Strasburgo, 13 mar. 2013

Discussione

Pino Arlacchi (S&D ). - Mr President, Commissioner, there are some issues that divide us from China – first and foremost its political system – but Europe shares many things with China and now I want to stress just one element, the rejection of war as an instrument of foreign policy and the peaceful approach to international relations.

For more than 25 centuries, war aversion has been a characteristic feature of the Chinese mentality and philosophy. Europe started to be a peaceful continent after the Second World War. Europe and China today are powerful peace advocates lowering or containing their military budgets and preferring non-military solutions during international crises. We share with China a non-aggressive approach to global security, respect for multilateral bodies and a non-paranoiac view of world issues. These are big building blocks for a future partnership capable of contributing to security and prosperity on a global scale.

[source:www.europarl.europa.eu]