SCIO briefing on 'China's Policies on Asia-Pacific Security Cooperation'

CRI:

At his annual press conference held at the end of last year, Russian President Putin once again spoke highly of Russia-China relations. He said that, in recent years, the cooperative relations between the two countries had become closer than a partnership in a general sense. Russia and China shared the same positions on many international issues¬ – an important factor of stability in international affairs. What are China's comments on this?

Liu Zhenmin:

China and Russia have enjoyed a strategic cooperation partnership for many years. Their close relationship is highly appraised by the leaders of the two countries and supported by their peoples. China and Russia are both large countries in the Asia-Pacific region, and they share a border that is over 4,000 kilometers long. So, cooperation is key to China's security. China and Russia have many common interests in Asia-Pacific region. The two countries are both vital to the region's security, stability and prosperity.

The following aspects of this cooperation will be further promoted. First, to strengthen coordination under the multilateral framework in the region, and to promote the healthy development of related mechanisms. Second, to promote the political settlement process in regard to hot issues, strengthen cooperation on cyberspace development, anti-terrorism and anti-missile systems, so as to keep the region peaceful and stable. Third, to take an active part in the cooperation of the connection of "Belt and Road" Initiative and the construction of the Eurasian Economic Union, boost construction of the Eurasian Economic Union and further interconnection, and to achieve mutual benefit. We believe that, under the joint efforts of China, Russia and other countries in the region, Asia-Pacific will have more secured peace, stability and prosperity. Thank you.

BBC:

In section six under the heading of "Counter-Terrorism Cooperation," it mentions "terrorism-related human smuggling", and I was wondering if you could explain what it involves. Is that, as I'm assuming, ethnic Uygur Chinese citizens crossing the border into neighboring countries potentially trained up by Islamic organizations, frenetic Islamic organizations and returning to China? Secondly, in the third paragraph, it talks about "China, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Tajikistan have established a coordination mechanism on counter-terrorism cooperation among the military forces of the four countries". How long has that been going for? And can you tell anything about what it has achieved?

Liu Zhenmin:

Currently, the international community knows clearly about the harm caused by the cross-border flow of terrorists, a core problem for world stability. No matter whether it's in Asia or Europe, Western Asia, North Africa, or other places, the flow of terrorists is a main source feeding continued terrorism. Of course, China also faces such challenge. Therefore, we have conducted cooperation with neighboring countries in combating transnational crimes and cross-border terrorist activities. For China, border areas especially the western frontier, have to confront more challenges in this regard; in other words, places abutting Central Asia and Afghanistan encounter a more serious threat of terrorism. However, what I want to emphasize is that this is an international issue, which calls for international cooperation. It's also a problem affected the security of Asia-Pacific countries. That's why we repeatedly stress in many forums and through various mechanisms that countries in the Asia-Pacific region should strengthen cooperation against terrorism.

As to the China-Afghanistan-Pakistan-Tajikistan coordination mechanism, both military and police cooperation is aimed at combating cross-border terrorist activities. The cooperation is proceeding smoothly and plays an important role in deterring terrorist organizations, cutting off the flow of terrorists, and cracking down on terrorist activities. China has established similar mechanisms with several neighboring countries including cooperation within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and China-Pakistan cooperation. We have accumulated good experience worth promoting. However currently, such cooperation is only limited to Pakistan and the SCO countries; whether is it a suitable approach for other regions, we have to negotiate with other countries and summarize experiences. In a word, Asia-Pacific countries should pay close attention to preventing and combating terrorism. It has been proved that some terrorist activities in Southeast Asia were conducted by cross-border terrorists, some of whom returned from the Middle East. Thus, combating terrorism is an important part of Asia-Pacific security cooperation.