The security situation in the Asia-Pacific regionhas been on the whole stable. Many Asian countries, particularly the East Asian countries,have tided over the financial crisis and their economies are steadily recovering withbright prospects. It is the policy options of most countries to rejuvenate theireconomies, and enhance dialogue and cooperation. They will continue to developstate-to-state relations in accordance with such principles as sovereign equality andnon-interference in the internal affairs of other countries. A number of countries haveconsistently stood for peaceful settlement of disputes, and engaged themselves in securitydialogues in a variety of forms, at different levels and through different channels. Allthis has helped enhance mutual understanding and trust. The cooperation among ASEAN,China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (10+3) is steadily developing in the economic andfinancial field. The tense situation on the Korean Peninsula is markedly easing off. Chinaand Viet Nam have signed a land border treaty. The situation in the South China Searemains generally stable.

However, in today's world, factors that may causeinstability and uncertainty have markedly increased. The world is far from peaceful. Thereis a serious disequilibrium in the relative strength of countries. No fundamental changehas been made in the old, unfair and irrational international political and economicorder. Hegemonism and power politics still exist and are developing further in theinternational political, economic and security spheres. Certain big powers are pursuing"neo- interventionism," "neo-gunboat policy" and neo-economiccolonialism, which are seriously damaging the sovereignty, independence and developmentalinterests of many countries, and threatening world peace and security. The United Nations'authority and role in handling international and regional security affairs are beingseriously challenged. Under the pretexts of " humanitarianism" and "humanrights," some countries have frequently resorted to the use or threat of force, inflagrant violation of the UN Charter and other universally recognized principles governinginternational relations. In particular, the NATO, by-passing the UN Security Council,launched military attacks against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, producing anextremely negative impact on the international situation and relations between countries.A series of negative developments have occurred in the area of arms control anddisarmament. In particular, a certain country is still continuing its efforts to developand introduce the National Missile Defense (NMD) and Theater Missile Defense (TMD)systems, which have undermined the international community's efforts to stem theproliferation of weapons of mass destruction and to promote disarmament. As modern scienceand technology and economic globalization continue to develop, competition among countrieshas become fiercer than ever before. Financial and economic risks are increasing, andeconomic security has become a concern for all countries. As the gap in development andthe disparity between rich and poor countries continue to widen all over the world,particularly between the South and North, polarization has become an increasingly seriousproblem.

Local wars and armed conflicts have increased again,with conflicts and turbulence caused by ethnic, religious, territorial, resources or otherfactors cropping up one after the other. Some countries have continued to enlarge militaryblocs, strengthen military alliances and seek greater military superiority. This hasseriously affected world security and stability. Divisive, terrorist and extremist forcesof every description have continued to endanger the international community, and globalproblems such as the environment, narcotic drugs and refugees have become increasinglyprominent.

There are new negative developments in the securityof the Asia- Pacific region. The United States is further strengthening its militarypresence and bilateral military alliances in this region, advocating the development ofthe TMD system and planning to deploy it in East Asia. Japan has passed a bill relating tomeasures in the event of a situation in the areas surrounding Japan. All this goes againstthe tide of the times. Joint military exercises have increased in the region, to thedetriment of trust between countries. The uncertain factors affecting security on theKorean Peninsula continue to exist, and the situation in South Asia remains unstable.Encroachments on China's sovereignty and interests in the South China Sea are notinfrequent, and some extra-regional countries are attempting to interfere in this issue.

The Taiwan Straits situation is complicated andgrim. Lee Teng- hui flagrantly dished out his "two states" theory in an attemptto split the country. The new leaders of the Taiwan authorities have adopted an evasiveand obscure attitude to the one-China principle. Separatist forces in Taiwan are schemingto split the island province from China, in one form or another. This has seriouslyundermined the preconditions and foundation for peaceful reunification across the Straits.This is the root cause of tension across the Taiwan Straits. The United States has neverstopped selling advanced weapons to Taiwan. Some people in the United States have beentrying hard to get the Congress to pass the so-called Taiwan Security Enhancement Act. Andsome are even attempting to incorporate Taiwan into the US TMD system. The newly revisedGuidelines for US-Japan Defense Cooperation has failed to explicitly undertake to excludeTaiwan from the scope of "the areas surrounding Japan" referred to in theJapanese security bill that could involve military intervention. These actions haveinflated the arrogance of the separatist forces in Taiwan, seriously undermined China'ssovereignty and security and imperiled the peace and stability of the Asia-Pacific region.

The world is undergoing profound changes whichrequire the discard of the Cold War mentality and the development of a new securityconcept and a new international political, economic and security order responsive to theneeds of our times. The core of the new security concept should be mutual trust, mutualbenefit, equality and cooperation. The UN Charter, the Five Principles of PeacefulCoexistence and other universally recognized principles governing international relationsshould serve as the political basis for safeguarding peace while mutually beneficialcooperation and common prosperity its economic guarantee. To conduct dialogue,consultation and negotiation on an equal footing is the right way to solve disputes andsafeguard peace. Only by developing a new security concept and establishing a fair andreasonable new international order can world peace and security be fundamentallyguaranteed.