China boosts ties with neighbors in pursuit of shared prosperity(2)

SHARED SECURITY

The idea of shared security and prosperity was key, because it showed China's understanding by calling for concerted efforts by its neighbors to safeguard regional stability, Huang said. It implies respect for each other as equal partners in the pursuit of shared prosperity, he said.

Xi said: "We should respect each other's right to independently choose their own social system and development path, as well as each other's efforts to explore and pursue economic and social development and improve people's lives."

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang built on Xi's effort with a subsequent tour to Brunei for the East Asia summit before traveling to Thailand and Vietnam.

In Brunei, Li reaffirmed a pledge to complete negotiations by 2015 on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a free trade agreement involving ASEAN and six of its trade partners.

During his visit to Southeast Asia, he emphasized China's growth brought benefit to its neighbors and made commitments covering such areas as investment, energy, agriculture, infrastructure and maritime cooperation, calling for efforts to "plant more flowers, not thorns."

Chinese leaders did not dodge the South China Sea issue, where there are differences, but laid out principles to manage the disputes and expressed China's willingness to join talks on a code of conduct.

"The South China Sea issue is only a small part of the overall relations between China and some of its neighboring countries. It should not be a barrier to China's pursuit of common development with ASEAN on the whole," said Chen Youjun, a research fellow at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies.

Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, followed up with a visit to Singapore, which is now the third largest source of foreign direct investment for the Chinese mainland.

The island city state of 5.4 million people is also the mainland's second largest trading partner and third largest export market within the ASEAN countries.

CONNECTIVITY

"The overall message of these trips was one Xi highlighted in his keynote speech at the APEC Economic Leaders' Summit: China cannot develop without the Asia-Pacific and the Asia-Pacific cannot prosper without China," Phuong Nguyen, a research associate with the United States-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, wrote in a comment.

Leaders of the Southeast Asian nations, including Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, have been receptive to the principles outlined by Chinese leaders.

While Nguyen saw China's "growing confidence in its ability to use economic leverage to craft policy toward ASEAN," other scholars said they believed ASEAN nations saw China's rise as an opportunity that benefited their people.

"Half of our (diplomatic) activity centers on economic cooperation, so China has a big advantage to work with ASEAN on economic cooperation," he said.

China's effort to boost its ties with neighboring countries is also strategically aimed at building a peaceful environment for itself. It is also in line with the historical trend of peace, cooperation and enhanced connectivity in a globalized world.

Huang said most of the Southeast Asian nations knew China was not the one that provoked tensions, though they remained suspicious whether a stronger China would exert more pressure on them.

It is necessary for China to continue to be soft while defending its legitimate interests, he said.

China's efforts to grow economic ties also fit in with its call for efforts to upgrade the China-ASEAN free trade agreement. And efforts to boost connectivity are needed, too.

In response to a question on how China can improve its ties with ASEAN, Kishore Mahbubani, dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, put it very simply, "build the (China-ASEAN) high-speed railway."