Beijing - Military officers of China and the United States said here
Wednesday that peace and prosperity are most vital for both countries.
Xu Qiliang, deputy chief of general staff of the People's Liberation Army
(PLA), made the remarks during a meeting with a US National Defense University
Capstone delegation led by Retired General Thomas Morgan, a senior consultant of
the University.
Morgan agreed with Xu's remarks, saying that "peace and prosperity, for your
nation and for our nation, is the most important thing."
Morgan and his delegation were on a six-day trip to China, during which they
visited the Tibet Autonomous Region in southwest China before their arrival in
the national capital.
Xu briefed Morgan on China's policy of pursuing the road of peaceful
development and enunciated why China had kept to the policy.
Xu told Morgan that if he looks at China from the historic, present and
future perspectives, he will understand that it is natural and a must for China
to keep up on the road of peaceful development.
Noting that China has been a peace-loving nation in history, he said it has
never invaded other nations. Instead, he added, it was invaded by other nations,
even by those weaker ones.
Taking into account its present domestic situation, Xu said, China needs to
take a road for peaceful development, as the country generally remains a
developing nation with an arduous task of eliminating poverty.
Based enumerated some figures he enumerated, he said China still has 26
million people with an annual income of less than 668 yuan (about US$80) and 70
million people have an income of less than 948 yuan (some US$120) a year.
The United Nations standard for poverty is an income of less than 1 dollar
per day, Xu added.
Taking the above two factors into consideration and looking ahead into the
future, Xu said China has to and will always persevere in the road of peaceful
development.
Xu invited Morgan and members of his delegation to visit more of China's
rural areas in the future rather than those developed cities such as Beijing and
Shanghai.
Noting that China's vast countryside is still underdeveloped and lagging far
behind those developed cities, Xu said it is only by visiting the rural areas
can one has a better knowledge of the reality and situation of China.
Morgan thanked Xu for his explanation, saying his valuable words would help
the students from the US military academy who have come to China for the first
time to know more about the country's focus and direction for future
development.
He said he has had no opportunities to visit China's rural areas though he
has visited China 15 times and he was pleased to accept Xu's invitation.
Morgan suggested the two nations and their armed forces have more direct,
candid dialogues for the better growth of bilateral ties. "The more open we are
with each other, the less opportunities there will be for us to make each other
nervous," he said.