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BEIJING: China's outgoing foreign minister Yang Jeichi on Saturday spent two hours in his annual press conference discussing China's relations with different countries but there was no mention of the country's biggest neighbour India.
Yang was speaking at his yearly press briefing, which is used to send out foreign policy signals. Not mentioning an important neighbor like India, which is China's partner in espousing third world causes in environment debates, at the World Trade Organization and in BRICS is a deliberate policy signal, region observers said.
Yang used a Chinese proverb to indirectly blame China's neighbors for the instability in the region without mentioning any country. "The tree prefers calm but the wind refuses to subside," he said. But there was an improvement in the situation and China's neighbourhood was becoming increasingly stable, he said while asserting, "A good neighbour is an invaluable treasure."
Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, who will soon become the country's president, is due to attend the BRICS meeting in Durban and meet Indian leaders later this month. Yang discussed the rising importance of BRICS without discussing India in particular.
Yang, who spent six years as foreign minister, discussed "neighbouring countries" and dealt on Beijing's relationship with four of its neighboursRussia, Japan, South Korea and North Korea besides Indonesia.
He also disclosed an interesting figure saying China's trade with its neighbours including Russia reached 1.2 trillion yuan ($193 billion), which is higher than the country's combined trade with the US and Europe in 2012. This was unimaginable even a few years back, he said.
India finds no mention in Chinese foreign minister's annual press meet - The Times of India
Yang was speaking at his yearly press briefing, which is used to send out foreign policy signals. Not mentioning an important neighbor like India, which is China's partner in espousing third world causes in environment debates, at the World Trade Organization and in BRICS is a deliberate policy signal, region observers said.
Yang used a Chinese proverb to indirectly blame China's neighbors for the instability in the region without mentioning any country. "The tree prefers calm but the wind refuses to subside," he said. But there was an improvement in the situation and China's neighbourhood was becoming increasingly stable, he said while asserting, "A good neighbour is an invaluable treasure."
Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, who will soon become the country's president, is due to attend the BRICS meeting in Durban and meet Indian leaders later this month. Yang discussed the rising importance of BRICS without discussing India in particular.
Yang, who spent six years as foreign minister, discussed "neighbouring countries" and dealt on Beijing's relationship with four of its neighboursRussia, Japan, South Korea and North Korea besides Indonesia.
He also disclosed an interesting figure saying China's trade with its neighbours including Russia reached 1.2 trillion yuan ($193 billion), which is higher than the country's combined trade with the US and Europe in 2012. This was unimaginable even a few years back, he said.
India finds no mention in Chinese foreign minister's annual press meet - The Times of India