Hu hailed for summit diplomacy

By Fu Jing
Updated: 2009-09-28 07:03

With just days to go before he takes to the grandstand for the National Day parade, President Hu Jintao has already instilled a sense of pride thanks to his "magnificent" and far-reaching diplomatic efforts last week, said one of China's leading officials.

Hu attended four important summits in the United States within just seven days and has been widely lauded for his speeches on the financial crisis and climate change, as well as nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament.

"President Hu's attending four summits in a week and expounding China's stances on the vital global issues are of magnificent importance," Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told China Daily and other journalists who traveled to New York and Pittsburgh.

The diplomatic move had been highlighted amid national joy in preparing celebrations for Oct 1, the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, he said.

At the summits in New York and Pittsburgh, Hu said China would continue to fight the economic recession and beef up the financial system.

He also said the country would play an important role in tackling global warming by reducing carbon emissions, as well as actively support the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and disarmament.

At the same time, Hu defended the interests of developing countries and urged the international community to mobilize technology and financial resources to help developing nations, as well as African and land-locked countries, fight climate change.

He said China would unremittingly assist other developing countries to shake off economic recession and poverty.

Developing nations are entitled to explore nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, said Hu, who called for the capital so far gathered by the international financial resources to be used in poor countries first to ease their economic woes.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he appreciated Hu's presence at the three UN summits in New York and the Group of 20 talks in Pittsburgh. "This has shown China has attached great importance to the role the UN is playing in multilateral mechanisms," said Ban.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel also said she "very much" agreed with Hu's proposals.

Despite the praise, however, scholars said China is not well prepared to become a global leader, although almost all hopes for global economic recovery are pinned on the only major economy still enjoying growth amid the financial crisis.

Tu Xinquan, associate director of the China Institute for World Trade Organization Studies under the University of International Business and Economics, said China has long sought to make others believe it is one of the greatest countries on the planet after some in the West warned of China's collapse only a few years ago.

"But China is not yet ready to take the leader's role," he said.

Fan Gang, a renowned economist with the China National Economic Research Institute in Beijing, agreed and said China could "become a major contributor" to the world's economy, but not the leader. "The real recovery should depend on the US, Europe and Japan," he added.