Chinese people love peace, Xi Jinping says as kicks off major naval parade

Chinese people love peace, Xi Jinping says as kicks off major naval parade
# 23 April 2019 11:12 (UTC +04:00)

The Chinese people love peace and countries should not threaten each other with the use of force, President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday as he kicked off a large-scale naval parade marking 70 years since the founding of China’s navy, ONA reports citing Reuters.

Meeting foreign naval officers in the eastern Chinese city of Qingdao, Xi said the navies of the world should work together to protect maritime peace and order.

“The Chinese people love and long for peace, and will unswervingly follow the path of peaceful development,” Xi added, in remarks carried by the official Xinhua news agency, after foreign reporters were asked by Xi to leave the room.

“Everyone should respect each other, treat each other as equals, enhance mutual trust, strengthen maritime dialogue and exchanges, and deepen pragmatic cooperation between navies,” he added.

“There must be more discussions and consultations between countries, and there cannot be resorts to force or threats of force at the slightest pretext,” Xi said.

“All countries should adhere to equal consultations, improve crisis communication mechanisms, strengthen regional security cooperation, and promote the proper settlement of maritime-related disputes.”

The parade will feature 32 Chinese vessels and 39 aircraft, as well as warships from 13 foreign countries including India, Japan, Vietnam and Australia.

A total of 61 countries have sent delegations to the event, which includes a naval symposium on Wednesday and Thursday.

China has said it will display for the first time new nuclear submarines and warships.

The United States has sent a low level delegation to Qingdao, led by the naval attache at its Beijing embassy, and no ships.

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