China and ASEAN mark 20-year partnership in Treaty of Amity and Cooperation

China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, have forged an example of most vibrant and productive relationship of cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region, according to a forum in Jakarta on Thursday.

China stands ready to work with ASEAN as good neighbors who help each other, good friends who respect and trust each other, and good partners who pursue mutual benefit, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang said in a congratulatory message to the Jakarta Forum on ASEAN-China Relations: Commemorating the 20th Anniversary of China's Accession to the Treaty of Amity And Cooperation in Southeast Asia.

China officially acceded to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) on Oct 8, 2003, becoming the first among major countries to join the TAC and to establish a strategic partnership with ASEAN.

China's accession to TAC in 2003 is a milestone and has instrumentally paved the way for China-ASEAN ties, Secretary General of ASEAN Dr Kato Kim Hourn told the forum in his speech.

In the message read out by Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Nong Rong at the forum, Qin said: "Over the past 20 years, especially the last decade since President Xi Jinping put forward the idea of building a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future, China and ASEAN have successfully followed a path of good-neighborliness and common development."

And "China will work with ASEAN to uphold the purposes and principles of the TAC, act on true multilateralism, and safeguard regional rules and order to preserve the hard-won peace and development in the region," Qin said.

ASEAN leaders and speakers at the forum voiced appreciation for China's continuous and consistent support of cooperation and peaceful co-existence in Southeast Asia.

Secretary General Kato highlighted China's important role as one of the key partners of ASEAN that supports its community-building efforts, including through China's accession to the TAC in 2003, a key instrument of peace in the region.

Kao also reflected on the 20th anniversary of China's signing of the TAC and its contributions to strengthening ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations in the years to come. He also said Mexico, Panama and Saudi Arabia are expected to accede to TAC later this year and there is growing interest in the treaty.

Panelist Pou Sothirak, executive director of Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace said that TAC principles reaffirm China-held Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. For TAC to be fully implemented, China can assist because China has "comprehensive channels of communication", he said.

Attendees at the forum included Deputy Prime Minister of Cambodia Hor Namhong; Li Zhaoxing, former foreign minister of China; Hassan Wirajuda, former foreign minister of Indonesia; Somsavat Lengsavad, former deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs of Lao PDR, and Dang Dinh Quiy, former vice minister of foreign affairs of Vietnam, among others.

Former Secretary General of ASEAN Ong Keng Yong from Singapore told of the forming of partnership by two sides in his video address.

Cui Tiankai, former Chinese vice minister of foreign affairs and Chinese ambassador to USA, moderated a panel discussion on two decades of progress made by two sides in line with the TAC spirit of cooperation. Dino Patti Djalal, founder and chairman of Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia, chaired a panel exploring challenges and prospects in implementing TAC.

Aleksius Jemadu, political professor and dean of the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences with Universitas Pelita Harapan, Indonesia, noted that the principal challenges in implementing TAC principles include the question of how much ASEAN members are willing to give to the Treaty when their strategic interest are at stake. "In other words, the effectiveness of TAC depends on what all parties take or make it to be," he said.

In her closing remarks, Ambassador of China to ASEAN Hou Yanqi said that in building a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future, the two sides are contributing to a better future for Asia.

The Mission of China to ASEAN and FPCI jointly organized the Jakarta forum.

The writer is a freelance journalist for China Daily.