'China's foreign policy based on principles of equality'

China's peaceful development and its aim of creating a harmonious world will play a pivotal role in shaping the global economic and political landscape in the years to come, Ambassador Masood Khan said on Friday. He was delivering a talk on China's Foreign Policy to a group of 50 Hong Kong University Summer Institute students in Beijing.
The students doing their graduation in diverse disciplines had come from mainland China, Hong Kong, the United States, Canada, Australia, Singapore and Mexico. Masood Khan said China's foreign policy is based on the principles of equality, mutual benefit and mutual respect among states; while upholding sovereignty and security of the People's Republic of China.
He regarded this policy of the Chinese leadership as a new paradigm in the global political arena which aims at creating a win-win partnership for all the countries allowing them to develop and prosper. During the talk Masood Khan quoted references from the writings and speeches of Hu Jintao, Wen Jiabao, Dai Bingguo and Henry Kissinger. He also quoted from the works of ancient Chinese scholars and thinkers including Confucius and Lao Tzu.
Ambassador's talk was followed by an extensive Q&A session in which most of the students asked him regarding various aspects of China's foreign policy as well as the country's relations with its neighbours particularly Pakistan. Some students observed that Pakistan-China relations are a model of state-to-state relations and asked from Ambassador the secret of this unique friendship. In response, the Ambassador said China and Pakistan have stood by each other through thick and thin.
"When China was under sanctions in 1960s, Pakistan provided the country an economic corridor. The two countries signed a border agreement in 1963 and Pakistan played a key role in rapprochement between the United States and China," he said. Masood Khan said whenever Pakistan is faced with some difficulty whether in the form of natural catastrophe or pressures from regional and international actors, China has always been there to support Pakistan and to help it uphold its sovereignty and independence. Now the trust between the two countries is strong and deep, he concluded.