简体中文
China is willing to work with India to boost bilateral ties and properly manage border disputes through negotiations, a spokesperson of China’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday. FM spokeswoman Hua Chunying made the comments in response to Indian Ambassador to China Gautam Bambawale's “positive remarks” that New Delhi isn’t threatened by Beijing’s rise but considers its northern neighbor as a “partner in progress and development” and looks to learn from its tremendous growth story.
The Indian envoy made the remarks in an interview to Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post, published last Friday.
"We have noted relevant reports and applaud Ambassador Bambawale's positive remarks. The fast development of China and India presents important opportunities to each other and the world at large,” Hua told reporters at a press conference in Beijing on Monday
“China and India face similar national conditions and development goals and are in similar development stages. We also share extensive common interests and should be each other's partner in the course of respective development and progress,” she added.
Hua asserted that China stands “to work with the Indian side to enhance political mutual trust, improve mutually beneficial cooperation, properly manage differences and achieve common development," under the guidance of the important consensus of the leaders of the two countries.
Indian Ambassador to China Gautam Bambawale delivers a talk on 'India-China Relations: An Overview' hosted by Asia Society Hong Kong Center, in Hong Kong, on March 19, 2018.
The Chinese statement came in response to Bambawale’s comments last week during a visit to Hong Kong, where he expressed India’s desire “to learn a little bit from China about how to progress” asserting that Beijing’s rise doesn’t worry New Delhi.
“India has no concerns about China’s rise. In fact, India looks at China’s rise as something which also gives us encouragement that India can also do at least some of the things that China has done, which is to develop economically and develop rapidly,” the Indian ambassador said.
“India does not look upon China as a competitor or a rival; in fact we look upon China as partner in progress and development. We would like to learn a little bit from China about how to progress,” he said, citing that bilateral trade last year reached an historic high of 84.5 billion US dollars, despite the 73-day Donglang border standoff.
“Still, investment from China into India is increasing and investments from India into China are also increasing.”
'Diplomatic wisdom'
Referring to the peaceful resolution of last summer’s border standoff as “a successful example of diplomacy between our two countries”, Bambawale pointed out that despite the lingering boundary issue between India and China, “not a single shot had been fired in the border for last 30 years”.
“Even during the Doklam (Donglang) incident, a very serious incident, there was no firing, we were able to maintain peace and tranquility,” he said.
The ambassador however stressed that to avoid such incidents in the future, the status quo on the China-India boundary should not be changed. He further called for a final settlement of the border issue through proper demarcation. “We need to move further to actually solve the problem, which is to draw the boundary line. The boundary is quite long between India and China – roughly 3,500km,” Bambawale said.
China's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying addresses a press conference in Beijing, on March 26, 2018.
In response, Hua reiterated China’s position on Donglang and asserted that the question of changing status quo doesn’t arise in the region.
"China has been committed to upholding peace and stability in the China-India border areas. The Sikkim section of China-India boundary has been demarcated by historical agreements and Dong Lang is China's territory. There is no such an issue as the change of status quo since China is exercising its sovereignty and conducting other sovereign activities in its own territory," she said.
"Last year, the two sides worked together to peacefully resolve the Dong Lang incident with diplomatic wisdom. We hope that India will draw lessons from that, abide by historical boundary treaties and basic norms governing international relations, and work with China to safeguard peace and stability of border areas in an effort to create a good atmosphere for the positive development of bilateral relations," the spokeswoman added.
Hua, however, emphasized that China is committed to settling territorial disputes with India through negotiation, asserting that "the two sides should work together to uphold peace and stability in the border area until the boundary issue is resolved."
China's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying addresses a press conference in Beijing, on March 26, 2018.
"With regard to the China-India boundary issue, China's position on that remains consistent and unequivocal. The eastern, central and western sections of the boundary have never been demarcated officially. China is committed to settling territorial disputes through negotiation, and China and India are in discussions for resolving territorial disputes through negotiation in an effort to seek a fair and reasonable solution that is acceptable to both sides," she said.
'China encourages us to do better'
The Indian diplomat stressed that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) can play a constructive role in encouraging bilateral ties between India and China. New Delhi and Hong Kong signed a
Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) with Hong Kong last Monday, during Bambawale's visit.
“Hong Kong is a very special place. A lot of people in Hong Kong know China very well, it’s a part of China of course, but they also know India. So Hong Kong must play a role as a catalyst in bringing India and China together. This is a very important role. If Hong Kong plays that role then Indian elephant and Chinese dragon will actually dance together,” Bambawale said, echoing the phrase used by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing earlier this month.
Indian Ambassador to China Gautam Bambawale (left) meets with Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam in Hong Kong, on March 19, 2018.
On the speculation of whether India would join the US, Japan and Australia in forming a strategic alliance, the Indian envoy emphasized that New Delhi would never become a party to any pact designed to provide a counterbalance to China.
“I do not see that India is going to be a part of any alliance. India will work with all countries in the world to improve and increase its interests,” he told the Hong Kong daily.
Bambawale felt that both China and India are re-emerging on the international stage and very important players, and this is the reason why there’s so much global attention on both the countries.
“Many centuries ago in the 1600 and 1700s, both China and India were very important economic powers in the world. Now in the 21st century, we are seeing a re-emergence, of both China and India to some extent, on the world stage from a geo-political and geo-economic point of view,” he said, while repeating that India doesn’t see any rivalry, competition or threats from China.
“We only look upon China as something which encourages us to do better in India’s economic development, India’s economic progress and social progress,” he added.
(CGTN)
