Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong,Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean,NUS President Mr

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong,Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean,NUS President Mr. Tan Chorh Chuan,Professor Wang Gungwu,Faculty Members and Students,Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good morning! I am delighted to come to the National University of Singapore and talk to you as a guest speaker of Singapore Lecture. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Singapore, and it gives me great pleasure to pay a state visit to the garden state of Singapore at the invitation of President Tan Keng Yam

With a history of 110 years, the National University of Singapore is renowned both in Asia and internationally. Many Singaporean leaders such as Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, President Tan Keng Yam, Mr. S. R. Nathan and Mr. Goh Chok Tong, graduated from NUS. Indeed, NUS has produced a galaxy of talents and outstanding public leaders for Singapore. NUS champions the vision that there should be no walls around minds, no walls to ideas, no walls to talent and no walls between discovery. Such a no-walls culture embodies the creative, enterprising, open and inclusive spirit of Singapore, an important factor contributing to the success of NUS and Singapore

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the independence of Singapore. In the last 50 years, the hard-working and visionary people of Singapore have endured hardships and succeeded in building Singapore into one of the most advanced countries in Asia and a leading international economic, financial, shipping, and refining and petrochemicals center. Its achievements in national development are widely recognized. As the saying goes, when people only rely on heaven, their rice jars will be empty, but when people make efforts, their barn will be full of grain. This saying vividly reflects the spirit of Singapore, and we would like to express our sincere congratulations to the Singaporean people on their success

China and Singapore are friendly neighbors across the sea with a long history of amicable exchanges. In the early 15th century, China’s great navigator, Zheng He, called Singapore several times on his ocean voyages. A full size replica of the treasure boat of Zheng He is on display in the maritime museum of Singapore to honor this historic event. In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, many people from China’s Guangdong and Fujian provinces migrated to Southeast Asia, bringing with them Chinese culture and skills, and sowing the seeds of China-Singapore friendship

In 1978, Mr. Deng Xiaoping visited Singapore, opening the friendly relations and cooperation between our two countries in the new era. At that time, China was embarking on a path of reform, opening up and socialist modernization and exploring the building of socialism with distinctive Chinese features. Here in your country, under the leadership of Mr. Lee Kwan Yew, Singapore succeeded in pursuing a development path suited to its national conditions by combining the Eastern values with an international vision. After seeing first-hand Singapore’s economic achievements, Mr. Deng Xiaoping said that China needs to learn from Singapore. China has drawn on the Singaporean practices in addressing tough challenges encountered in its reform and development endeavors. On its part, China’s development has also created tremendous opportunities for Singapore’s development

Today, there are increasing political mutual trust and deepening practical cooperation between the two countries. The Suzhou Industrial Park and the Tianjin Eco City, two cooperation projects launched by the Chinese and Singaporean governments, have achieved full success. The third China-Singapore government-to-government cooperation project, with focus on connectivity and a service economy, will soon be launched in Chongqing, China. China is now Singapore’s biggest trading partner, and Singapore is the biggest source of foreign investment and an important investment destination for China. The financial cooperation between the two countries is booming, with Singapore being one of the key Renminbi offshore trading centers. In addition, cooperation in science and technology, environmental protection, education, people-to-people exchanges, and social governance has delivered fruitful outcomes. The 25 years of growth in China-Singapore relations has closely aligned the development strategies of the two countries as well as China’s development goal and Singapore’s unique strengths, thus creating a new way of cooperation that is in keeping with the times

On this occasion of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, China and Singapore have agreed to turn our relations into an all-round cooperative partnership progressing with the times. I am confident that with the concerted efforts of our two peoples, China-Singapore relationship will surely make new and even greater progress

China and many Southeast Asian countries are connected by mountains and rivers, and China shares close cultural bonds with all countries in Southeast Asia. We have a recorded history of interaction of more than 2,000 years. The Chinese and Southeast Asian civilizations have grown together through mutual enrichment over the millennia. Since the ancient times, we Chinese have valued harmony in diversity and good-neighborliness, which have much in common with the values of the people of Southeast Asia. The Chinese culture cherishes such values as benevolence, virtue, modesty, self-reflection, learning, and pursuit of excellence. In many Chinese literary classics such as the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and All Men Are Brothers, the protagonists are both loyal and righteous, and these are the qualities that are admired by the Southeast Asian people as well. Similarly, the cuisine, music, architecture, painting and religions of Southeast Asia have also influenced the Chinese culture

In modern times, China and Southeast Asian countries encouraged and supported each other in the cause of independence and liberation, and we have inspired and worked with each other in economic and social development. We assisted each other in overcoming the Asian financial crisis, the international financial crisis, the Indian Ocean tsunami and the devastating earthquake in Wenchuan, China. Today, China and Southeast Asian countries are making new progress in our respective development endeavors

The Southeast Asian countries established the ASEAN in the 1960s in an effort to enhance development through unity. For nearly half a century, the Southeast Asian countries have addressed instability and underdevelopment and achieved stability and development, becoming an important force of peace, development and cooperation in regional and international arena. ASEAN has developed a distinctive ASEAN approach to both its own development and external affairs featuring mutual respect, consensus building and accommodating the comfort level of all parties. This has served the countries in the region well in their efforts to develop their relations, deepen cooperation and enhance integration. By the end of this year, the building of the ASEAN Community is expected to be completed, which will be the very first sub-regional community in Asia. China is committed to developing friendly relations and cooperation with ASEAN. We support ASEAN’s development and growth, its community building endeavor as well as ASEAN centrality in East Asia regional cooperation

China’s neighborhood occupies a top priority on its diplomatic agenda, and China has the unshirkable responsibility to ensure peace, stability and development in its neighborhood. China is dedicated to promoting a more just and equitable global governance system, enhancing democracy in international relations as well as the building of a new type of international relations based on win-win cooperation and a community of shared future for mankind. Efforts to reach this goal should naturally start in its neighborhood

China is committed to pursuing partnership with its neighbors and a neighborhood diplomacy of amity, sincerity, mutual-benefit and inclusiveness and fostering a harmonious, secure and prosperous neighborhood. China champions a vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security in Asia. China endeavors to build a close community of shared future with ASEAN, and a community of shared future with all countries in Asia

The belief in peaceful development is deeply rooted in the Chinese mind, and the vision of harmony and peaceful co-existence underpins China’s neighborhood diplomacy. The Chinese people, having suffered so much from foreign aggression and internal turmoil in modern times, cherish peace. We will never waver in our determination to uphold peace, and we will never want to see others suffer what happened to us. China is now on the road to development and prosperity, but we reject the logic that a country which grows strong is bound to pursue hegemony. What we in China believe, starting with our forefathers, is that the strong and rich should not bully the weak and poor. And we see great truth in the saying that “a warlike country, however big it might be, is bound to perish.” Some people are fanning up the so-called China threat. They may do so out of ignorance about China’s past and present as well as its culture and policies, or they may do so out of misunderstanding of and bias against China. Some may even have some kind of hidden agenda in doing so. Let me be clear: China is committed to peaceful development and pursues an independent foreign policy of peace. This is not an expediency. It is a strategic decision made by China as well as a solemn pledge it has made to the world

Having gone through poverty and turmoil for over a century, China knows full well the importance of development and stability. China has received support from its neighbors in its development endeavors, and China’s development, in turn, has benefitted its neighbors. China hopes that its own development and that of its neighbors will complement each other, and China welcomes its neighbors to board the fast train of China’s development so that they can share more from China’s development

Two years ago, during my visit to Central Asia and Southeast Asia, I put forward the initiative of building the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. The Belt and Road Initiative, as it is now called, is about openness, development and cooperation, and it calls for pursuing joint development and sharing benefits on the basis of equality and mutual benefit. The Initiative has gained momentum. China has released the Vision and Actions of the “Belt and Road”, a comprehensive document about the Initiative. Over 60 countries and international organizations have expressed interest to become part of the Initiative, and China has reached cooperation agreements with many of them. The Articles of Agreement of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has been signed, the Silk Road Fund has started implementing specific projects. And a number of major multilateral and bilateral projects are well underway. The main partners of the Belt and Road Initiative are China’s neighbors, and they will be the first to benefit from it. China welcomes its neighbors to get involved in the Belt and Road Initiative. Together, we can surely translate the vision of peace, development and win-win cooperation into reality