Forum urges stronger partnership between China, EU
- By Zhang Jiaqi
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E-mail China.org.cn, December 13, 2017
Today's world requires a strong partnership between the EU and China on an ever-increasing number of issues to provide stability on the global stage, part of which is foreign policy and security. This was one of the remarks which set the tone of the EU-China Peace and Security Forum in Beijing on Dec. 12.
"We need to make the dialogue more operational and enhance concrete cooperation," said Hans Dietmar Schweisgut, EU Ambassador to China, proposing the directions to move to during and after the forum.
Organized by the Delegation of the European Union to China, the forum themed "Partnership for Peace and Security Cooperation" was attended by prominent European and Chinese experts, government officials, think tank representatives and students. They had in-depth discussions on areas where the two global actors can collaborate after highlighting the past achievements of EU-China peace and security cooperation.
In 2014, during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to the EU headquarters, an agreement was reached to foster China-EU partnership for peace, growth, reform and civilization. With peace at the top, this partnership reflects the willingness of China and the EU to take up their responsibilities to make joint efforts for a better world, said Chen Xu, Director General of the Department of European Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China.
Chen also called for the continuous pursuit of dialogues on an equal footing, stating that the two sides need to reinforce mutual trust, support each other's development, support multilateralism and deepen cooperation in various fields, including under the Belt and Road Initiative, with a view to promoting growth and the common development of the two as well as of the world at large.
Some of the most prominent voices in international peace and security led the discussion sessions. Co-hosted by the European Council on Foreign Relations and the Chinese Institute for International Studies, the forum, as the second session of the event after one was successfully held last year, offered a unique platform to exchange views on EU-China peace and security cooperation.
Acknowledging the remarkable contributions that the partnership had made in peacekeeping, François Godement, Asia Program Director and Senior Policy Fellow at Council on Foreign Relations, set his eye on the operational level and called for practical actions in the peace and security field.
Godement hoped China can be a contributor of the international order, and he expected practical actions rather than mere dialogues. He also added that the EU is an ideal partner for China in regard of the actions.
For China-EU cooperation, Xu Qiyu, Deputy Director of the Institute of Strategic Studies at the National Defense University, expressed his confidence in the cooperation in peace and security in the future.
The Belt and Road Initiative is bringing the two closer, and China would like to work with the EU while shouldering more responsibilities in this field, Xu said.
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