Presented by Lady Michelle-Jennifer Santos, Chief Visionary Founder & Owner
March 25, 2013 (TSR) – On March 23, 2013, visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered an important speech entitled “Keeping up with the Trend of the Times and Promoting World Peace and Development” at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. Expounding on China’s view on the current international situation and its position on international relations, Xi called on the international community to build a new type of international relations with win-win cooperation at the core and stressed that China will unswervingly follow the path of peaceful development and steadfastly develop its comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination with Russia.
Around 11:00 A.M., President Xi, accompanied by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets and the institute’s President Anatoly Torkunov, walked into a packed auditorium with even the aisles and the rear crammed with faculty members and students. All rose to welcome him.
After Golodets made a welcome address, Torkunov invited Xi to deliver the speech.
Xi said that Russia is China’s friendly neighbor. As one Chinese saying goes, a year’s plan starts with spring. China and Russia should take advantage of the opportunities in the beautiful early spring and work hard for a better bilateral relationship as well as for world peace and development. It is believed that hard work will yield fruits and bring benefits not only to the Chinese and Russian people but also to the people of all countries.
Xi pointed out that we are now living in a rapidly changing world and that peace, development, and win-win cooperation have become the trend of our times. As a great number of emerging markets and developing countries begin to steer their economies into the fast lane, the world has become interconnected and interdependent to an unprecedented degree. However, humanity still faces many challenges. We hope, and we have reasons to believe, that the world will change for the better. At the same time, we are also well aware that while the prospect is bright, there are twists and turns down the road.
Xi stressed that the trend of the times is so mighty and powerful that the best way to come to terms with it is to follow it, not go against it. And to keep up with the times, we cannot have ourselves physically living in the 21st century, but with a mindset belonging to the past, stalled in the old days of colonialism, and constrained by zero-sum Cold War mentality. The world community should jointly push for the building of a new type of international relations with win-win cooperation at the core, and people of all nations should combine their efforts to safeguard world peace and promote common development.
Xi said that it is China’s belief that all countries and all peoples should enjoy the dignity as a member of the international community. It is the people of a country that are in the best position to judge the path of development they have chosen for themselves. All countries in the world should share the fruits of development, as long-term world development cannot be sustained if some countries get wealthier at the expense of others that are kept poor and backward. It is also China’s belief that people worldwide should share the fruits of security. In the face of complex security threats, no country can go it alone and it is even worse if some countries are obsessed with military options. The only right choice is to achieve collective and common security through cooperation.
Xi stressed that humanity has never been so better equipped to approach the goal of peace and development, and win-win cooperation is the realistic and feasible way to achieve this goal. The international community should stand by the democratic principles governing world affairs, under which the fate of the world lies in the hands of all people in the world, the internal affairs of a sovereign nation is decided by its government and people, and world affairs are managed by governments and their people through consultations.
Xi said China has spelled out its development blueprint at the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC). The Chinese people fully understand that only through continuous and arduous efforts can the goals set in the blueprint be reached. He said that the Chinese nation has always been a peace-loving nation and the Chinese people deeply appreciate the value of peace and also need a peaceful environment to build their nation. Affirming that China will stick unswervingly to peaceful development, Xi called on other countries to adopt the path of peaceful development. He added that that China’s development, as outlined in the notion of the Chinese dream, will not only benefit the Chinese people, but also the people of all countries.
When it comes to China-Russia ties, Xi stressed that the two countries, as each other’s biggest neighbors, have a lot in common on national development. It is the Chinese people’s sincere wish that Russia can realize its goals at an early date. The China-Russia relationship is one of the most important in the world and also the best one between major powers. A high-level and strong China-Russia relationship is not only in the interests of both countries, but also serves as an important guarantee of international strategic balance and world peace and stability.
Xi came up with a three-point proposal on developing bilateral ties under new circumstances. Firstly, the two countries should be firmly committed to developing a future-oriented relationship, always be each other’s good neighbor, good friend and good partner, and support each other in protecting their core interests and dealing with its internal affairs. Secondly, they should be firmly committed to developing a relationship of win-win cooperation by creating more converging interests and opening up more areas for cooperation to constantly push their practical cooperation to a higher level. Thirdly, they should be firmly committed to developing friendship between the two peoples. For China and Russia, both having a long history and splendid culture, cultural and people-to-people exchanges are irreplaceable in enhancing friendship.
Speaking to the two countries’ youth, Xi said the young people are the future of their countries and the world, and they are also the future of the cause of building friendship between China and Russia. And he looked forward to seeing more and more Chinese and Russian young people take over the task and devote themselves to the cause of developing friendship between the two peoples.
Concluding his speech with a Russian saying-“A large ship sails far” and a Chinese poem-“I will mount a long wind some day and break the heavy waves, and set my cloudy sail straight and bridge the deep, deep sea,” Xi expressed the belief that, with joint efforts from both governments and peoples, China-Russia ties would break the heavy waves and sail far into the future, bringing greater benefits to the two peoples and contributing more to world peace and development.
After Xi completed his speech amidst thunderous applause, an interaction session followed. Xi took a number of questions from the students, such as the impact of China’s development on the world, China-Russia relations and their strategic coordination in international affairs.
Also attending the event were Peng Liyuan, Wang Huning, Li Zhanshu and Yang Jiechi.
The Moscow State Institute of International Relations, established in 1944, was a prestigious institution of higher education that specializes in training Russian diplomats.
