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Hu calls for peaceful exploitation of aerospace

By Sun Shangwu and Hu Yinan (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-11-07 08:40

Aerospace should be used for peaceful purposes only, and China is ready to take part in any international cooperation to ensure aerospace security, President Hu Jintao said on Friday.

Hu made the remarks while meeting 30 heads of foreign air force delegations in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

The delegations are in the capital to attend an international military forum on peace and development to mark the 60th founding anniversary of the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF), which was founded on Nov 11, 1949, just over a month after the People's Republic of China was established.

China is committed to following the path of peaceful development and carrying forward friendly cooperation with all countries on the basis of the five principles of peaceful co-existence to build a "harmonious world", Hu said.

"China will unswervingly follow a national defense policy that is defensive in nature, will never seek military expansion or take part in an arms race, and will never pose a military threat to another country," he said.

At the opening of the two-day forum, PLAAF chief General Xu Qiliang urged all air forces in the world to join hands to safeguard aerospace.

The international community should devise new concepts, acceptable to all countries, to ensure aerospace safety, Xu said. And air forces should start exchange programs, establish mutual trust and work out aerospace rules and regulations, according to which countries can take part in peace missions.

Xu assured the delegations, which included leaders and representatives from 33 countries, that there had been no shift in China's defense-oriented military policy.

More than 350 senior air force personnel from home and abroad are attending the forum, which will be followed by an exhibition of weapons and equipment at the China Aviation Museum on the outskirts of Beijing on Sunday.

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The PLAAF has invited all the foreign guests to stay for an additional day to watch one of its units during training in Shandong, the home province of Confucius and Sun Tzu, the author of The Art of War.

The foreign delegates have been invited to Shandong so that they can feel the essence of Chinese civilization and understand the meaning of harmony and cooperation in today's world.

Xu's remarks came just a few days after China's top political adviser Jia Qinglin called for making better use of Sun Tzu's dialectical philosophy of war to establish lasting peace and promote common prosperity in the world.

English translations of The Art of War were distributed among the delegates at the forum on Friday.

Defense Minister Liang Guanglie echoed Xu's call for harmony and understanding, and urged the delegates to work together to safeguard aerospace. His call was in response to some foreign media's misinterpretation of Xu's Nov 1 speech as a declaration of China's plans to put weapons in space.

ACM Chris Moran, commander in chief, Air Command of the UK's Royal Air Force, said the forum was a platform to enhance understanding, and that the lack of transparency remained the main obstacle to achieving that goal.

Individual efforts should follow such international forums to facilitate more fruitful dialogue, he told China Daily.

Rao Qamar Suleman, chief of staff of the Air Force of Pakistan, said he appreciated "the commitment of the Chinese government and armed forces to peaceful exploitation and use of aerospace".

The emphasis should not be on the differences of opinions, but on reaching common ground, consensus and cooperation for the greater good, said Dato Rodzali bin Daud, chief of the Royal Malaysian Air Force.