Peaceful development path worked well: senior Chinese diplomat

Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, delivers a keynote speech during the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, on Feb. 18, 2023. [Xinhua/Jin Mamengni]

MUNICH, Germany -- China's own experience shows that the peaceful development path has worked, and worked well, said China's senior diplomat Wang Yi on Saturday at the Munich Security Conference (MSC).

Wang, director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks when delivering a keynote speech to participants of the MSC.

Making the world safer is China's abiding commitment, said Wang, adding that at the end of last year, the CPC convened its 20th National Congress.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, declared at the congress that China's central task in the new era and on the new journey is to advance the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization.

On how to accomplish this modernization of the largest scale in human history, China has given an unequivocal and steadfast answer: to unswervingly follow the path of peaceful development, Wang said.

Peaceful development is not an expediency nor diplomatic rhetoric, but a strategic choice informed by profound reflections on the past, the present and the future, Wang said.

Looking over the past, China suffered deeply from foreign aggression and expansion in modern times, so that China fully appreciates the value of peace and the importance of development, he noted.

Shortly after the founding of the People's Republic of China, it put forward the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence.

Over the past 70-plus years, China has never initiated a war or occupied an inch of a foreign land, Wang said.

It is the only country that has incorporated peaceful development in its Constitution, and the only country among the five Nuclear-Weapon States to pledge no first use of nuclear weapons, according to Wang.

China's track record on peace can stand the scrutiny of history and its peaceful rise is an unprecedented miracle in human history, Wang added.

At present, the top priority for the CPC and the Chinese government is to pursue high-quality development and deliver a better life for the Chinese people.

"We know fully well that development is only possible in a peaceful and tranquil international environment," Wang said.

This requires that China lives in peace with other countries and pursues win-win cooperation with the rest of the world.

"We will always be an advocate for peace, development and win-win cooperation, and work to deepen and expand global partnerships based on equality, openness and cooperation," Wang said.

Looking to the future, peace and development remain the trend of history and the aspiration of the people.

Some people assert that a strong country is bound to seek hegemony and assume that China will walk away from peaceful development as it gets stronger, according to Wang.

"However, China's own experience shows that the path of peaceful development has worked and worked well," he said.

"There is no reason for us to discontinue but every reason to stay the course and come together with more countries in the pursuit of peaceful development," Wang said.

"Any increase in China's strength is an increase in the hope of world peace. When all countries pursue peaceful development, the future of humanity will be full of promise," added Wang.