The 14th East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers' Meeting is Held in Vientiane

On July 27, 2024 local time, the 14th East Asia Summit (EAS) Foreign Ministers' Meeting was held in Vientiane. Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi attended and delivered a speech.

Wang Yi said that the current international situation is witnessing changes and chaos, and hotspot issues are heating up and difficult to resolve. The EAS should grasp the correct direction, enhance solidarity and cooperation, promote long-term regional peace and prosperity, and safeguard international fairness and justice. To this end, China has put forward four propositions:

First, all parties should maintain an open and inclusive regional architecture. The ASEAN-led regional architecture is an important basis for maintaining regional peace and stability, and all parties should invest more cooperation resources in this "big family". However, some external countries have formed exclusive "small circles" in the region, creating division and confrontation, destabilizing the region, and seriously affecting ASEAN's centrality and strategic autonomy, which all parties should be highly vigilant about and effectively resist.

Second, all parties should abide by the regional rules recognized by themselves. All parties should jointly abide by the basic norms of international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, including the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, and adhere to the spirit of the ASEAN Charter and the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, and should not allow individual countries to put their unilateral and self-interested "rules" above the international and regional rules recognized by all parties.

Third, all parties should work together to strengthen the new momentum of connectivity. All parties should continue to push forward the construction of the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, and promote a stable and smooth flow of the industrial chain and supply chain. The "decoupling and severing chains" and "small yard with high fences" are detrimental to others, and will only lead to the "fragmentation" of the regional economy and seriously drag down regional growth. China supports Laos' initiative to issue a leaders' statement on the theme of "connectivity and resilience", focusing on the urgent need for regional development and cooperation.

Fourth, all parties should jointly energize the effectiveness of the EAS. All parties should promote the balanced rotation of the two wheels of political security and economic development. China is ready to work with all parties to implement the summit's plan of action, promote the coastal economy, respond to climate change, and work together to solve security problems and bridge the development gap, guided by the Global Development Initiative and Global Security Initiative.

Wang Yi sternly refuted the so-called concerns expressed by individual countries about the stability of the Taiwan Strait, emphasizing that the Taiwan question is 100 percent an internal affair of China. Any external forces have no right to intervene in it, and should effectively fulfill the basic principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries in international relations and abide by the one-China principle, which is the universal consensus of the international community. At present, the greatest challenge jeopardizing the situation in the Taiwan Strait comes from the "Taiwan independence" separatist activities on the island and interference and sabotage by external forces, especially the United States. "Taiwan independence" is incompatible with peace in the Taiwan Strait, and it is a threat to regional peace and stability. All countries should jointly and firmly oppose it. To truly safeguard peace in the Taiwan Strait, all countries should support China's legitimate position and firmly oppose all "Taiwan independence" activities.

Wang Yi also stated China's solemn position on the South China Sea issue.

Wang Yi also reiterated China's principled position on the Palestinian issue and the Ukraine crisis, stressing that China will continue to play a constructive role in achieving a ceasefire and political settlement.

On the same day, Wang Yi attended the ASEAN Plus Three Foreign Ministers' Meeting and the ASEAN Regional Forum Foreign Ministers' Meeting, and met with foreign ministers of relevant countries.

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