China's good-neighborly diplomacy promotes affinity

With intensive top-level visits to enhance intra-regional cooperation and communication, China is effectively making its ties with neighbors closer, further bolstering its appeal. Deeply rooted in its culture, good-neighborliness has been China's longtime political tradition, which the current government incorporates in its diplomacy. Aided by the frequent reciprocal visits among leaders, China and its neighbors jointly consolidate the social and public opinion foundations for long-term development of their ties, through strengthened public and grass-root diplomacy, as well as people-to-people exchanges. In a diplomatic work conference held on Oct. 24-25 in Beijing, President Xi Jinping described the principles of China's neighbor diplomacy as amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness, which guides China as it makes more friends in an amicable neighborhood. Many stories spoke of mutual help in the region. For example, during the 1997 Southeast Asia financial crisis, China kept the value of the RMB yuan, helping countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to weather the turmoil. With mutual support in such moments, China and ASEAN members have in recent years worked together to defeat challenges like the Indian Ocean tsunami, the Wenchuan earthquake, SARS and bird flu. The two-way ties developed in leaps and bounds, and the interconnection and interdependence between them has never been closer. More than 1,000 commercial flights every week between the two sides, and last year saw 15 million people traveled between China and ASEAN countries, four times the amount ten years ago. Northward, China also furthered its ties with Russia. After the 2004 hostage incident that took the lives of more than 330 people at a primary school in Beslan, Russia, the Chinese government invited traumatized children to get convalescent treatment in China. The Russian doctors appreciated the good care provided by the Chinese healthcare workers, saying that those children will always remember them. A series of joint events have been organised since 2006, including the language years and the tourism years, and will host the youth year of friendly exchanges, which strongly supports and pushes forward the healthy and steady development of the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination. Eastward, the Chinese government provided 30 million yuan (almost five million U.S. dollars) worth of goods as emergency aid to Japan following the massive quake in March 2011, and sent out the first foreign rescue team two days later. The history of China-Japan relations proves that harmony benefits both, while confrontation hurts both. It is in the interests of the people from both countries to follow a path of friendship. Commenting on Xi's speech at the diplomatic work conference, regional observers agree that Beijing's emphasis on maintaining good-neighborly relations will lift its relationship with neighboring countries. The senior editor of Vietnam's Tien Phong newspaper, Bui Minh Long, said he was impressed by Xi's sincerity toward neighboring countries, adding that neighbors could feel China's good faith as they are similar in geography, culture and ideology. Tarun Vijay, a lawmaker and the national spokesman of India's Bharatiya Janata Party, said Xi's remarks will deepen the relationships between China and other Asian countries and benefit the world at large.