|
|
| H.E. Mme. Tong Xiaoling, Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Brunei Darussalam, Receives Interview on the 60th Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China H.E. Mme. Tong Xiaoling, Ambassador |
|
| Monday,September 28,2009 Posted: 09:25 BJT(0125 GMT) | | From:Embassy o fP.R.China in Brunei Article type:Reproduced |
In conjunction with the upcoming 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China on 1st October 2009, H.E. Mme. Tong Xiaoling, Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Brunei Darussalam, received an interview by The Brunei Times , Brunei's leading English-language newspaper, on 19th September 2009 in H.E.'s residence.
Attached herewith is the full script of the interview.
1. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the founding of People's Republic of China. It should be noted that during these years China has witnessed earthshaking changes in all the aspects of life and society. Your Excellency, how do you comment on these past achievements? And how do you predict the future of China's development?
The coming October 1st marks the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. According to the Chinese Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches (Tiangan Dizhi), 60 years shall be considered as a recurrent "Jiazi", which means a full cycle of the heaven and earth.
Looking back into history, we have manifold feelings. 60 years ago, under the leadership of Chairman Mao Zedong and the Communist Party of China, the Chinese people established the People's Republic in 1949 after arduous struggles against imperialism, feudalism and bureaucratic capitalism, ushering in a New China where the Chinese people, for the first time in the history, became their own masters.
30 years ago in the late 1970's, China began its great undertaking of reform and opening-up. As a result, the Chinese people's living standards have been gradually improved and more than 200 million Chinese have been lifted out of poverty. The average life expectancy has increased by 5 years, and the 83 million people with disabilities have received special care from the government and society. Simply speaking, the Chinese people are better off today.
Nowadays under the strong leadership of President Hu Jintao, China has registered even more remarkable achievements in economic and social development. Compared to 60 years ago, China's GDP is 78 times of the then number, per capita GDP 33 times, national revenue 986 times and foreign exchange reserve 14,000 times. During the past 60 years, the average annual growth rate of China's GDP is 8.1%. Now China's economy ranks the third in the world and its foreign exchange reserve accounts US$2 trillion, the world's largest.
Indeed, China is now starting off from a new historical point and is striving towards a prosperous society in all aspects. The contemporary China's relationship with the outside world has also undergone historic changes. China is playing an increasingly important role in regional and international affairs. China's achievement has earned respect and acclamation from the world and its own development for the 1.3 billion people, 1/5 of world's population, is no doubt a great contribution to the mankind.
To describe China's current situation, I would like to quote a Tang Dynasty (618-907AD) poem: "From shore to shore it is wide at high tide, and before fair wind a sail is lifting (Chaoping Liang'an Kuo, Fengzheng Yifan Xuan)". Now the Chinese people of all ethnicities are full of confidence in their motherland's promising future.
2. The year of 2009 is another eventful year for China. The Urumqi incident last July captured the world attention. So how is the security situation in Xinjiang now? Has the incident undermined China's ethnic policy or ethnic unity?
On 5th July 2009, highly violent crimes committed by a handful of outlaws took place in Urumqi, capital city of China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and caused huge casualties and loss of properties. Now, the situation is basically under control in Xinjiang. What I want to reiterate here is that the Urumqi July-5th incident is neither an ethnic nor religious issue. Instead, it is a premeditated and organised severe crime of violence that was masterminded and instigated by the overseas ethnic separatists, and carried out by the separatists inside China. Its vicious intention is to sabotage the unity and harmony among all ethnic groups in Xinjiang. I would like to take this opportunity to thank His Majesty's government for understanding and supporting the Chinese government's position on the Urumqi incident.
After the founding of the People's Republic, the Chinese government adopted a series of ethnic policies as well as the system of ethnic autonomy in order to guarantee equality and promote unity among all ethnic groups. As one of China's ethnic autonomous regions, Xinjiang has fully implemented the central government's ethnic policies, safeguarded the fundamental interests of all ethnic groups, respected and protected the religious freedom of all ethnic groups. Thus there has been established in Xinjiang a new type of inter-ethnic relationship characterised by equality, unity and mutual assistance. With the joint efforts by all ethnic groups, Xinjiang's economy has been growing in a rapid and healthy manner, people's living standards constantly improved and various social causes greatly developed.
It should be noted that the ethnic separatists only account for a tiny part of the Xinjiang population while most of the people there, being Han or ethnic minorities, cherishes ethnic unity and harmony. That is why both China's central and local governments' stability-maintaining measures could win wide support from the public. The evil attempt of the bunch of separatists is doomed to failure and China's ethnic unity and harmony is deep-rooted and unshakable.
3. China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (FTA) will be established in January of 2010 and, as a member state of ASEAN, Brunei has been promoting economic diversification. Your Excellency, do you think what opportunities the FTA will bring to China and ASEAN and especially Brunei? Apart from energy field, what other fields will China and Brunei strengthen cooperation in?
China and ASEAN signed the Investment Agreement at the 8th China-ASEAN Economic and Trade Ministers' Meeting in Bangkok on 20th August 2009. The conclusion of this new agreement, together with the already-signed China-ASEAN agreements on trade in goods and services, completed the negotiation process of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA). The CAFTA would be the first FTA for China and also for the 10-member ASEAN as an integrated whole, so it is of vital significance to both sides.
The CAFTA will cover an area of 13 million km2 with a population of 1.98 billion and involve about US$6 trillion in gross domestic product (GDP). Such an immense scale cannot be overlooked. The CAFTA is especially significant when trade and investment protectionism has shown up worldwide in the midst of global financial crisis. Against this background, the CAFTA's final initiation next year will be a clear and positive signal to the world: The current global financial crisis has not hindered the pace of China-ASEAN cooperation in trade and investment liberalization and market accessing process.
As what I mentioned, the CAFTA means liberal flow of capital, human resources and services among China and the 10 ASEAN countries, and this flow will certainly bring about economic prosperity to us. Brunei Darussalam is a country whose economy depends heavily on oil and gas industry. You cannot put all eggs in one basket, so the economy got to be diversified. We note with pleasure that Brunei has been promoting the economic diversification by investing more in tourism, Islamic banking, Halal product, aquaculture and agriculture etc. I believe, with the advantage of the CAFTA, Brunei can make full use of the resources in the FTA in attracting more foreign investment and going overseas to invest more abroad. You know that many Chinese enterprises are in earnest seeking overseas partners for cooperation, and I think ASEAN has incomparable advantages geo-politically, economically and culturally. Therefore, the CAFTA will surely benefit every party.
For your information, China's BGP Company, a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation, has just finished the 3D seismic survey of Block M in Belait District. This is a new form of cooperation in oil-related industry besides the crude trade. His Majesty often stresses the need to increase Brunei's padi self-sufficiency, and China is interested in agricultural cooperation with Brunei. Both sides are looking into ways of joint cooperation in agricultural technology, training and rice planting. So I believe that in the context of the CAFTA's initiation, Brunei and China will enjoy more fruitful and win-win cooperation.
4. Your Excellency, more and more Bruneian students are pursuing further study in China. Could you introduce how the Chinese government scholarships are nominated and conferred in Brunei? Will China increase the scholarship quota for Brunei? Will China consider establishing a Confucius Institute in Brunei?
Since 2003, Brunei and China began to exchange government scholarships. At the beginning, our two countries only exchanged two quotas annually. But this cannot catch up with our ever-deepening friendship. So during recent years, the Chinese side has gradually and unilaterally increased the quota for Brunei. This year as an example, the Chinese government provides 6 quotas, among which 2 are annually exchanged, 2 unilaterally provided, and the other 2 for Bruneian students at the Bruneian government expense.
Each year, after receiving the recruitment plan and quotas from China Scholarship Council, the Chinese Embassy will send a verbal note requesting the Bruneian government to nominate eligible Bruneian students. All interested students may submit applications to Brunei's Ministry of Education (Scholarship Section), which will respond to the Chinese Embassy after selecting the candidates according to their academic performance. Then the Chinese Embassy conveys the nomination back to China Scholarship Council which will then issue admission notices after evaluations. Many of my Bruneian friends told me that their children wish very much to study in China. I believe that with the constant development of China-Brunei relations, there will certainly be more quotas.
Confucius Institute (Kongzi Xueyuan) is a non-profit public institute which aims at promoting Chinese language and culture and supporting local Chinese teaching internationally through affiliated Confucius Institutes overseas. Its headquarters is in Beijing and under the Office of Chinese Language Council International or Hanban. The Confucius Institute is purely academic and cultural. And any Confucius Institute needs consent from the governments of both China and the country where it will be established.
With China's rapid development and further integration into the world, there will be a greater demand of Chinese learning. In ASEAN we now have Confucius Institutes in the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. I believe that the establishment of a Confucius Institute in Brunei is possible in the future.
5. Your Excellency, I would like to ask a personal question regarding your impression on Brunei. When you first arrived in Brunei, what surprised you most? After living here for over two years, what do you appreciate most about Brunei?
Brunei is a rich country with a high per capita GDP, and the stereotypic image for a rich country is high-rise buildings erected in crowds. But Brunei is so different. Most of Brunei's land is covered with trees or primeval tropical rainforests, the low-rise bungalows are spread naturally in the carpet of greenery. And I love the Kampong Ayer and Yayasan area, it reminds me of the ancient and modern Brunei every time I pass by. The harmony between man and nature is the most surprise I got when I arrived. I think His Majesty's government's commitment to environmental protection and its endeavors on Heart of Borneo Project win international recognition.
Just as the Brunei's full name Negara Brunei Darussalam indicates, this is a place of salam (peace). This country is like a Shangri-La or Xanadu where people live in tranquility and harmony. Notably, peace is also reflected in Brunei's foreign policy. Brunei pursues mutual respect for territorial integrity, sovereignty, independence and national identity of all nations, non-interference in each others' internal affairs, and peaceful settlement of disputes and promotes cooperation for mutual benefits. So you ask me what I appreciate about Brunei --- that is peace.
|
|
Bilateral Visits
