Beijing: Faced with stiff challenges posed by small maritime neighbours over disputed islands in the South China Sea, China today said it will not impose its will on others and sought joint efforts to tackle issues relating to regional security and stability.
Confronted with "complicated and multiple security challenges, no country can easily stay out without being affected, or achieve so-called `absolute security` single-handedly," Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, who is widely expected to become President next year, said here.
All countries in the world should be cooperative, innovative and responsible, and make joint efforts in pursuit of a win-win situation, he told the World Peace Forum.
Xi proposed that international security should be achieved through common development and zero-sum mentalities should be abandoned.
Nations should establish a new security concept featuring mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and cooperation and foster the notion of universal, common and cooperative security, he said.
"China will keep adhering to the path of peaceful development, make efforts to establish a new-type relationship between major powers, firmly safeguard peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region and undertake our due international responsibilities and obligations," Xi said.
His call came as China faced strong claims by the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan over a host of islands in the South China Sea (SCS).
China asserts that the disputes should be resolved through bilateral talks while US made strong forays into the region calling for resolution of the issues.
The meeting was attended by, among others, former Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Haji Ahmad Badawi; ex- Pakistan Premier Shaukat Aziz; former French leader Dominique de Villepin; former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, ex-Secretary of the Russian Security Council Igor Ivanov and former EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana.
PTI
