Zhang Yesui
Chinese diplomat
Zhang Yesui (Chinese: 张业遂) (born October 1953) is a Chinese diplomat who served as the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and Party Committee Secretary for the People's Republic of China. He was formerly the Chinese Ambassador to the United States. He has previously served as Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations in New York City.
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- The world today faces both unprecedented development opportunities and structural adjustments unseen in the past centuries. From a historical perspective, we live in a time of rapid scientific and technological progress, huge material abundance, flourishing prosperity of civilizations and rising interdependence among countries. The trend of peace and development has never been stronger. However, we also face the reality of increasing uncertainties and destabilizing factors in human society where intertwined risks appear in multiple fields and new challenges and regional conflicts keep cropping up.
- Countries may differ in size and capacity, but are all equal members of the international community. All countries' sovereignty and territorial integrity should be earnestly respected. Their legitimate security concerns and the right of their people to choose their own development path should also be respected. World affairs should be handled by countries working together and differences and disputes should be resolved through dialogue and consultation.
- No country can have security while others are in turmoil and no one can be immune from global challenges. When one country pursues development and security at home, it must work for the common development of all and give consideration to the security of others. Only by doing so can we find a path towards common security that is built and shared by all.
- Diversity is a defining feature of human civilizations and an inherent force driving social progress. Isolation leads to estrangement, while communication inspires dynamism. We need to enhance mutual trust through communication and mutual learning, and achieve harmony by seeking common ground and putting aside differences. This way, we can build a solid foundation for peace, integration and common progress of all countries.
- China is committed to upholding peace and security in Asia and supports the gradual development of a regional security architecture that meets the reality of the region and the needs of various parties.
- Presently, what is of special importance is for countries to abandon the mentality that seeks security advantages with military might. Instead, they should embrace a new security concept with mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and cooperation at the core. When interests of all countries become increasingly intertwined, it is difficult for any country to attain its security goals single-handedly. We need the rule of law in global affairs and more democracy in international relations. Greater multilateral cooperation and the leading role of the UN in safeguarding world peace and security help us to cope effectively with security threats and maintain common interests.
- Under the present complicated and fluid international situation, a growing relationship between China and the United States not only serves the interests of our two countries and peoples, but also contributes to world peace, stability and development. China would like to work with the United States in taking our relations forward.
- China' s development needs a peaceful and stable immediate and wider environment. The road of development we are going down is one of peaceful development. Whilst developing ourselves we will do our best to promote world peace, and our own development, in turn, will be an important contribution to world peace. China' s development will not pose any threat to any country. On the contrary, it would only serve the interests of the growth of the global economy, and be conducive to peace, stability and security of the world. We will unswervingly pursue an independent foreign policy of peace and contribute our share to world peace and common development.
- Since the inception of the new century, international situations have undergone complex and profound changes. Against the background of the in-depth development of economic globalization, interdependence among countries is continuously deepening. To peruse peace, promote cooperation and seek development has become the theme of the current era. However, our world is far from peaceful, and destabilizing and unpredictable factors are obviously growing. Blood-shed and clashes resulting from ethnic, religious, territorial issues and other traditional security factors have not become fewer and non-traditional threats to security represented by transnational crimes, epidemic diseases, terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction are increasing day by day. Mankind is facing an unprecedented severe challenge.
- Religious and cultural diversity is an asset of the human society and an important driving force for social development, cultural exchange and world peace. In today's world, more global problems emerge and the challenges such as terrorism, climate change and food, energy and financial crisis pose grave threat to human development. The fates of all countries are more closely interlinked than ever before. At the same time, racial and religious discrimination has led to unprecedented collisions and shocks among cultures and civilizations. The international community is faced with not only the shared responsibility to enhance cooperation in coping with challenges, but also daunting task to minimize differences and seek common grounds. Against this backdrop, it has become all the more important to strengthen interfaith and intercultural dialogue and cooperation.
- China believes that it is necessary to promote equality among different religions and cultures on the basis of mutual respect. While different religions and cultures originated and developed at different times in history, there is no difference as far as their status is concerned. All religions and cultures are the crystallization of human wisdom and have contributed to the progress and development of human society and as such, they deserve equal respect. Different religions and cultures can in the spirit of openness and sincerity learn from each other's strength and live in peaceful coexistence.
- China believes that it is necessary to respect differences in order to peacefully address conflicts. Conflicts are often originated from the alienation, discrimination, fear, even hatred caused by differences. The Chinese government has always opposed extremism and all forms of discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance based on religion, race or any other grounds, as well as the attempt to link terrorism to a specific nation, ethnicity or religion. We are concerned with the resurgence of extremism, such as Islamophobia, new fascism. We believes that the international community should work towards the long term resolution of regional hot issues, eliminate the estrangement, misunderstanding and dispute among religions and cultures based on the principles of mutual respect, mutual benefit, equality and cooperation, and seek win-win outcome and joint development.
- China believes that education is a useful mean to help young people adopt a correct perception of civilization and the world. Young people are the future of the mankind. National government shall take the primary responsibility and introduce long term and effective measures to spread the philosophy of culture of peace, such as tolerance, understanding and respect and improve the ability of the young generation to fend off religious hatred and discrimination.
- China believes that the media shall voluntarily take the social responsibility to be the messenger of culture of peace and to promote the tolerance, understanding and harmony of the society. Media, as the carrier of information, while seeking speedy and quick dissemination of information to the public, should also pay attention to the quality of information. It is desirable for the media to transmit healthy and truthful information which uphold the moral standard and justice of the society and refrain from disseminating provocative and insulting comment that trigger confrontation among religions and cultures.
- The history of five thousand years of the Chinese civilization shows that religion and culture can be positive factors in a society's harmonious development. China is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country. In China, 56 ethnic groups treat each other on equal basis; main religions like Buddhism, Taoism, Islamism, Christianity and Catholicism coexist harmoniously and grow continuously. The Chinese culture advocates "harmony and accord". From ancient sages like Confucius and Mencius to pioneers of democracy in modern history, the ideas of "harmony", "harmonious but different" and "working together with one accord in time of difficulties" have been among the main elements of their thinking. Throughout the history of its development, the Chinese civilization has been imbued with the spirit of "harmony", which has as its essence mutual recognition, mutual respect, seeking commonalities while putting aside differences, coexistence and common growth.
- China firmly supports necessary and reasonable reform of the Security Council．One of the core objectives of Security Council reform is to increase the representation of the Council, thus making its composition reflects the tremendous changes that have taken place in the number and structure of UN membership．The reform should give top priority to increasing the representation of developing countries, those in Africa in particular. It must reflect the trend of democratization in international relations, and give medium-sized and small countries greater access to the decision making process of the Security Council．
- Corruption is an ulcer in the economic and political life of human society.It threatens national stability, undermines social justice and severely endangers social tranquility and sustainable development.State resources are eroded and economic development is disrupted when and where the flight of proceeds of corruption occurs.Corruption has become a cross-boundary problem affecting the political, economic and social life of every country in the world.It can only be effectively contained and punished through adequate and comprehensive international cooperation.
- China-US relationship is probably one of the most complex bilateral relationships in the world. China and the United States are different in our political system, social value, historic and cultural traditions. There is a huge gap in the level of economic and social development, with China being the largest developing country and the US being the largest developed country. In terms of power structure, China is an emerging economy while the US is a strong established power. These differences have decided that we do not see eye to eye with each other on many issues. These differences can also lead to misunderstanding and mistrust in each other’s strategic intentions.
