Chinesepod - IV

IV. International Security Cooperation

As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and a large
country in the Asia-Pacific region, China attaches great importance to,
and takes an active part in, international security cooperation by
sticking to its principles and promises, treating others in a sincere and
friendly way, and developing cooperation. In recent years, China has
actively carried out exchanges with foreign armed forces on the basis of
mutual equality and mutual benefit. China has also actively participated
in multilateral and bilateral security dialogues and cooperation in the
Asia-Pacific region, as well as in United Nations peace-keeping
operations, playing its due part in keeping peace in the region and the
world as a whole.

Foreign Military Contacts

As an important component of China's overall diplomacy, China's foreign
military contacts are subordinate to and serve the modernization of
national defense and the armed forces. China insists on dealing with its
foreign military relations independently and engaging in military
exchanges and cooperation based on the Five Principles of Peaceful
Coexistence. In its contacts with foreign military circles, China has
always advocated the principles of mutual respect, enhancing
understanding, developing friendship, mutual benefit and cooperation.
Chinese armed forces have been active in participating in multilateral
military diplomatic activities to bring the positive role of the Chinese
armed forces into full play in the sphere of international military
affairs.

China has been active in developing an omni-directional and multi-level
form of military diplomacy. So far, Chinese armed forces have established
relations with the armed forces of more than 100 other countries. China
has set up military attach*)_*'s offices in more than 90 Chinese
embassies abroad, and some 60 countries have set up their military
attach's offices in China. In the last 20 years, more than 1,300 Chinese
military delegations, of which some 180 were headed by senior officers,
have visited over 80 countries. In the meantime, 2,100-some foreign
military delegations involving several tens of thousands of persons have
visited China, more than half of which were high-ranking delegations
headed by defense ministers, commanders-in-chief of the armed forces or
chiefs of the general staff.

China has always placed the development of military contacts with
adjacent countries in a prominent position. Following the principles of
good-neighborliness and friendliness, mutual benefit and cooperation and
long-term stability, it has developed extensive and beneficial contacts
with the armed forces of those countries, especially contacts on the
senior level. In 1996 and 1997 alone, China sent more than 100 military
delegations to most of its adjacent countries, and hosted over 130
military delegations from such countries. China has placed special stress
on friendly military exchanges and cooperation with developing countries,
and has offered assistance in personnel training, equipment and health
care to over 70 countries. Since 1973, China has trained nearly 10,000
officers at all levels as well as military technicians for developing
countries, and sent over 8,000 experts to those countries. China is
enthusiastic for expanding military relations with the United States and
other Western countries in Europe. Proceeding from the objective of
safeguarding world peace and the fundamental interests of the people all
over the world, Chinese armed forces have successively resumed and
improved their relations with the armed forces of those countries on the
principle of increasing dialogue and narrowing differences, resulting in
the deepening of mutual understanding.

Since the beginning of the 1990s China's naval vessels have visited
nearly a score of countries. From March to May 1997, two formations of
Chinese naval vessels made friendly visits to the United States, Mexico,
Chile, Peru, Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia, which have enhanced
the friendship between the armed forces of China and the armed forces and
people of those countries.

In their foreign contacts, Chinese armed forces stress technological
exchanges in specialized fields. They have developed extensive exchanges
and cooperation with armed forces in other parts of the world in the
fields of scientific research, academic studies, military education,
armed forces administration, culture, sports, and medical and hygiene
work.

The positive, extensive foreign military contacts on the part of the
Chinese armed forces have promoted mutual understanding and trust between
the PLA and other armed forces. The Chinese armed forces, which have gone
among the international community, have presented themselves before the
world as a civilized force and a force of peace, a force which has made
its due contributions to keeping regional peace and peace throughout the
world.

Promoting Confidence-Building Measures

China places great stress on and actively promotes cooperation in
confidence-building measures (CBM), considering the establishment of
mutual trust between nations as an effective way to maintain security. In
recent years, China has reached agreements with some neighboring
countries on confidence-building measures and reduction of military
forces in border areas, which is an important step China has taken to
develop relations with other countries and promote regional peace and
stability. These agreements reflect a new kind of security concept
vigorously advocated by China and embody some principles and spirit of
universal significance for Asian-Pacific security dialogues and
cooperation. These include mutual and equal security; seeking security by
establishing mutual trust, dialogue and cooperation without interfering
in the internal affairs of other countries and without aiming at a third
party; preventing military forces from threatening or harming other
countries' security and stability; implementing and sticking to a
national defense policy that is defensive in nature; adopting suitable
confidence-building measures in border and disputed areas on a bilateral
basis; and engaging in friendly contacts between military forces.

In April 1996, China and Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan
signed the Agreement on Confidence-Building in the Military Field Along
the Border Areas, which stipulates that military forces deployed in the
border areas shall not be used to attack each other; each party shall
refrain from staging military exercises directing against the other;
there shall be restrictions on the military exercises in terms of scale,
area and the number of such exercises; all the important military
activities of one party in the areas between the border and 100
kilometers from the border line shall be notified to the other which
shall be invited to observe the troop exercises; measures shall be taken
to prevent dangerous military activities and enhance friendly exchanges
of their armed forces in the border areas.

In November 1996, China and India signed the Agreement on
Confidence-Building Measures in the Military Field Along the Line of
Actual Control in the China-India Border Areas. The agreement provides
that each side should not engage in military activities that threaten the
other side or undermines peace, tranquility and stability in the border
areas; that they should strictly respect and observe the line of actual
control in the border areas and neither side should overstep the line of
actual control in their activities pending ultimate resolution of the
boundary question; that they should reduce or limit the size of field
army, border defense forces, para-military forces and any other mutually
agreed category of armed forces and armaments deployed in the mutually
agreed geographical zones along the line of actual control to the
mutually agreed ceilings; that each side shall refrain from staging
military exercises directing against the other in the close proximity of
the line of actual control in the border areas and restrict the scale of
military exercises and provide prior notification to the other with
regard to military exercises of certain scale in the close proximity of
the line of actual control in the border areas; that they should prevent
air intrusions by military aircraft across the line of actual control and
dangerous military activities in the areas along the line of actual
control; that both sides should strengthen exchanges and cooperation
between their military personnel and establishments in the border areas
along the line of actual control.

In addition, in 1994, China and Russia signed the Agreement on Prevention
of Dangerous Military Activities and the Joint Statement by the President
of the People's Republic of China and the President of the Russian
Federation on Non-First-Use of Nuclear Weapons and Detargeting of
Strategic Nuclear Weapons Against Each Other. In January 1998, China and
the United States signed the Agreement Between the Ministry of National
Defense of the PRC and the Department of Defense of the USA on
Establishing a Consultation Mechanism to Strengthen Military Maritime
Safety. In June of the same year, President Jiang Zemin of China and
President Clinton of the United States announced that the two sides had
decided not to target each other with the strategic nuclear weapons under
their respective control. In addition, confidential direct redline
telephone communication links have been established between the head of
state of China and the heads of state of Russia and the United States.

Regional Security Cooperation

China advocates regional-security dialogue and cooperation at different
levels, through various channels and in different forms. Such dialogue
and cooperation should follow these principles: participation on an equal
footing, reaching unanimity through consultation, seeking common ground
while reserving differences, and proceeding in an orderly way and step by
step. China has participated in the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF),
Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia
(CICA), Council on Security Cooperation in Asia and Pacific Region
(CSCAP), Northeast Asia Cooperation Dialogue (NEACD) and other
activities, holding that all countries should further mutual
understanding and trust by discussions on security issues through these
important governmental and non-governmental channels, so as to promote
regional peace and stability.

China has attended all the ARF foreign minister meetings and ARF senior
official meetings. Chinese representatives of foreign and defense affairs
have attended official and unofficial meetings within the framework of
the forum, their topics of discussion including promotion of
confidence-building measures, peace keeping, maritime search and rescue,
the handling of emergencies and disaster relief, preventative diplomacy,
non-proliferation, and guiding principles. In 1996 China and the
Philippines jointly sponsored the Conference on Confidence-Building
Measures in Beijing. Between sessions of the conference, which was
crowned with success, foreign representatives were invited to visit
Chinese military units and observe military exercises. China supports the
ARF's creative explorations for the promotion of confidence-building
measures and has made a series of constructive suggestions and opinions
in this regard. For example, China advocates development of military
medicine, science of military law and multilateral cooperation on
conversion of military technologies and facilities for civilian use. It
encourages the exchange of high-level visits by senior military officers,
and port calls by naval vessels, as well as exchanges of military
personnel between different countries, and supports cooperation in
emergency rescue and disaster relief, maritime navigation safety, and
marine environmental protection. In addition, every year China submits to
the forum a statement on national defense policy and other related
documents.

China has always been an active participant in the process of the CICA
initiated by Kazakhstan, regarding the purpose of the conference as
basically suiting China's security goal in Asia. It suggests that the
conference develop steadily with full consideration of Asia's regional
peculiarities and diversities. In 1996 China formally joined the CSCAP,
and in 1997 established the CSCAP China Committee, which has always
conscientiously participated in the council's activities. Since 1993,
when the NEACD was founded, China has attended all NEACD meetings and, in
1996, hosted its fourth conference in Beijing. Along with other member
states, China has also helped the NEACD to achieve unanimity on the
guiding principle of cooperation between Northeast Asian countries.

China has held consultations in different forms with the United States,
Russia, Japan, France, Canada and Australia on issues of common interest
in the areas of security and defense. Officials and scholars of China's
Ministry of National Defense and other related departments have
participated, in increasing breadth and depth, in various discussions and
other activities on Asian-Pacific security, which has promoted
understanding and trust between China and the countries concerned, and
shown China's positive intentions and efforts to maintain lasting peace
in the Asia-Pacific region.

Participating in the UN Peace-Keeping Operations

As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China has consistently
engaged in efforts to maintain international peace and security. It
cherishes and supports the role of the United Nations in keeping
international peace and security under the guidance of the principles of
the Charter of the United Nations. In order to help UN peace-keeping
operations achieve success and develop in a healthy way, China holds that
the following guiding principles should be stipulated and followed:

-- The aims and principles of the Charter of the United Nations must be
adhered to, especially the principles of respecting the sovereignty of
all countries and non-interference in other countries' internal affairs.

-- Disputes must be settled using peaceful means, such as mediation, good
office and negotiation. Compulsory means should not be adopted
indiscreetly, nor should military means be resorted to even for
humanitarian ends.

-- Double standards should be opposed. The policies and views of any one
country or a few countries should not be imposed on the UN Security
Council, and military interference by a small number of countries under
the guise of the UN should not be allowed.

-- In peace-keeping operations, the following principles, which have
proved to be effective in the past, should be adhered to: obtaining
agreement from the country concerned beforehand, strictly observing
neutrality and prohibiting the use of force except for self-defense.

-- Be practical and realistic. A peace-keeping operation should not be
undertaken when conditions are not yet ripe, nor should a peace-keeping
force become a party to a conflict, which would be a deviation from the
fundamental purpose of peace-keeping operations.

Adhering to the above principles, China has participated in UN
peace-keeping operations. In 1990, China began to assign military
observers to UN peace-keeping operations; since then it has sent 437
military observers in 32 groups to join six UN peace-keeping operations,
viz, the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) in the
Middle East, United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM), Un
ited Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC), United Nations
Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), United Nations
Operation in Mozambique (ONUMOZ) and United Nations Observer Mission in
Liberia (UNOMIL).

In 1992, the Chinese government dispatched an engineer unit to support
the UNTAC peace-keeping operations. A total of 800 men were sent in two
batches, who, in 18 months, repaired or extended four airports, repaired
four highways totaling 640 kilometers, built or rebuilt 47 bridges and
completed many other service projects, making useful contributions to the
successful operations of the United Nations peace-keeping forces in
Cambodia.

China still has 32 military observers serving with the UNTSO, UNIKOM and
MINURSO. In May 1997, the Chinese government decided that in principle
China would take part in the UN's stand-by arrangements and would provide
military observers, civilian policemen, and engineering, medical,
transportation and other logistic service teams in due time for UN
peace-keeping operations.

Chinese personnel assisting UN peace-keeping operations have
conscientiously fulfilled their responsibilities and made great
contributions to world peace. Some of them have even sacrificed their
lives. In the years to come, China will continue to participate in UN
peace-keeping operations in a positive and down-to-earth manner.

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