OPINION> Columnist
China delivers a diplomatic breeze to world
By Li Hongmei (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-02-09 17:16

Immediately after Premier Wen Jiabao wrapped up his European trip and returned on Feb.3, the Foreign Ministry announced the same day that President Hu Jintao would pay state visits to Saudi Arabia, Mali, Senegal, Tanzania and Mauritius beginning on Feb.10. Vice President Xi Jinping already kicked off his Latin American tour and trip to Malta on Feb.8. The flurry of diplomatic activities unfolded in the beginning of Lunar New Year of Ox signals to the world that China is ready to reach out to the outside world and breathe confidence and vitality into the ailing world economy.

Experts on foreign affairs explained the densely arranged top visits by Chinese leaders were quite a normal issue. Considering the bygone 2008 was a year full of events; and both top leaders and officials at all levels were devoted to hosting the Beijing Olympics, fighting the worst ever snow storms, and organizing and coordinating the largest-scale rescue mission for the massive earthquake in Sichuan Province, top visits to foreign countries were correspondingly cut back, while many foreign dignitaries came visiting China.

‘Propriety suggests reciprocity,’ as an old Chinese saying goes, and friendship cannot stand only on one side. It is desirable for the Chinese side to echo the friendly visits so as to forge and shore up sound diplomatic ties with the others.

On top of that, the deepening economic recession is sweeping the entire globe, with no country immune to it. China also needs to go global seeking cooperation and common solutions to the crisis. Meanwhile, the globe-sized financial storm has subtly altered the world’s political and economic structures. China, as the world’s largest developing country, needs to further communicate with all the other countries, especially developing countries in a bid to negotiate and coordinate on the stances and views in handling the crisis.

Take President’s Hu’s forthcoming five-country trip, it will involve talks and meetings with the leaders of five nations, with the aims to further consolidate China’s friendship and cooperation with these countries. It is believed by many that President Hu’s trip will promote the strategic friendly relationship between China and Saudi Arabia, strengthen China’s cooperation with the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, and consolidate the traditional friendship between China and African nations along with promoting the implementation of the measures announced at the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-African nations.

To the Chinese people, the just concluded Spring Festival marked the beginning of an auspicious year of Ox; and to China, it is a good time to sow the seeds of hope and friendship, and to maintain its poise and confidence of being a responsible big nation.