Respected Vice Admiral S. Bhasin,the Commandant of National Defence College, Senior Directing Staff, Ladies and Gentlemen:

NDC is a renowned military college of India founded by Mr. Jewaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of the Republic of India. The college is the cradle for senior army officers and local officials. I am very honoured to be invited to deliver a speech here today, which exemplifies the friendly relations between the armies of China and India. I would like to use this opportunity to exchange views with you on China's Peaceful Development and the New Concept of Security, as well as say a few words about the latest situation in Tibet of China.

I. China's Peaceful Development

China's development, like the development of India, has become a hot topic nowadays and attracted world-wide attention. Since the adoption of the reform and opening-up policy 30 years ago, China has witnessed rapid progress in all aspects in a balanced manner. China's overall national strength and the living standard of its people have improved markedly. And China's international status and influence are elevated as well. The development of China has not only benefited the Chinese people, but also made positive contributions to the world peace and development. However, China's development has aroused concerns and suspicions of some people. They have reacted by adopting two tactics. One is to spread the so-called "China Threat", which exaggerates China's strength, referring the mutually beneficial cooperation between China and other countries in the economic and trade field as plundering resources, snatching markets, and exporting inflation to other countries. The other is to play up the theory of "China going to Collapse", asserting that China is loaded with political and economic crisis and other factors of instability. The above theories spell out the mentality of certain countries and people, namely, they don't want to see or can't accept the reality that a developing country like China to become stronger economically, more confident and more pro-active in international affairs. With such a mind-set, they attempt to create obstacles to contain China's development. That is the reflection of their cold-war mentality and the zero-sum thinking. Such is an out-dated and incorrect way of handling international relations and interests of different nations against the backdrop of globalization.

However, China developing into a strong and prosperous nation is inevitable. Historically, China, together with India, used to be powerful countries long before the dominance of the world stage by western powers. In the middle of the 18th century, GDP of our two countries constituted more than half of the world total, ranking the first and second respectively. At that time China and India enjoyed enormous economic, political and cultural influences in the Asian region and the world as well. It was the invasion and plunder of the foreign powers that reduced the two countries to inferior status in the world stage. But viewing from the evolution of the history of mankind, it is easy for people to understand why China and India are destined to be world powers again in 21st century.

At the same time, China's development will not pose a threat to the world. There is a deep-rooted cultural element that can explain the reason. China, with 5, 000 years-long civilization, has nurtured thinking such as "peace is the most prized value", "seeking peace through negotiations" and "being cautious in using force", respecting tolerance and inclusiveness. Chinese people are peace-loving. China adheres to the peaceful foreign policy of independence and is always a staunch force safeguarding world peace. China works for a favorable international environment for economic development and seeks for mutually beneficial cooperation with all other countries based on equality and aiming at a win-win result. Today's world is different from that of 200 or 100 years ago. The old cliché of the war between major powers being unavoidable is out of date and unpopular. Chinese government has stated categorically that China will never seek hegemony even when it becomes strong. This is the declared policy of the Chinese Government. We are happy to see that more and more countries view China's development as an opportunity rather than a threat.

Some people may still doubt that to talk about "peaceful development" is the propaganda stunt by China. They are of the view that historically, the rise of any major power was accompanied by conflicts, wars and the reshuffle of the world order. History can serve as a mirror. But the reality tells the truth. The peaceful development strategy pursued by China is a set policy of the Chinese government instead of a mere slogan. The reasons are as following:

First, peaceful development is a strategic choice in line with the fundamental interests of the Chinese people. At present, Chinese people are working hard to achieve the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects by 2020, which represents the fundamental interest of the Chinese people of all ethnic groups. To this end, China needs peaceful neighboring and international environments. From our experience, we realize that development cannot be achieved without peace and stability. We treasure very much the hardly won favorable regional and international environment for our development.

Second, peaceful development is in line with the interests of the Chinese people. During the past 30 years, China's GDP has increased by 15 times from US$216.5 billion at the outset of the reform and opening-up to US$3.4 trillion in 2007, with the GDP per capita reaching US$2500. The living standard of the Chinese people has been improved accordingly. The income of both urban and rural population has increased markedly and the accumulated private assets are also growing fast. More and more Chinese people are now able to travel abroad and enjoy themselves. According to the World Travel & Tourism Council, Chinese are surpassing Japanese and Germans to become world's second biggest travel and tourism consumer. Today, the Chinese people are more confident with the future of the country and their life. They are the real benefactors of the policy of peaceful development. Therefore, it is hardly comprehensible that this policy could be changed easily.

Third, China's development is in line with the interests of the world people and conducive to the world peace and stability. China's development is and will continue to contribute to the economic globalization. According to the 2007 statistics of the World Bank, the contribution of China's economic growth to the global GDP growth during 2003-2005 averages at 13.8%, and is soon surpassing USA to be the No. 1 contributor to the world economy. China's economic and trade cooperation with other developing countries have resulted in a mutual beneficial and win-win situation. A developed and prosperous China means more export of good-quality and low-price products and investments to other countries, while a poor and backward China would mean more refugees and more instability. Furthermore, China's development is also conducive to a more fair and equitable international economic and political system.

In short, the objective of the peaceful development of China is to build our country into a moderately prosperous society whose people enjoy a good quality of life and to build China into a society more open and friendly to the outside, at the same time, to make more contributions to the peace and prosperity of the world. The 17th National Congress of the CPC has reaffirmed the determination of the Chinese people to carry on the policy of peaceful development. Whatever changes take place in the international situation, the Chinese government and people will always hold high the banner of peace, development and cooperation, pursue an independent foreign policy of peace, and work for the maintenance of world peace and common development.

II. China's New Concept of Security

The world today is undergoing tremendous changes and adjustments. Peace and development remain the main themes of the present era, and pursuit of peace, development and cooperation has become an irresistible trend of the times. The progress toward a multipolar world is irreversible, economic globalization is developing in depth, and the scientific and technological revolution is gathering momentum. Global and regional cooperation is in full swing, and countries are increasingly interdependent. The international balance of power is changing in favor of the maintenance of world peace.

At the same time, the world remains far from tranquil. Hegemonism and power politics still exist, local conflicts and hotspots keep emerging, the world economy is experiencing difficulties, the North-South gap is widening and traditional and nontraditional threats to security are intertwined. At present, the non-traditional security threats present real danger. International terrorist forces remain active. Natural disasters, communicable diseases, environmental degradation, international crime and other transnational problems are becoming more damaging in nature. These problems are threatening the very existence and development of mankind and pose challenges to world peace and development.

Against this international backdrop, to ensure peace and development in 21st century, the people of all countries should join hands and strive to build a harmonious world of lasting peace and common prosperity. To this end, we maintain the following principles should be followed.

First, all countries should uphold the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, observe international law and universally recognized norms of international relations, and promote democracy, harmony, collaboration and win-win solutions in international relations.

Second, all countries should respect each other and conduct consultations on the basis of Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence in a common endeavor to promote democracy in international relations.

Third, all countries should cooperate with each other, draw on each other's strengths and work together to advance economic globalization in the direction of balanced development, shared benefits and win-win progress.

Fourth, all countries should learn from each other in the spirit of seeking common ground while shelving differences, respect the diversity of the world, and make joint efforts to advance human civilization.

Fifth, in the area of security, all countries should trust each other, strengthen cooperation, settle international disputes by peaceful means rather than by war, and work together to safeguard peace and stability in the world.

Sixth, all countries should cooperate with each other combating the threat posed by non-traditional security issues such as terrorism, environment degradation, pollution, depletion of natural resources, so as to make our global village a more safer place to live.

The above points embody China's new concept of security characterized by mutual trust, mutual benefits, equality and coordination in light of the current international situation.

III. China's Policy on Tibet Issue

I know you must have closely followed the recent happenings in Lhasa, Tibetan Autonomous Region of China. Here, I would like to brief you on what has happened there and what is the situation now. On 14th March, a handful of people in Lhasa engaged in beating, smashing, looting and burning, disturbing the social order. The criminal acts committed by those perpetrators resulted in a heavy loss of life and property of innocent people, with 18 people burned to death and a direct economic loss of nearly RMB250 million. What has happened has aroused strong indignation and condemnation of people of all ethnic groups in Tibet.

Ample evidences show that the riots which took place in Lhasa were organized, premeditated and masterminded by the Dalai clique. Dalai Lama and his followers made their intention known long before the happening. And even today, they are still not stopping their evil activities.

The reason why the Dalai clique and his followers and supporters are so active this year is as clear as daylight. It is because China is going to host the Olympic Games in Beijing. Colluding with anti-China forces at home and abroad, the Dalai clique and the "Tibetan separatists" mistakenly thought this was an opportunity to bring pressure to bear on the Chinese government and make China change its policy. They also intended to use this to separate Tibet from China, sabotage China's development and undermine peace and harmony of the Chinese society, and disrupt the Beijing Olympic Games.

Tibet is an inalienable part of China. This is widely accepted consensus of the international community. Tibet issue affects core interest of China. It is a principle question without any room for discussion. Tibet affairs belong to the internal affairs of China. The Chinese side is firmly opposing any country or any person to interfere with China's internal affairs. With regard to Dalai Lama, he is not at all a religious figure. Instead he is a political monk long engaged in activities aiming at separating the country and sabotaging the national unity. But I can speak responsibly that the Dalai clique's scheme is doomed to fail. China will continue to develop and will develop even faster and better in the future. People in China, including the Tibetan ethnic people will enjoy better life. The Beijing Olympic Games will be the best games in the history of Olympic.

We are glad to see that the Indian government has reaffirmed its policies that the Tibetan Autonomous Region is part of the People Republic of China and the Indian government does not allow any Tibetans to engage in anti-China political activities on the soil of India. I highly appreciate the stand of the Indian government on the Tibet-related issues.

I'm happy to tell you that today peace and social order have returned to the city and the life of the local people are already back to normal.

What's more, with the active supports of the Indian government, the Beijing Olympic Torch Relay in New Delhi on 17th April was successfully concluded. I am sure our cooperation on this issue will have positive impact on the future development of our Strategic and Cooperative Partnership and mutually beneficial cooperation.

To conclude, I want to emphasize the importance of China-India relations and their cooperation.

The relationship between China and India has gone well beyond the bilateral context and acquired global and strategic dimension in importance. We should seize the opportunity we are facing and work together to further advance our bilateral relations in all the fields.

I share the view that the development of China and India will have positive impact on regional and international peace, development and harmony. It will not only benefit the 2.4 billion people of our two countries, but also contribute to the peace, stability and prosperity of Asia and the whole world. Let us work together for the common goal!