Regional countries are the real owners of the South China Sea issue properly

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the "Declaration of the South China Sea". As the first political document signed by China and ASEAN countries on the South China Sea issue, the Declaration establishes the basic principles and common specifications of all parties to deal with the South China Sea issue.

In the past 20 years, although the situation in the South China Sea has been disturbed by various countries outside the region, and the degree of internationalization and complexity of the South China Sea issue has also risen, under the leadership of the "Declaration" spirit of China and ASEAN countries It has maintained the peace and stability of the South China Sea, benefited the regional countries, and fully interpreted what a good neighbor, good friend, and good partner.

Facing the changes in the world, the changes of the times, and the changes of history, it is necessary for China and ASEAN countries to work hard to work together to truly build the South China Sea into the sea of ​​peace, the sea of ​​friendship, and the sea of ​​cooperation. The successful practice of the signing and implementation of the Declaration brings a series of important inspirations, which provides a clear reference for achieving this goal.

The peace and stability of the South China Sea is an important prerequisite for regional development. It is important to keep the peace bottom line of the South China Sea. If the South China Sea is stable, the regional countries benefit; the South China Sea chaos will suffer from regional countries. The principle of unswerving maintenance of the Declaration of the Declaration and the implementation of the norms of the Declaration is the "Dinghai God Needle" that maintains the peace and stability of the South China Sea.

Over the past 20 years, China and ASEAN countries have incorporated differences in the "Declaration" for negotiation and control orbit, and focus on promoting regional cooperation and development. Through the China -ASEAN "10" dialogue mechanisms and China -ASEAN Free Trade Agreement, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement and other cooperation platforms, China and ASEAN countries have continuously deepened economic and trade cooperation relations and enhanced political trust, which greatly promoted the development of regional countries. Prosperity and the well -being of the people. China has been the largest trading partner in ASEAN since 2009, and ASEAN has become China's largest trading partner for two consecutive years. In 2021, the trade volume of China and ASEAN hit a record high, reaching $ 878.2 billion, accounting for 14.5%of China's total foreign trade. As of the end of 2021, China and ASEAN have a total two -way investment of about 300 billion US dollars.

It should be pointed out that the world today has entered a period of turbulent change, and the South China Sea is not calm. In order to safeguard their own hegemony, the major nations outside the domain are dedicated to stirring the South China Sea into a high -rise power game field, constantly investing in their strengths to the South China Sea, frequently provoking military provocation, deliberately expanding contradictions, inciting opposition, and serious damage to regional countries' legitimate legitimate The normal order of equity and the norms at sea has seriously threatened the peaceful development of regional countries.

Regional countries are the true owners of the South China Sea issue properly. Twenty years ago, China and ASEAN countries opened the road of dialogue cooperation between the South China Sea. In 2014, China pioneered the "dual -track thinking" of solving the South China Sea issue, that is, the dispute was directly maintained by the peace and stability of the South China Sea by the country and the ASEAN countries through friendly negotiations. In the past 20 years, the "Declaration" and "dual -track thinking" have not only effectively controlled the differences and control, have maintained the overall stability of the South China Sea, but also provided a good political foundation for joint protection, development, and utilization of the South China Sea.

Under the new historical conditions, China firmly supports regional countries to solve the initiative and dominance of the South China Sea issue firmly in its own hands. To this end, China not only supports ASEAN's central position in regional cooperation, but also supports ASEAN for peace, conspiracy development, and promoting cooperation, continuously deepen dialogue and cooperation with ASEAN, jointly respond to regional and global challenges, and make a peaceful development of regional development. Important contributions.

The East Asian model is an effective way to gather and maintain consensus. The formulation and implementation of the "Declaration", on the one hand, condenses the essence of East Asian culture such as consistent negotiation and the comfort of all parties, reflects the largest number of equivalent of regional countries on the South China Sea issue; on the other hand Asian traditions, refusing zero -sum thinking, pursuing win -win cooperation. This is the successful practice of the East Asian model, and it is also the valuable value and strong vitality of the Declaration.

China and ASEAN are similar, humanistic, and complementary. As a parties to the South China Sea issue and a responsible country, China has always adhered to the surrounding diplomatic concept of sincerity and benefit. Contributor. China advocates that regional countries should accelerate the enhanced and upgraded version of the Declaration of the Declaration. A stronger and powerful institutional guarantee.

The South China Sea is the common wealth of regional countries. It must not only protect it, but also develop and use it well. As long as China and ASEAN countries maintain a positive momentum of dialogue and cooperation, add mutual trust to communicate with communication, promote safety with negotiation, and continuously improve the two -poly -related dialogue dialogue mechanism, and we can get out of the road of governance of the South China Sea governance that takes into account all parties and tolerate the interests of all parties. It will also be able to achieve long -term security in the South China Sea.

(Jia Pingfan, the author is the overseas version of the People's Daily)

Original title: Create the South China Sea into a sea of ​​peace, friendship, and cooperation (Wanghai Tower)

"People's Daily Overseas Edition" (02th edition of July 29, 2022)

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