China efforts on community with shared future apply also in cyberspace: diplomat

GENEVA, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese diplomat said Tuesday that China's efforts to foster a new type of international relations and to build a community with a shared future for mankind can also apply in cyberspace.

Long Zhou, the Coordinator for Cyber Affairs of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, made the statement during a panel discussion on Cybersecurity at the 12th Internet Governance Forum being held in Geneva.

Long said all stakeholders and internet users are in the same boat, therefore cooperation is the only way to address the challenges in the cyberspace.

"All countries are interconnected and we belong to a community of shared future, so we can't bring war and instability into the cyber space," he said.

China, he said, is ready to work with all parties to put in place a multilateral, democratic and transparent global cyber order and foster a peaceful, secure, open, cooperative and orderly cyberspace.

Long said that for this purpose, the world should uphold the principle of peace and cooperation so as to foster new thinking based on common, comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable security.

"Cyber space should be a place of peace with ability and prosperity. Without peace, we cannot have sustainable developments and security in cyber space," Long noted.

According to him, in order to promote cybersecurity, a set of just and equitable international rules will be needed, with the UN playing a leading role in this respect.

"In the long run, we should establish an open and inclusive process within the UN and advocate broader participation in developing rules for cyberspace," he said.

Speaking of possible cyber wars which described by some people as "the reality", the diplomat said that instead of accepting "that reality", countries should do everything they can to prevent it and the cyber arms race.

He told Xinhua that the world should learn from the history of disarmament in other fields and resist the danger of an arms race in cyberspace, so as not to repeat the mistake of "develop first and disarm later".

"Resorting to use of force, deterrence, pressure and sanctions will never guarantee security, rather, it may lead to strategic miscalculation and increase of the risk of conflicts," Long told Xinhua. Enditem