Neighborhood harmony

China is working hard to ensure its relations with neighboring countries are peaceful and mutually prosperous

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This year is an election year for many countries around the world. Some countries' domestic and foreign policies are likely to witness changes following the elections. The international community is particularly concerned that the United States' foreign policy after the presidential election will adversely affect relations between countries and upset regional and global stability.

The sound environment China seeks in its surrounding areas will likely face new changes.

Over the past more than 10 years, China has proposed the concept of building a neighborhood community with a shared future, based on amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness, and it has promoted jointly building the Belt and Road Initiative to enhance connectivity.

Upholding the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, China has been building a secure environment in its neighborhood with concrete actions, such as jointly managing hotspot issues with its neighbors and promoting consultation and dialogue to maintain peace.

For instance, in the face of escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula, China has proposed the "dual-track approach" of denuclearizing the peninsula on the one hand and establishing a peace mechanism on the other. It has also proposed a "double suspension" to defuse the tensions on the Korean Peninsula — the Democratic People's Republic of Korea may suspend its nuclear and missile activities in exchange for the suspension of large-scale US-Republic of Korea military exercises. China has also demonstrated its strong commitment to easing tensions through talks.

Following the withdrawal of United States troops from Afghanistan, China has been vigorously building coordination and cooperative mechanisms for Afghanistan's neighboring countries to support Afghanistan's stability and development. China has proposed the Tunxi Initiative of the Neighboring Countries of Afghanistan on Supporting Economic Reconstruction In and Practical Cooperation With Afghanistan. China has also chaired the Foreign Ministers' Meeting on the Afghan Issue among the Neighboring Countries of Afghanistan, the China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Trilateral Foreign Ministers' Dialogue and the "Neighboring Countries of Afghanistan Plus Afghanistan" Foreign Ministers' Dialogue.

Meanwhile, China has made the utmost of all sorts of cooperative mechanisms to strengthen the building of a secure neighborhood environment.

For instance, to maintain stability in the South China Sea, China has been promoting the implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea and encouraging the completion of negotiations on a Code of Conduct for the waters.

China is also urging the building of a Shanghai Cooperation Organization community with a shared future, in which a multi-layer cooperative mechanism on security issues is to be established and "Peace Mission" anti-terrorism drills are to be held annually.

As the world's second-largest economy, China has given new impetus to the development of its neighborhood area. China's comprehensive strength has risen alongside China's economic strength.

China has reiterated on numerous occasions that it is committed to a path of peaceful development. However, certain countries are concerned and wary about the rapid rise of China's comprehensive strength. They choose not to participate in China's proposals or try to compete with China's proposals; worse still, they adopt hostile policies against China, resulting in negative perceptions toward China among their public and "close but not intimate" relations.

The US is the biggest external force obstructing China and its neighboring countries from constructing a sound neighborhood environment. The US has the very specific strategic goal of suppressing the rise of China's comprehensive strength and influence so that it can maintain its advantageous position and influence in the regional order.

Both the Democrats and Republicans, when in office, have imposed restrictions and containment measures and sanctions against China and established anti-China mechanisms in China's surrounding areas in a variety of ways.

In the Asia Pacific region, the US has been expanding and strengthening its "Indo-Pacific" strategy to suppress and contain China. It is roping in its allies to take part in such mechanisms as the Australia-United Kingdom-United States trilateral security alliance, the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, the US-Japan-ROK partnership and the "Indo-Pacific" economic framework.

Most of China's neighboring countries choose to take part in projects but choose not to take sides. They maintain and develop relations with the US and participate in initiatives and projects proposed and promoted by the US while doing the same with China. Even the US' military allies are trying their best to avoid "decoupling "from China or confrontation with China.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has been unswervingly upholding the centrality of ASEAN in the region as the primary driving force in its relations and cooperation with the outside world. While some ASEAN member states have participated in US-led mechanisms, ASEAN as a whole maintains a cooperative relationship with China and chooses not to participate in the US' strategic competition with China.

In the wake of the release of the "Indo-Pacific" strategy by the US, ASEAN unveiled the ASEAN Outlook on the "Indo-Pacific", which seeks to avoid the deepening of mistrust, miscalculation, and patterns of behavior based on a zero-sum game, maintain ASEAN's central role in the evolving regional architecture in Southeast Asia and its surrounding regions and create a "Indo-Pacific" region of dialogue and cooperation instead of rivalry.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. China has always attached great importance to the five principles in its relations with its neighbors.

Different from the US, China's policies have always been inclusive and cooperation-oriented, in an attempt to build an open, development-oriented and peaceful neighborhood environment.

First, China takes all neighboring countries as partners, rather than excluding certain countries from dialogue and cooperation because they have participated in mechanisms proposed or promoted by the US. Second, China is actively proposing initiatives and cooperation projects that welcome the participation of all neighboring countries, rather than trying to exclude or compete with the US. Third, China maintains communication and dialogue with the US to have a controllable relationship with the US.

These will help prevent neighboring countries from splitting into two opposing camps and lessen the impact of the US comprehensive strategic competition with China in China's neighborhood. Meanwhile, these moves have provided more options for China's neighboring countries and prevented the so-called China-US strategic competition from becoming the theme of China's relations with its neighboring countries, thus creating favorable conditions for building a sound neighborhood environment.

The author is dean of the Institute of International Studies at Shandong University and a member of the Faculty of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The author contributed this article to China Watch, a think tank powered by China Daily.The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

Contact the editor at editor@chinawatch.cn.