The Hindu : China for fair, reasonable solution to border row: Wen

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jun 22, 2003

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China for fair, reasonable solution to border row: Wen

By P. S. Suryanarayana

The Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao

BEIJING June 21. The Chinese Prime Minister, Wen Jiabao, has underlined a new principle of Sino-Indian equality as one of the norms for the final settlement of his country's boundary dispute with New Delhi. The principle of "consultation on an equal footing" was first propounded by China only very recently, and Mr. Wen has now conspicuously emphasised this new idea ahead of the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee's imminent official visit to Beijing from Sunday evening.

Obviously looking at the present state of China-India ties through the prism of Beijing's "new security concept" for global stability, Mr. Wen said, in an interview to The Hindu and PTI here, that this novel "security concept" itself "is based on the common interests of all nations" in the political context of "China's independent foreign policy of peace".

On the Sino-Indian frontier question, which is expected to top the strategic check list of the agenda for talks between Mr. Vajpayee and the top Chinese leadership here early next week, Mr. Wen said that "pending a solution, the two sides should do their very best to keep the border areas peaceful and tranquil". Without delving into the recent episode of a virtual standoff between the two countries over the exchange of maps concerning the western sector of the border, he said that "the Chinese side stands for a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to the (overall) issue". This solution, in his view of Chinese `positivism', "can be found through bilateral talks in accordance with the principles of consultation on an equal footing, mutual understanding, mutual accommodation and mutual adjustment".

The pattern of mutuality forms the centre-piece of China's advocacy of a "new security concept" for global peace too. Outlining the key elements of this "concept" as "mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and coordination" among countries across the global spectrum, Mr. Wen called for "more democracy in international relations". China would "never... seek hegemony" in world affairs, he maintained in a veiled rebuttal of the controversial theory that a `new Chinese empire' is already on the prowl in the international arena. As for Beijing's more immediate "needs", he cited "particularly a sound environment in its surrounding areas" of geopolitical importance so that China could then "accelerate (its) modernisation drive (and) accomplish national re-unification". India and Pakistan, among a few others, fall squarely within China's geopolitical neighbourhood so defined.

Given this notion of a tranquil neighbourhood, the addition of "equality" as the first factor in the search for a settlement of the China-India border dispute acquires an importance that is yet to be decoded. Diplomatic sources have indicated to this correspondent that the accent that Mr. Wen has now placed on "equality" in the Sino-Indian context is a matter of some fine-tuned thinking at the highest echelons of the new Chinese leadership that consists of Hu Jintao and Mr. Wen himself besides Jiang Zemin as elder statesman. This may have something to do with China's sense of wanting to address India's sensitivities, diplomats said. On India-Pakistan issues, which inevitably impinge on the Sino-Indian process of rapprochement, Mr. Wen did not respond to a specific question from The Hindu about the perception that Pakistan is to China what Israel is to the United States in a strategic interpretation of foreign policy. However, according to Mr. Wen, China would, "as a neighbour and friend to both India and Pakistan", continue to urge them to "seek an effective solution to the Kashmir problem through peaceful dialogue". He did not hint at any thinking about a Chinese role in or relevance to this process. Mr. Wen, who answered select questions from out of those given for the interview, underlined the possibilities in Sino-Indian economic cooperation and other bilateral issues in a manner indicative of some form of a future-oriented joint commitment to cooperation. This has been advocated by Chinese observers such as Wang Hongwei and others.

( Details of Interview in International section. )

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