By Qin Yaqing
In November 2004, at the eighth summit between China and the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Premier Wen Jiabao proposed that an ASEAN-China Eminent
Persons Group (EPG) be set up to take stock of the co-operation and
recommend measures for strengthening future China-ASEAN
relations.
Premier Wen's initiative was welcomed unanimously by the leaders
of ASEAN's member countries. The ASEAN-China Eminent Persons Group
(EPG) was officially launched in April 2005. China's Eminent Person
was former Vice-Premier Qian Qichen.
When ASEAN was founded in 1967, antagonism and suspicion marked
its dealings with China, owing to complex historical factors. But
in July 1991, then-Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister
Qian Qichen attended the opening session of the 24th ASEAN Foreign
Ministerial Meeting in Malaysia and had informal meetings with
ASEAN foreign ministers, which marked the beginning of China-ASEAN
relations.
From then on, China-ASEAN relations have moved forward by leaps
and bounds. In 2003, China joined the Treaty of Amity and
Co-operation in Southeast Asia and cemented its strategic
partnership with ASEAN.
Qian was involved in the establishment and development of
China-ASEAN relations since the very beginning. The fact that he
was chosen as China's Eminent Person well illustrates how important
the Eminent Persons Group was.
The ASEAN side also attached great importance to the EPG, naming
personnel who carried much importance politically or diplomatically
as their Eminent Persons, including former Malaysian Deputy Prime
Minister Tan Sri Musa Hitam, former Vietnamese Deputy Prime
Minister Nguyen Manh Cam, former Thai Deputy Prime Minister and
Foreign Minister Prince Kasem S. Kasemsri, and so on. The co-chairs
of the group were Qian Qichen from China and Tan Sri Musa Hitam
from Malaysia. As Qian's assistant, I participated in the work of
the group.
The task of the group was to draft the Report of the ASEAN-China
Eminent Persons Group and submit it to the Ninth ASEAN-China
Summit.
The group decided that its first meeting would be convened in
China. The agenda was to set up the framework and primary content
of the report. The Chinese side, in particular, organized a team of
specialists and scholars to do the preparatory work on the
drafting.
ASEAN also sent senior officials to participate in the
preparatory meetings and offer their help. Both the Chinese and
ASEAN sides put forward their suggestions about the report's
framework and content. The ASEAN Secretariat also prepared a
detailed document for reference, which took stock of China-ASEAN
relations and evaluated the progress of the functional co-operative
fields.
At the meeting, Qian Qichen offered his suggestions on the
report's framework: First, a retrospective look at the development
of China-ASEAN ties in order to sum up the experience accumulated
in the process that China and ASEAN became strategic partners from
antagonist neighbors. Second, an analysis of the status quo of the
China-ASEAN co-operation, so that tasks ahead may be clearly
defined and problems be spotted. Third, policy suggestions on
further pushing ahead the bilateral co-operation should be offered
in order to further advance the bilateral relations in the
future.
He particularly underscored the importance of the experience on
the fast and healthy development of China-ASEAN ties: Recognizing
equality and showing mutual trust, seeking common grounds while
reserving the differences, securing mutual benefit and win-win
outcomes, establishing appropriate mechanisms for co-operation. The
Eminent Persons responded warmly to Qian's speech and agreed fully
that a report framework be drafted with Qian's suggestions.
Also at the meeting, the participants discussed the contents of
the report. The meeting formally decided upon three basic parts for
the report: A stock-taking of the 15-year-old China-ASEAN
relations, the state of bilateral co-operation and existing
problems, and suggestions on policy.
The meeting also decided that the second meeting of the
ASEAN-China Eminent Persons Group be convened in Indonesia in
October 2005, to put the finishing touches on the report.
The Eminent Persons decided to task their assistants with
convening a meeting on September 22 and 23 in Jakarta, to discuss
the particular content of the draft.
Before we left for Jakarta, Qian instructed us that the draft
report should be based on a friendly and positive key tone,
foreseeing a strategic vantage point while respecting the view of
the ASEAN side.
Together with the assistant of Malaysia's Eminent Person, I
co-chaired the meeting. We, the assistants, weighed the report's
content and wording carefully by negotiating on several revision
formats.
On October 12, 2005, the second meeting of the ASEAN-China EPG
opened in Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur as scheduled, and the formal
report was finalized.
The final report first takes stock of the three phases of the
China-ASEAN relationship development over the last 15 years: moving
towards a comprehensive dialogue framework (1991-96); towards
good-neighborliness and mutual trust (1997-2002); establishing
strategic partnership (2003-05).
The report continues to state that equality, mutual trust,
co-operation and win-win outcomes for both are valuable experience
for advancing relations. The report goes on to say that the
progress of China-ASEAN relations should continue to be based on
the principles of the United Nations Charter, the Treaty of Amity
and Co-operation in Southeast Asia, the Five Principles of Peaceful
Co-existence and the Ten Principles of the Bandung Asian-African
Conference.
Also, the guiding principles, such as reaching consensus via
negotiations, moving at a pace that is comfortable to all sides and
non-interference, win-win outcomes via co-operation, and adopting
an open and inclusive approach are reaffirmed by the report.
The report also puts forward 38 measures for enhancing the
China-ASEAN strategic relationship in the coming 15 years,
involving political and security, trade, economy and finance,
social and cultural affairs and the institutional framework.
More specifically, the suggestions cover strengthening of
political mutual trust and security co-operation, convening of a
China-ASEAN commemorative summit, accelerating the China-ASEAN Free
Trade Area negotiations, establishment of a China-ASEAN Centre in
Beijing, launching the China-ASEAN Foundation and scholarship
projects, and promoting people-to-people exchanges.
In an all-around way, the report takes stock of the development
of China-ASEAN relations, systematically sums up the valuable
experiences accumulated over the last 15 years, presents a clear
picture of the status quo in bilateral relations, points out the
existing problems, and puts forward policy suggestions. Because of
all this, the report is of guiding significance for long-term
co-operation between China and ASEAN. In December 2005, Tan Sri
Musa Hitam, in the capacity of the co-chair of the ASEAN-China EPG,
submitted the report to the China-ASEAN Summit.
At the Ninth ASEAN-China Summit Meeting, Premier Wen Jiabao thus
evaluated the report: "After almost a year's hard work, the
China-ASEAN Eminent Persons Group has presented us with a
comprehensive report which offers good suggestions for enhancing
China-ASEAN relations. We should study and adopt these suggestions
in conjunction with the China-ASEAN Plan of Action."
The author is vice-president of China Foreign Affairs
University.
(China Daily October 26, 2006)
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