Festival visits highlight cohesiveness and desire for harmony of Asian family

President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan, President Sadyr Japarov of Kyrgyzstan, Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah of Brunei, and Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra of Thailand are visiting China this week.

Their visits come soon after Chinese New Year, conveying their hopes for the healthy development of their countries' relations with China and regional endeavors to promote the common good in the Year of the Snake.

The visits of the four leaders testify to the positive outcomes from China's robust efforts to advance its hallmark neighborhood diplomacy and its firm commitment to promoting the common development of the region and the Global South as a whole.

Their respective meetings with the Chinese leadership, which have produced a series of documents on concrete projects, have effectively deepened mutual trust, promoted pragmatic cooperation and strengthened the strategic coordination between their countries and China on the basis of being good neighbors, good friends and good partners.

Apart from the geographical proximity and historical cultural bonds, an important reason why these countries, along with other regional countries, are willing to develop close partnerships with China is that the partnerships are pragmatic and conducted on an equal footing for mutual benefit.

Given the structural complementarity of their economies with that of China, these countries have no reason not to deepen the alignment of their development strategies with China's. The upgraded endeavors in this respect should enhance the effectiveness and quality of their cooperation with China, raise the standard and increase the efficiency of the planning, management and execution of relevant projects, and direct more resources to the cooperation in sectors such as e-commerce, big data and high technology.

These countries should work together with the Chinese side to address some burning regional issues, such as cross-border telecom scams, human trafficking, and separatism, extremism and terrorism, so as to ensure the stability of the region and provide a good development environment for countries in the region and beyond.

They can also work with it to further enhance the interconnectivity of infrastructure, institutions and civil society, and strengthen strategic coordination on various regional multilateral and international platforms, including the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The regional countries are expected to have the wisdom and capacity to resolve their disputes and differences through negotiation, consultation and cooperation, leaving no crevice between them in which external forces can try and drive a wedge.

The protectionism, unilateralism and isolationism being practiced by the United States are making even its allies and partners jittery, as Washington pursues a beggar-thy-neighbor model of existence. Against that backdrop, the opening ceremony of the Asian Winter Games in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, on Friday, which the four leaders are scheduled to attend along with other distinguished guests, is a timely reminder of the harmonious, cohesive and inclusive nature of the big Asian family, which has been the mainspring for the region's dynamic development.