

Wang also underlined the importance of sharing the dividends of the digital economy and ensuring the openness, security and stability of global industrial and supply chains in terms of information and communications.

He expressed China's readiness to strengthen exchanges and deepen cooperation with emerging economies and developing countries for building a community with a shared future in cyberspace.

Also on Monday, Wang held separate talks in Johannesburg with Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation.

When meeting with Doval, Wang said that a major trend in the world today is the successive rise of developing countries including China and India and called for the two countries to deepen mutual trust and focus on cooperation to bring ties back to healthy and stable development.

Whether the two countries support each other or exhaust each other due to suspicion will directly affect not only each other's development but also the world's future, Wang said.