Grappling with territorial disputes and bracing for US' big military push into Asia, Chinese President Xi Jinping today mooted a code of conduct for Asian countries to resolve security issues among themselves while pledging to step up fight against terrorism.
He also issued a veiled warning to the US and its allies in Asia over forging military alliances to counter China, amid Beijing's strained ties with countries like Japan, Vietnam and the Philippines.
He also pledged "zero tolerance" for terrorism, separatism and extremism in the region as he called on Asian countries to build a new "sustainable" and "durable" security cooperation structure.
Security problems in Asia should eventually be solved by Asians themselves, he said, outlining China's new Asian security paradigm at the fourth summit of Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) here in the east China metropolis.
Asian countries should promote security in their own countries and across the region through dialogue and cooperation, Xi said at the summit attended among others by Russian President Vladimir Putin and presidents of Pakistan and Sri Lanka Mamnoon Hussain and Mahinda Rajapaksa respectively, besides those of nine other countries, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
"We cannot just have the security of one or some countries while leaving the rest insecure," said Xi in a keynote speech.
"One who tries to blow (out) other's oil lamp will get his beard on fire," the president warned, citing a Kazakh proverb.
Without taking names, Xi said: "To beef up an entrenched or military alliance targeted at a third party is not conducive to maintaining common security."
"We should strengthen... International and regional cooperation, and step up the fight against the 'three forces', in order to bring a life of happiness and tranquility to the people of this region," said Xi, also head of the ruling Communist Party of China.
Eleven heads of state and officials from 40 countries, including India, took part in the summit, where China took over the CICA presidency from Turkey.
Formed in 1999, lesser-known CICA has 26 member countries and seven observers, including Japan and US.
India, a full member, was represented by Dinkar Khullar, Secretary (West) of the Ministry of External Affairs as the new government is yet to take office.
"China will take solid steps to strengthen security dialogue and cooperation with other parties, and jointly explore the formulation of a code of conduct for regional security and an Asian security partnership programme, making Asian countries good partners that trust one another and cooperate on an equal footing," Xi said.
