China is willing to work with Thailand to push the building of a community with a shared future to higher levels as China and Thailand celebrated the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations, said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday in Kuala Lumpur.
Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, told Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa during their meeting on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meetings that China's is willing to play a constructive role in promoting dialogue and de-escalation between Thailand and Cambodia over their recent border tensions.
The building of the China-Thailand community with a shared future has continued to make new progress. Marking the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties this year, the two countries have jointly celebrated the "Golden Jubilee of China-Thailand Friendship," Wang said.
China firmly supports Thailand in pursuing a development path suited to its national conditions and always places China-Thailand relations as a priority in its neighborhood diplomacy, Wang said, expressing China's willingness to work with Thailand to push the building of the community with a shared future to higher and more substantive levels.
Wang called for enhanced alignment of development strategies and further integration of interests between the two sides, proposed forging new growth engines in areas such as digital economy, artificial intelligence, cross-border e-commerce and green development to support the modernization efforts of both countries. He also urged speeding up the construction of the China-Thailand railway to leverage flagship projects in order to promote the vision of interconnected development of China, Laos and Thailand.
Commenting on global trade, Wang said the United States, by unilaterally imposing tariffs, has undermined the free trading system and disrupted global industrial and supply chains. He expressed confidence that Thailand and other ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries will safeguard their legitimate interests and resist unilateralism, power politics and acts of bullying. He added that China is committed to signing the protocol for the Version 3.0 China-ASEAN Free Trade Area within the year to expand their common market and demonstrate their joint support for the rules of the World Trade Organization and the multilateral trading system through concrete actions.
On the Thailand-Cambodia border issue, Wang noted that both Thailand and Cambodia are China's good neighbors and friends, expressing hope that both sides would handle the matter through dialogue and consultation in a spirit of goodwill, aiming to de-escalate tensions and restore stability at an early date. Chin will maintain an objective and impartial stance and play a constructive role in promoting peaceful relations between the two countries.
For his part, Maris said China is a trustworthy friend of Thailand. Over the past 50 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, the two countries have maintained mutual trust and respected each other's core interests. The spirit of "Thailand and China are as close as one family" has stood the test of time, and the building of the Thailand-China community with a shared future continues to yield fruitful outcomes.
Thailand firmly adheres to the One-China principle and looks forward to strengthening high-level exchanges and practical cooperation with China in connectivity, trade, agriculture and combating transnational crime, he said.
Thailand firmly supports multilateralism and the multilateral trading system, and calls for the early restoration of the normal trade order, said the Thai foreign minister.
Maris stressed that border and territorial issues should not be resolved through force and expressed Thailand's appreciation to China's objective and balanced position in mediating and promoting dialogue. Thailand is willing to resolve disputes with Cambodia through bilateral channels in the spirit of good neighborliness and goodwill, said the Thai foreign minister.