'Asian wisdom' shows best way forward

The Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence reflect "Asian wisdom", Li Cheng, professor and director of the Center on Contemporary China and the World at the University of Hong Kong, said at a forum in Beijing on Friday to commemorate the 70th anniversary of their issuance.

Asia, and especially East and Southeast Asia, has maintained peace during the past four decades, but the hype of the narratives of "democracy versus authoritarianism" has threatened to put the region in jeopardy, Li said.

"The celebration of the five principles is extremely timely," Li said. "We are really at a new crossroads between war and peace, between polarization and coexistence, between confrontation and cooperation."

The five principles, first put forward by Chinese leadership in the 1950s, are mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, mutual non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence.