China: Xi Jinping’s Speech on Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence

Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a speech on the eve of the Third Plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. The occasion is the 70th anniversary of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence proclaimed by Zhou Enlai in 1954.

Xi Jinping said, according to Xinhua News Agency, that 70 years ago, movements for national independence and liberation swept the world, and the global colonial system broke up and collapsed. At the same time, the world was overshadowed by the dark clouds of the Cold War.

The Five Principles include: mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence.

“Over the past 70 years, the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence have transcended time and space and overcome foreignness, demonstrating robust sustainability and enduring relevance. They have become open, inclusive, and universally applicable basic norms of international relations and fundamental principles of international law,” Xi Jinping explained, adding that China has answered the historic question, “what kind of world to build and how to build it?” by proposing a community with a common destiny for humanity.

“At this historic moment, when humanity must choose between peace and war, prosperity and decline, unity and confrontation, we must more than ever uphold the essence of the five principles of peaceful coexistence,” Xi Jinping continued, explaining that among all the forces in the world, the Global South stands out with strong momentum, playing a vital role in promoting human progress, “and should be more open and more inclusive, and unite to take the lead in building a community with a unified future for humanity,” and should become a driver of open development and a builder of global governance.