Remarks by
His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah
Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam
The Commemorative Summit Marking the 15th
Anniversary of ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations
Nanning, the People’s Republic of China
30-31 October 2006
Thank you, Premier Wen Jiabao and President
Arroyo.
May I first offer my warmest thanks to all our
Chinese friends and colleagues and to the people
of Nanning for the hospitality we have received.
I much appreciate everything that’s been done to
make us feel so welcome.
It’s a mark of real friendship and like all my
ASEAN colleagues, I’m very grateful.
Mr Premier,
Every time I’ve had the pleasure of visiting the
People’s Republic, it’s been much more than a
formal, official occasion.
I have always returned with wonderful personal
impressions.
Above all, I have been enormously impressed by
the astonishing progress the Chinese people are
making in every walk of life.
And, I am sure the rest of the world will be
equally impressed when they come to Beijing for
the Olympics Games in a couple of years.
At the same time, I have always enjoyed a
wonderful personal feeling of friendship with
the Chinese people.
And I think that’s the main thing my own people
have also felt over the past fifteen years.
In so many ways, building relations with the
Chinese people has been a wonderful voyage of
discovery for all of us.
It’s brought the past alive and given very real
human meaning to what we call “our region”.
We have very much enjoyed re-discovering our
long history and learning how far we go back
together.
It’s been an exciting process and I very much
appreciate the efforts our scholars and
historians have made to bring it all alive
again.
What it’s done, above all, is to help us all get
to know each other much more closely.
We have a lot more understanding about our
special concerns and the traditions and values
we share.
So, I would very much like to express our great
appreciation to the Chinese government and
people.
You have all made a tremendous effort to make
the ASEAN-China relationship one that is so
strongly based on simple human friendship and
genuine respect for each other.
I think that is why we have managed to achieve
so much in the last fifteen years.
Looking back over this period, Mr Premier, I am
extremely pleased with what has been achieved.
It has certainly had its challenges, of course.
And some of them, of course, have been very
demanding.
There was the financial crisis in 1997, the
fears of major health problems in recent years
and of course, the constant concerns about
terrorism.
These have been very testing moments for any
form of regional cooperation.
Yet, they have never prevented us from working
positively and successfully together, sharing
ideas and emerging with our partnership not only
intact but greatly strengthened.
This is a most impressive record, I feel, and
should give us great hope and confidence for the
future.
In this respect, we have many interesting
proposals.
One of them that particularly interests me and
my ASEAN colleagues, Mr Premier is the idea of
an ASEAN-China Centre.
I would like to offer my full support for this
proposal.
I see it as a symbol of all we are trying to
achieve not only in trade and investment but
also in cultural affairs and in simple,
day-to-day human contacts.
These give a deep feeling of confidence and
security to all international relations.
I believe they are the most important
re-assurance our people need at this time and I
am sure that the proposed Centre will do a great
deal to strengthen this.
Let me also express my appreciation to you for
all your support to ASEAN and we welcome the
various proposals you have just mentioned.
Lastly, Premier Wen, Madame President, I would
just like to express our special appreciation
from Brunei Darussalam.
We are doing everything we can as coordinator of
the ASEAN-China dialogue over the next three
years.
There are many ongoing challenges in security,
trade, investment, energy, the environment and
economic cooperation.
The work is extensive and extremely important in
the peaceful development of East and Southeast
Asia as a whole.
It is a question now of looking to the future
and building on the excellent relations we have
built up in the last fifteen years.
So, it is a privilege for us to be closely
involved in the immediate future of ASEAN-China
relations and we are very excited at the
prospect.
And with that once more, Premier Wen, my great
appreciation for the reception we have had in
Nanning and for the warm friendship and respect
we so happily share with each other.
