 especially this late in the afternoon and in the summertime. I appreciate that. As many of you, I see some familiar faces from earlier today, so we can see that it's a busy day for us here at CSIS. We, as always, thank you all for making the time to come and see our folks and presentations that we have lined up for you. Today, we're extremely fortunate, through the good offices of the Chinese Embassy here in Washington, to have three very distinguished visitors who are all from the Foreign Policy Advisory Committee at the China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They're here in the US for several days to sort of give a sense from the US big tank and official community as to the status of sign of US relations. Timing is perfect, of course, with the Strategic and Economic Dialogue winding up today in Beijing. They're here to talk to us about the concept of building a new model of major country relations. And we're very eager to hear what they have to say. Let me take a moment to introduce Ambassador Jia Peshi, who served as ambassador to the United Kingdom for China in the early 2000s through 2007. And he's held a number of roles in the Chinese government, including serving on the standing committee of the 11th National Peaceful Congress for 2008 to 2013, and of course, has extensive diplomatic experience. He's going to kick us off today and deliver some prepared remarks for the podium. And then I understand those two colleagues will also share some remarks with us. And then we'll open it up to the audience for some questions and answer period. So with that, Ambassador Jia Peshi, and welcome. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It's a pleasure to be invited to CSI's. It's a very prestigious business, which gives a well-known expression. I worked in the years of office in the 1970s here in Washington. So it's a great pleasure to be back. Over the years I've worked many years in foreign industry on the U.S. desk or Department of North American Ocean in this. And in 1990s I left the area, but still watching the variations closely. So today I wish to share with you my views on building a new model of radio contract relationship between China and the United States. As you all know, in June 2013, President Xi Jinping had a meeting with President Obama at another California. And at the meeting, the two presidents reached a very important agreement on building a new model of radio contract relationship. That historical meeting chartered a course for future course of China's relations and sent a very positive signal through the air. The two sides reaffirmed this commitment in their subsequent communications. So it's increasingly evident that this new model of radio contract relationship between China and the U.S. is the right choice. Now there are three prominent features of the new model of the relationship. There are non-conflict and non-confrontation, mutual respect, and wing-wing cooperation. Non-conflict or non-confrontation requires the two sides to view each other's strategic intentions in an objective and sensible way. Stay as cabinets instead of reverse words or rivals, and properly handle their technologies and disputes through dialogue and cooperation instead of taking and confrontation over the place. Mutual respect requires the two sides to respect each other's choice of social systems and developing paths, respect each other's core interests and major concerns. Seeking common ground while shorting differences upholding the co-signist and mutual learning and make progress side by side. Wing-wing cooperation requires the two sides to abandon the zero-sum mentality and to accommodate the other interests while seeking what's wrong and promote common developments while developing itself and continue to deepen the pattern of shared interests. I think building a new model of major country relationship is of great significance. First, it is in the fundamental interest of our two peoples. The United States is the largest developed country. China still remains the largest developing country. Our two economies are the two largest economies now in the world. So China and the United States share broad common interests and there are many areas where we can cooperate. The cooperation based on the principle of equality and mutual benefit controls enormous benefits to our two peoples and will deliver even more benefits in the future. The interdependence of China and the United States has reached an unprecedented level that neither country could thrive without life. A good relationship benefits both sides while confrontation will do time to both. So it is a very wise and right choice for both sides to build a new model of major country relationship. Second, it is conducive from where to put some stability in the Asia-Pacific region but in the world as well. The development of China-U.S. relations has made great contribution to the stability and prosperity of the two countries, the region and the world. That seems to be the establishment of the collaboration 35 years ago. Show that China-U.S. cooperation is an anchor for world peace and stability and winning cooperation at the goal of this model will not only benefit the two countries but also contribute to the world at last. Where China-U.S. relations are hiding has enormous impact on the whole world. If the bilateral relations go smoothly world peace will stand a good chance. Third, it is also a new contribution to the new structure of international relations and international order, world order. There is such an interdependence and connectivity in today's world that relations in my country are no longer zero or some gain. The 19th century solution can no longer work to solve the 21st century problem. Although you could build a 21st century world order our minds and ideas advance with time and replace the old ideas with the new. We should abandon the Cold War mentality build new concepts of profitability in the same world and a win-win cooperation. Unfortunately, a sense of human community of common destiny, common interests and common responsibilities. To build a new model of major country relationship China and the U.S. need to take joint efforts to follow the trend of the world developments. It will contribute to the early establishment of a more balanced international structure. Building a new model of a major country relationship is not only of great significance but also of high possibility. Firstly, it complies with the trend of time. In the 21st century, peace development and a win-win cooperation are a trend of the times and the common aspiration of the people. With the growing trend of multipolar world economic globalization the fast emergence of information society countries are forming a community of common destiny where there is either security for all or security for none. Major countries cannot bear the cost of completely becoming rivals. China and the U.S. are both permanent members of the Security Council. We share the special responsibilities for international peace and stability. Many issues simply cannot get resolved without cooperation from the two countries. China and the U.S. are now working together to build a new model of a major country relationship which demonstrates the determination of both to break the historic sci-fi-ditis trap. This is called for by the new realities of the world in the 21st century. It is also in conformity with the long-term interests of both countries and the expectations of the international community. Secondly, it follows a trend of economic globalization. In the era of economic globalization the world is in the midst of rapid development and profound transformation. Many global issues are becoming more acute and more prominent. No matter how strong a country is it simply cannot resolve all those problems by itself. In face of these issues no country can stand a roof or meet challenges on its own. The only way out is to enhance international cooperation. Only if each party has the determination wisdom and willingness to cooperate can they seize the opportunity to create an even brighter future for the world. China and the U.S. are already cooperating in so many fields including international and regional security issues, non-proliferation, counter-terrorism, Korean Peninsula, the Iranian nuclear issue, global economic governance, governance, climate change, cross-border crimes, disease control, infrastructure building, etc. With the new model as the framework all these will have a clearer sense of direction and greater incentives and closer coordination and introduce even more tangible results for our two peoples. Third, cooperation between China and the U.S. has already laid a solid foundation for building a new model of major country relationship compared with 35 years ago. Great progress has been made in China-U.S. relations which few people then would have imagined. Today China and the U.S. are each other's second largest trade partners. In the past decade China is U.S.'s fastest-growing exporting market and China is also the largest coder of U.S. Treasury. Last year the bilateral trade volume topped 500 billion U.S. dollars and the two-way investment approached 100 billion U.S. dollars. Our interests have become increasingly interwoven. Every year close to 5 million people are traveling across the Pacific. Nowadays there is a flight between the two countries every 24 minutes. Thousands of people are traveling across the Pacific every day. The interaction between local communities has also increased. There are 41 pairs of sister-province-state relationship and 201 pairs of sister-city relationship between our two countries. The two presidents meet more often than before and there are over 90 mechanisms for dialogue and cooperation between the two countries including the strategic and economic dialogue you are talking about and also high-level consultations on people-to-people exchanges. All these mechanisms provide the institutional guarantee for timely handling relative issues between our two countries. There is no doubt that given to the differences in social systems in the development path in the development level of each economy and history and cultural tradition U.S. and China do not see eye-to-eye on many issues. It is only natural that the two countries do have disagreements or differences but those differences and disagreements should not disrupt the building of a new model of major country relationship between China and the United States. Firstly, I would emphasize that our common interests far outweigh our differences and cooperation far outweighs competition. This is the basic feature and mainstream of China-U.S. relations. Secondly, the two presidents have made firm commitment to build a new model of major country relationship which has also gained support from peoples from all walks of life in both countries. I'm sure that the two sides have enough wisdom and capability to manage their differences from disrupting the overall relationship. Certainly, many differences between China and U.S. are really caused by lack of mutual understanding. I believe that through communications, through more active exchanges, the two peoples will gain a better understanding of each other and our views towards each other will be more objective, sensible, and comprehensive and our differences will gradually get narrowed or reduced. The view that there must have been fierce conflicts between an established power and emerging power and they're bound to fall into the dynamic of confrontation I think is completely outdated. Mankind has entered the 21st century when the basic framework of major country relationship is featured by interdependence. Cooperative as well as competitive. Therefore, the possibility of major powers coming into direct or all-round confrontation is diminishing. More importantly, China's firm adherence to the path of peaceful development has broken the old cycle that a country is bound to see cage money when it gets stronger. What has happened since China's reform and opening up shows that this path is not only a thorough path but will become even more wider. Of course, the building of a new model of major country relationship between China and the US is an unprecedented endeavor, a long-term and arduous mission. It simply couldn't accomplish in a single strike. So it needs the concerted involvement and tireless efforts from both sides. But as long as we are firm in our determination and keep forging ahead, US-China relations will embrace a bright future. I think at present we should focus on the following areas. First, we should further enhance political and strategic mutual trust. We need to maintain the momentum of the close exchanges at the top and at various levels, deepen mutual understanding and avoid misconceptions, misunderstanding, misreading, or misjudgment. Since the reform and opening up, China has made remarkable achievements and witnessed great changes. However, China remains the largest developing country in the world. It still has a long way to go before it can basically achieve modernization. China is committed to peace for development and remains a positive force for peace and development. Never will a more powerful China seek hegemony or dominance of other nations. I think the US needs to have a correct understanding of China's strategic intention in this regard. Mutual respect, of course, is the political prerequisite for a new model of relations. That requires the two sides to respect each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity, respect each other's right to choose its long development paths and social system, and each should respect the other's core interests and major concerns and act cautiously on sensitive issues. Expand common interests in a positive and constructive way and view China-US relations with a long-term vision. Such respect is not a favor given by one party to the other. It is a reciprocal process and a two-way street where you gain respect from others only when you, you know, respect others as well. Only by viewing each other's development as an opportunity instead of a threat, as a pattern instead of a adversary and the pursuing contact and dialogue instead of containment can China and the US make steady and solid progress in their relations. Secondly, we should expand the pragmatic cooperation in various areas. There is a high degree of complementarity between our two economies which offers bright prospects and great potential for mutual beneficial cooperation. Two sides need to seek the opportunities of reform in both countries and the deepening of such reform into a process of strengthening pragmatic cooperation. We should expand areas of cooperation create new highlights of cooperation and open new prospects of cooperation. Take solid steps to bolster our cooperation. We should further expand our bilateral trade. At present, China-US economic and trade relations witness a signed momentum of development and with great potential to be tapped. China's imports are expected to approach $2 trillion US dollars annually in the next five years. When maintaining to expand the scope of good trade, China is also accelerating to develop the scope of service trade and will further broaden the opening up of service trade to the outside world which will bring development opportunities to bilateral economic and trade cooperation. China welcome and encourage American companies to seize the opportunities. Likewise, we also hope that the American government will ease its control over high-tech products export to China which will be conducive for American companies to account more market shares in China. Trade liberalization and facilitation are the important guarantees for the expansion of international trade. China is ready to work with the US to counter various trade protectionism properly handle disputes in our economic and trade relations and pursue trade-reliefing measures with caution. We also enhance the two-way investment. It is expected that in the next five years China will make overseas investment totaling $500 billion. That means $100 billion each year in the next five years. Since many Chinese entrepreneurs show strong interest in the American market it is hoped that the US government will eliminate some prejudices or settle some obstacles faced by Chinese companies to invest in the US and provide a fair and hospital environment for Chinese investment in the US. We need to work for the early breakthroughs in the negotiation of bilateral investment agreements to boost the two-way investment. It is also necessary to increase dialogue and cooperation in agriculture, energy, environment, climate change, infrastructure, etc. We should launch a number of major joint operations in those fields which will bring benefits to both our people. Such cooperation can help enhance confidence of people towards building a new model of major country relationship. Third, we should continue to increase communication and coordination on important international as well as regional issues. Nowadays the world, especially Asia-Pacific region is grappling with challenges and problems. China and the US should enhance communication to help develop signed interaction in this region. China and the US are both located in the Asia-Pacific region where the two countries have the most active interaction where conflicts are most likely to occur. So pushing forward the construction of a new model of major country relationship between China and the US should start from the Asia-Pacific region. We need to enhance communication and coordination on issues like the nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsula, the Iranian nuclear issue, the Syria, North and South Sudan, Afghanistan, and other regional hotspot issues to seek proper settlement. It is also necessary to actively expand cooperation in tackling global issues such as climate change, energy security, food security, cyber security, and provide more public goods to the international community. Fourth, I think we should further boost bilateral people-to-people and cultural exchanges. We need to continue to increase dialogue and exchanges between our legislatures and local governments, promote interactions between the business community, the academic community, and increase mutual visits of young people and students. More frequent and deep-going exchanges in all these sectors will enhance mutual understanding and friendship and ensure that the forces and voices in support of China-US cooperation will prevail in public opinion of the two countries, which would consolidate the public opinion and social foundation for the construction of a new model of major-country relationship. To sum it up, I think the consensus reached by the two presidents have pointed out the right direction and has drawn the blueprint for future growth of Sino-American relations. If we join hands and work together, I think a bright future awaits China-US relations. Thank you very much. Thank you, Ambassador Jia. And now I think we're going to have some comments from your colleagues. We'll start with Ambassador Li Fenglin, who also is a member, of course, of the Foreign Policy Advisory Committee, China's former ambassador to Russia. He currently serves as a member of both the Foreign Policy Committee and is director of the Euro-Asian Development Research Institute in China, which is under the State Council's Development Research Center. Prior to these positions, as I mentioned, he worked as ambassador to Russia from 1995 to 1998 and also served as ambassador to Romania and Moldova and Bulgaria, so much experience in the Eurasian area. So we would certainly like to hear from you on that area. I believe our two colleagues here will be using interpretation as well to make their remarks. And so we will have the interpreter go ahead and do that as we go along. Thank you. I would say only a few words for Begin. I have been in Washington many times, but it is my first visit to Eurasian because this building is new one. I am very happy to participate in this meeting. I am ready to discuss to you frankly any question interested in you. Thank you. We'll move on to Mr. Zhu. Zhu Ling Yinghuang is also a member of the Foreign Policy Affairs Committee. Prior to holding this position, Mr. Zhu served as the editor-in-chief of China Daily between 93 and 2004. He's also worked as a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the 10th National People's Political Consultative Conference, the CPPCC. And in his addition to his position in the Foreign Ministry, he is also the vice chairman of the All China Translators Association, vice chairman of the China National Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation, special advisor to the China U.S. Exchange Foundation, and editor-in-chief emeritus of China Daily newspaper group. So long experience in the media sector. We welcome your comments. Thanks for coming. Thank you, Johnson. I think I would rather speak English to save time. Besides, my English is not good enough. But the good thing is the poor and simple English would be easier for you to understand. Very good. So my pleasure to be here and also my pleasure to be with the two very distinguished ambassadors. They know the Chinese foreign policy so well, and they can make China stand very clear to you. But I was a journalist. Not a very good one. But I have a young colleague, Chen Weihua, working in Washington. I always envy you that he can stay in this beautiful city and working on covering the United States. He knows China-U.S. relations and knows America much better than I do. Next time you should invite him here. And so as a journalist, I have my observation, which is somewhat different from the officials because journalists, both Chinese and Americans, tend to sometimes take a little bit of a negative attitude towards things, asking questions. So my observation is that after the Sunnyland summit was held by the Chinese media as a milestone in the bilateral relations. So after the summit, people did have high expectation of the summit, believing that China-U.S. relations will progress faster because our two top leaders are all committed to the new model of a new major country relations. However, it seems to me that such an encouraging scenario has not really appeared for some reasons. And in fact, some scholars, both China and American, believe that the U.S.-China relations is on the downward trend. It's the roadiest bumpy. We do have some problems. And China is blaming U.S., U.S. is blaming China. I'm not a diplomat, so they can talk very peacefully. But between the media, between the ordinary people, when you hear the American or Chinese officials talking about the relations, you get quite optimistic. Things are going fine. But when you watch TV, when you read newspapers, you find we have so many problems. It doesn't look like so promising. So U.S. is blaming China for being more conservative or progressive, aggressive or using Hegel's words as unilateral, destabilizing the region. And believing China is making some trouble in tension in Asia-Pacific region. But China blames, China is getting more and more suspicious of an American re-intention in Asia-Pacific. In spite of the fact that Obama and American officials repeatedly saying we're not going to contain China, in spite of they say that we don't take position on the territory issues, disputes on sovereignty. In spite of that, what we have seen, what they say, what they did is actually contrary. They are emboldened. We use the emboldened or encourage some countries, Japan, Vietnam, the Philippines, to take more vocative actions against China. As our ambassador said, all these troubles were started up, not by China. That is for certain. We don't talk about our law history, how history records can prove that these islands belong to China. You can read history books. I'm talking about current time. All these troubles were started up by Japan, by the nationalization, by the Philippines, up until late 1970. They never had Huang Yan Island in their map. Also, like Vietnam, we are drilling a well in South China Sea near our Shisha Island. It's only within 20 nautical miles. Yet we are blaming, we are being blamed by many people including the media in the world. People say it's like the big country is drilling small countries, but many Chinese believe we are being too passively reactive, too passively. It is the fact that small countries are drilling a big country because they are being supported by superpower. I'm not saying this is the official stand, but I'm saying that's what I have read in the media and it is the public opinion. On the website, I won't be able to tell you because that would be even more aggressive comments on all these things. What I mean is that we do seem to have a lot of problems. How did it all happen? Maybe it happened when Obama's Asia trip that the Chinese call it a containment trip. Some countries call it a reassurance trip. Whatever the name you gave it, but the fact is since the pivot to Asia policy, Asia no longer becomes so peaceful. Before that, for so many years, Asia was a peaceful region. Every country was developing so fast in economy. So we do have problems. What are we going to do? This is the issue that I'm thinking. I don't think I can solve, but you people, we together, maybe we can solve. But we have good news. Good news of the SED is being held in Beijing and I hope they will discuss, address all the key issues between the relations. Another good news is Obama is going to Beijing maybe in November meeting Xi and hopefully after more than one year's of the Sunnyland Summit, they will come up with a more substantial progress and a more creative, the creative measures in improving China-US relations. Because the strongest impression I get since I came to US this time is everybody we talked to said China-US relations is extremely important. We cannot afford either side. We cannot afford a confrontational policy. Thank you. Thanks very much for that. I appreciate your candor. I'd like to ask a question before we turn it over to the audience and just try to draw together some themes from each of the sets of comments. Next door in our South China Sea session today, obviously we heard different views about maps and other things from various different parties, but at the very end of our session, we had a mock sort of simulated meeting of the US Principles Committee, where there's a simulated challenge that's occurred in the region and we have people playing the roles of the individual cabinet secretaries and there's a discussion, which I thought was quite rich. I was able to attend before coming here. You're the foreign policy advisory committee of the foreign ministry, so when you sit down in that kind of a similar context to discuss these challenges that you've laid out and make your recommendations to President Xi and the rest of the leadership, how do you think about the challenge, because I know we certainly in think tanks and also in the US government think a lot about this, how do you think about the challenge of operationalizing the concept of a new style of major country relations and what kind of recommendations or advice might you share with your leaders that perhaps you could share with us if in general terms? Actually, the issue of the South China Sea has not just emerged today. It's been for a long while. China enjoys indisputable sovereignty over the islands and reefs in the South China Sea and its adjacent waters. This is backed up by solid historical and legal evidence. The crux of the South China Sea The crux of the disputes over the South China Sea issue is that The crux of the disputes over the South China Sea issue is the illegal occupation and invasion by some neighboring countries of the South China Sea and its islands. Hence, the disputes over the sovereignty and the disputes over the overlapping maritime interests and rights and as well as maritime demarcation. China's position regarding the South China Sea issue is consistent. We believe these disputes should be resolved through peaceful dialogue and consultation by parties directly concerned with respect to historical facts and international law. These issues should be resolved bilaterally. Before these disputes are resolved, each party should maintain calm and objective attitude before these disputes are resolved bilaterally. Depending on the ultimate solution of these disputes, all parties should remain calm and exercise restraint so as to avoid a complication and escalation of these issues. So as to ensure the South China Sea will remain a sea of peace, friendship and tranquility. And also, pending the ultimate settlement we can also explore some new and creative ways to resolve the issue such as shelving the differences and conducting joint development. As a matter of fact, the maritime disputes in the world is not as limited to China. As far as I know, after the issuance of the maritime law, over 60 countries and other countries have the rights to maritime disputes. As a matter of fact, the maritime disputes in the world is not as limited to China. As far as I know, over 60 countries in the world have disputes either regarding the sovereignty or regarding maritime demarcation. The best way to resolve these disputes and issues is for the parties directly concerned to sit down and have talks. You may know that China has 14 land neighbors. Sometime before a decade ago the border between these neighbors are undecided. After years of bilateral direct diplomatic negotiation, we have now ultimately resolved the border issue with 12 neighbors. The only remaining issue unsolved are with our largest neighbor, India and another, Bhutan. Those are in the southern borders. Although the border disputes with India remains unresolved, our two sides maintain bilateral negotiation. Back in the 1990s, China and India have reached an agreement. Depending on the ultimate solution of the boundary issue, two sides should exercise restraint in order to ensure peace and tranquility of the border region and prevent the border issue or boundary issue from affecting the overall relationship. This also applies to maritime disputes. The best way is through bilateral direct talks. Of course, issues regarding territorial sovereignty are highly sensitive once. A final resolution requires not only political wisdom, resolve, but also takes time as well as appropriate atmosphere and conditions. This is why pending an ultimate resolution, both sides should work hard to create necessary atmosphere and conditions. After all, China's relations with either the Philippines, Vietnam, or Japan are not the only two sides of the border issue. China's relations with the Philippines, Vietnam, or Japan are not the only two sides of the border issue. The Philippines, Vietnam, or Japan is much larger than those disputes over these islands, and these disputes should by no means be allowed to affect the overall bilateral relations. For example, with regard to the Diao Yu Dao issue, it's not an issue that has emerged only today, rather it's been around for a long, long time. It was there at the time of normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan, and at the time of the signing of the peace treaty. By that time, the Chinese leaders put forward a concept of shelving the disputes. I believe those of you interested in international relations are familiar with Mr. Deng Xiaoping's trip to Japan during which he signed with the Japanese side a treaty on peace and friendship. During that trip, he was asked by a journalist on the question of Diao Yu Dao. Deng Xiaoping said then that we in China enjoy indisputable rights sovereignty over Diao Yu Dao. He also said that for us to resolve the Diao Yu Dao issue, maybe our generation do not have enough wisdom, so we can shelve this issue and leave it for future generations to solve. From this, you can see that the issue of the dispute over Diao Yu Dao existed back then, but the two sides had a tacit agreement that is to shelve the dispute so that it will not affect the overall relationship, affect the normalization of diplomatic relations as well as the signing of the peace treaty. But why has this issue suddenly emerged today? Second, he denied that during the Middle Ages Diao Yu Dao used to have a tacit agreement. He did not even have a tacit agreement. Third, he did not even have a tacit agreement. Diao Yu Dao is a controversial issue. This is too much. This issue suddenly cropped up because of Japanese government's so-called nationalization of these islands. Because Japan denied China's sovereignty over these islands, it even denied that we once had a tacit agreement over this, and it even denied that there are disputes over Diao Yu Dao. How can he say that there are no disputes over Diao Yu Dao? China says it has sovereignty over these islands while Japan claims it has sovereignty, so this is dispute. He did not have a tacit agreement. And how can he deny that there was once an agreement over this issue? Because Mr. Deng Xiaoping answered a question in public. The Japanese leaders were also present. Nobody discreet. They even applauded saying that Deng Xiaoping made a good point. The problem was not caused by China. It was caused by Japan. Of course, I think that Japan can do this. It is purposeful. It is for the sake of the government's political needs. Of course, even though I have said so much, China has not changed the policy of Japan. For all that I have mentioned China's Japan policy has not changed. Japan is still our close neighbor. We are separated only by a narrow strip of water and we still hope to improve our relations with Japan. But this relationship must be based on the four documents between China and Japan. An important principle enshrined in these four documents is that we must face history squarely. In China, we say that history if not forgotten can serve as an important lesson for the future. That means we should learn lessons from history. And only by doing so can we ensure that such disasters and catastrophes like the World War II will not happen again. During the Second World War II, China and the United States side-by-side we worked extremely hard to fight fascism and achieved notable results. These achievements do not come easily and should be all the same. We are not the same. We are the same. We are the same. We do not come easily and should be all the more cherished. We say history should not be forgotten not in order to perpetuate hatred from history, but rather to ensure the history will not be repeated so that we can look forward towards the future. Unfortunately, Japanese leaders and politicians cannot face history squarely. The most visible example is Prime Minister's visit to the Yasukuni Shrine where Yasukuni and his wife were both members of the Yasukuni Shrine. Yasukuni Shrine is one of the most famous to the Yasukuni Shrine where it enshrines 14 class A criminals during World War II. In a word, we hope to improve our relations with Japan but the ball is in the court of the Japanese side. For the Japanese side, I believe the following three points are crucial. First, how to view history squarely. Second, how to properly resolve the issue of a Diao Yu Dao. Third, also the fundamental issue is how does Japan view China a country that is making progress. Does Japan view China as a partner or an adversary or even an enemy? Because we see Japanese political leaders trumpeting the so-called China threat system and the Chinese government and the Chinese government and the Chinese government trumpeting the so-called China threat theory around the world. If this issue is not resolved then Japan I'm afraid cannot pursue the right policy towards China. I know Japan is an important ally of the United States so if that's the case I believe the U.S. also has the responsibility to persuade and convince Japan to pursue the right policy. Thank you very much. Even as Japan is a U.S. ally, a key ally, if it made a mistake the U.S. should stand for justice and principles instead of confining right and wrong. We all know that even if your kid made a mistake you will shoulder the responsibility and criticize him so that he will not make the same mistake again, let alone an ally. We all know that right and wrong in particular on such important issues as history. I hope you can bear with my long answer. In the interest of time why don't we open it up to the audience here and get them involved. We'll start right here with the woman right there. No, behind you. Just wait for the microphone and please introduce yourself and do confine yourself to a question rather than a speech. Thank you. Yes, my name is Tsep. I'm with EIR and I would like to ask you to elaborate more on the new Silk Road concept which is also as your speech reflecting very much the principles of the peace office failure that the policy has to be in the interest of the other and you mentioned the bearing you are intending to extend the Silk Road to the bearing straight also? Excuse me, what's your question? Is it when pursuing our own interest we should take into consideration other interests? Is that what you mean? I meant that the concept of the new Silk Road is Silk Road is a policy of the common interest of mankind which very much reflects the idea of operating in the interest of the other and since this has been ancient in the ancient history a platform to exchange ideas, culture and get mutual understanding that maybe one can think about extending that Silk Road even more than just Central Asia or the maritime Silk Road and would it be a way of bridging the relationship between the United States and China to give it substance to have common aims which would be in the benefit of both countries? Thank you. Let me answer the question of the Silk Road last September when President Xi Jinping visited Kazakhstan he proposed to build a Silk Road economic belt and later he mentioned the idea of building a 21st century maritime Silk Road Silk Road is a policy of the common interest of mankind which very much reflects the idea of building a Silk Road economic belt and later on during his visit to ASEAN countries he put forward the idea of building a 21st century maritime Silk Road and later on during his visit to ASEAN countries the Silk Road as you all know started more than 2000 years ago the Han Dynasty of China has been going on all the way to Europe the Silk Road started back in China as a Han Dynasty more than 2000 years ago it goes through to Europe all the way the Silk Road was also very early when it came to Zhenghe the Silk Road came to over 30 countries the maritime Silk Road also has a long tradition during Zhenghe's voyage to the western seas he visited more than 30 countries when I was in the British there was a scholar named Moses he wrote a book 1421 when I served as UK ambassador to the United Kingdom he wrote 1421 he said when Zhenghe's fleet had arrived in North America but many Chinese scholars did not stand up because according to our history he arrived more than 30 countries he wrote in his book that Zhenghe's fleets even reached as far as North America but this point was not agreed upon by Chinese scholars because according to their research Zhenghe visited more than 30 countries but not reached North America both the land and maritime Silk Road stand out as a symbol of friendship peace and exchanges through the Silk Road China's silk, tea porcelain and other goods were brought to other countries around the world and the the good things about other countries were also introduced to China in this sense, the Silk Road is not only a commercial route but also a pathway for different cultures and civilizations to learn from each other and seek common progress the ideas that President Xi Jinping promoted is meant to carry forward this fine tradition and build the Silk Road Economic Belt and Maritime Silk Road so as to expand the economic, cultural and other exchanges and cooperation with relevant countries in addition to the Economic Belt and Maritime Silk Road President Xi Jinping also mentioned five other things first, policy coordination that means countries on the root of the Silk Road should have more communications regarding our economic development and national development strategies second, commercial exchanges and trade third, infrastructure connectivity this includes rail, road air as well as oil pipelines fourth, currency because currency is the blood of economic life that means we will step up financial cooperation and cooperation in regards to our currency fifth, people to people and cultural exchanges because the friendship and mutual understanding between our peoples is the very foundation for good state-to-state relations these ideas were warmly received by many countries countries in the East and East including European countries not only countries in Central Asia and ASEAN, but also Middle East and Gulf countries and including European countries have shown their interest in these ideas this is a strategic initiative it doesn't require any new institutions or organizations rather is an open and cooperative platform and we welcome the participation of all those who are interested actually many projects are already underway for example the natural gas in Turkmenistan in Central Asia has been transported all the way to Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong all these existing cooperation projects can be incorporated into these strategic initiatives and I believe the implementation of these initiatives will go a long way in not only bringing benefits to the countries en route the Silk Road but also the exchanges between civilizations around the world as well as economic progress as I mentioned these initiatives are totally open and all countries interested can are welcome to participate although Zheng He may not have reached North America during his trips a century ago but if North American countries are interested in these initiatives we welcome the participation of all those who are interested in these initiatives we welcome the participation of all those who are interested in these initiatives but if North American countries are interested in the economic belt and maritime Silk Road they are more than welcome to participate in these projects so as to promote cultural and economic exchanges thank you right here in the front wait for the microphone please hi I'm Dr. Donna Wells I'm an expert in the Russian language internet does there exist a single map outlining China's territorial claims is there a map that clearly shows China's sovereignty if there is how old is it the Republic of China was founded in 1949 October 1st, 1949 of course the Republic of China was founded in 1949 October 1st, 1949 if the Republic of China was founded there is a official map of the Republic of China on the date of the founding of the PRC there was a map I think what you are interested in is the South China Sea there was a bridge I want to introduce the bridge but I guess your point of interest is the nine dashed line of the South China Sea because as I mentioned earlier China's South China Sea is a region where there are no wars we have a wide history and history China enjoys indisputable sovereignty over the islands in South China Sea and their adjacent waters this is backed up by solid historical and legal evidence but the earliest to use the earliest to manage these islands is administrative management is administrative management and the earliest to order these islands' orders are also the earliest to order China was the first country to find, name, use and exercise administrative rights over these islands from historical records for a long time it has been effective in managing these islands according to historical records for a long time in history China has exercised effective jurisdiction and administration over these islands during World War II China launched the Pacific War and occupied a number of islands in Nansha Islands, Sisha Islands, etc. but after the end of World War II according to Cairo Declaration and Passan Proclamation those territories stolen by Japan should be returned in 1946 the then nationalistic government sent a fleet to South China Sea and renamed some of the islands and resumed China's sovereignty at that time the nationalistic government issued a map showing 17 dotted lines that map was issued in 1948 and later on we successfully resolved the issue of Baibu Bay with Vietnam so it was no longer necessary the lines and later the 11 was reduced to 9 this position has been held by successive Chinese governments I would like to point out in particular that before the middle of 1970s not a single country had any objection regarding this to challenge this 9 dotted line it was mainly to cover the illegal strategic of the Nansha Islands such as illegal in order to cover this this is something we cannot accept but I have said before there is no change this is unacceptable but as I said China's position with regard to South China Sea and Nansha Islands has not changed but if certain parties make provocations then China would have to respond back in the 70s many countries in the world used to use this map why is it called Nansha China Sea why is it not called another sea so this is a very clear question Chinese entrepreneur Wang Jing was granted a concession by the government of Nicaragua to build a trans-oceanic canal that would move from the Pacific all the way through to the Atlantic and allow the biggest ships container ships to pass through the two oceans I'm wondering if you might consider that future Nicaragua Chinese canal as part of Maritime Silk Road and whether the Chinese government might have a position on the viability and desirability of the Nicaragua Chinese canal thank you great disorder under heaven first on the new canal I know as many as you do or even less as trade volumes jump there will be the demand for more communication channels in particular between the Pacific and Atlantic we mentioned connectivity just now actually connectivity plays a huge role in promoting trade connectivity also includes more maritime routes take the Swiss canal in Egypt as an example without this canal all ships would have to make a big turn around the Horn of Good Hope I visited Good Hope it's not that tranquil actually and the Swiss canal greatly facilitated economic and trade relations between the two continents so personally I believe larger amount of and more convenient maritime routes will bring benefits to all parties as to the second part of the question the two countries are invited to are welcome to the Silk Road as I mentioned the Silk Road is an open strategic initiative and all those interested are welcome when it comes to trading goods lion's share goes through maritime routes so it's particularly important the amount of silk speaking of the Silk Road let me share with you one more piece of information when we look at the Silk Road on land according to the artifacts excavated there are mainly tea and silk and only a limited number of porcelain but a large number of porcelain are transported through maritime Silk Road because it's more convenient for ships to carry porcelain it will be too heavy and too costly for camels to do that so the freedom and safety of maritime routes is of particular importance to economic exchanges and trade so the freedom and safety of maritime routes is of particular importance to economic exchanges and trade now let me come back to the issue of South China Sea because some people have pointed out the issue of freedom of navigation in South China Sea as a matter of fact it's very important to have the freedom of navigation in South China Sea as a matter of fact it's very important to have the freedom of navigation in South China Sea as a matter of fact freedom and safety of navigation in South China Sea has never been an issue it has not been an issue because of the disputes between China and relevant countries as a matter of fact China's imports majority of China's imports come through maritime transportation and a big part are through the South China Sea so freedom and safety of navigation is of particular importance to China as well and we will do what we can to ensure that OK, I think we got time for one more question let's see Judy, I'm going to let you in but you're on a tight leash a question, OK the microphone up front please, go ahead get to it quickly Thank you, my name is Jin Ling Wien with Voice of Vietnamese Americans and I'm American and our Secretary Kerry has just met with your presidency in Beijing of both countries so I congratulate you for repeating what you just said I would like to ask a question regarding the rule of law and that has to do with three different issues that brought up by you first the rule of law in the maritime sovereignty in the South China Sea and according to international records China has signed many treaties certifying that Paracels and Sparkly Islands belong to Vietnam these are treaties dated in 1886 between the French and the Tang, the Ming dynasty then and then there is another agreement at San Francisco agreement in 1951 after 1949 in that agreement Russia suggested to give Sparkly and Paracels to the South of Vietnam which is below actually suggested to give it back to Japan but they all decided to give it to Vietnam so at the time in 1954 Premier Chu and Lai initiated the divided line between North and South Vietnam and the South Vietnam happened to be below latitude 17 and because of that Sparkly and Paracels Island belong to South Vietnam which is the Republic of Vietnam then which then was the ally of the US and in 1973 in the Paris agreement according to the agreement Sparkly and Paracels Island belong to South Vietnam in 1974 China took Paracels by force that is a violation of the unclos in 1988 China again took Godma by force that is another violation of the unclos by force that is regarding the maritime sovereignty that regarding the human rights I would cause raise the question of the Tiananmen Square in defending of my Chinese friend and then human rights I like to talk about human trafficking and many Chinese girls baby were killed and in that their place almost I was told by Congressman Chris Smith that up to a hundred millions of baby girls Chinese were killed and in their place Vietnamese women now being trafficked to dialogue and to China so then another another law I asked you not to make me regret it so get to the question quickly my question also has to do with the currency and the trading because many of Chinese trades have come to the Vietnam as a dumping ground Vietnam has suffered a lot of dumpings from China and also I know that our secretary Jack Lu now is talking to your presidency regarding the IMB currency and I know talk is cheap and so does the RMB is also cheap and action speaks louder than talk thank you so that question has to do with how do you defend your situation with the violations of the unclosed the violation of the trade agreement of currency of the WTO and also the violations of human rights have you finished? I will finish your question is too long it is not a question I'm afraid your question is way too long it's not just a question but my answer is as simple as that because it is just everyone's time but in the interest of time I will limit my answers the private sector is the Chinese China has no choice Sichuan islands belong to China China enjoys indisputable sovereignty over these islands unfortunately those historical account use that wrong counter to history I hope you will go back to refer to your history books let me just say a simple example here in 1974 Premier Zhou Enlai issued a statement regarding Nansha islands and Xi Sha islands at that time not only the vice president of Vietnam and the director of the management said that it is totally a war about the Nansha islands and the Sichuan islands and he also noted some historical facts that the history proved that these are indeed Chinese territory at that time the vice foreign minister as well as a number of DGs of Vietnam fully endorsed this statement regarding Nansha and the Xi Sha islands they also quoted a number of historical facts that these islands are part of China in the same year that is in 1974 the prime minister of Vietnam sent a diplomatic note a formal diplomatic note endorsing China's maritime statement so my suggestion is that you go home do your homework better before you come here to ask questions in order that we might be able to facilitate a more civil discussion on many of these issues thank you and also we're going to manage these tectonic shifts that are going on in the Asia Pacific region with regard to political and international structural changes so I hope you would please join me in thanking our three panelists and we really appreciate the audience's active participation thank you