BOAO, China - Chinese President Hu Jintao called Friday for Asian nations to better cooperate in security matters to avoid disagreements in a region increasingly beset by rival territorial claims — often involving China.

Hu offered only vague ideas about a ""new security concept,"" but his remarks appeared aimed at reassuring neighbors unsettled by Beijing's soaring economic growth and by its beefed-up military, which has been more assertive in staking China's territorial claims.
""We need to seek common ground while shelving differences and enhance common security,"" Hu told participants at a regional gathering in southern China. ""We should reject the Cold War mentality and zero-sum approach, and advocate a new security concept featuring mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and co-ordination.""
The remarks appeared significant in part because of the venue: the Boao Forum for Asia, which China bills as an Asian version of the World Economic Forum in the Swiss town of Davos. On the stage with Hu were Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, South African President Jacob Zuma, South Korean Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik and former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda.
The appeals for greater cooperation come as China has sparred in the past two years with most of its maritime neighbors over islands or rights to exploit the seas. Boao itself lies off the South China Sea — a region of key shipping lanes that is at the centre of overlapping sovereignty claims between China and five other governments.
(Source: metronews.ca)