Boao Forum for Asia opens in China

Play Video
The opening ceremony of the 2013 Boao Forum for Asia will begin Sunday morning. The forum is being held in Boao, a coastal town in southern China’s Hainan province. Chinese President Xi Jinping will deliver a key-note speech at the opening ceremony. Full Story>>



For more on the Boao forum, we are joined in the studio by Joseph Pelzman, Professor of Economics and Law at George Washington University, and Professor Fu Jun from the School of Government at Peking University.

Q1, The theme of the 2013 Boao Forum for Asia is "Asia Seeking Development for All: Restructuring, Responsibility and Cooperation". What message can we take from that? What influence will this forum exert on Asian economies and world economies?

Q2, The Secretary General of the Boao Forum, Zhou Wenzhong, said this year’s forum will focus on "restructuring" in a more sustainable and innovative way. In regards to "restructuring", what topics are expected to be discussed?

Q3, What major concerns will this year’s forum address?

Q4, Chinese President Xi Jinping will deliver a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the forum. In your opinion, what will be the big message he will deliver to the Asia-Pacific region?

Q5, The Asian economic integration has accelerated in recent years, thanks to Asian economies being highly interdependent in trade and investment. At the 2013 Boao Forum for Asia, more than 50 panel discussions will be held to offer suggestions on regional development. How important is cooperation for Asian economies?

Q6, In addition to economic issues, this year’s agenda also includes topics concerning people’s livelihood, such as property, education, health, and food safety. What can we expect regarding such issues?

Q7, What’s the distinguishing feature of this year’s forum, compared with previous ones?

Q8, The international economic backdrop to this year’s forum remains negative--particularly in developed countries suffering from the economic downturn. In light of this, what outcome can we expect from this year’s forum?

Q9, Highlights of this year’s forum include a newly set up of Africa panel, a Latin America panel. What’s the significance of these new panels?

Q10, The Boao Forum for Asia was launched in 2001 as a platform for high-level leaders from government, business and academic circles to discuss pressing global and regional issues. After more than a decade, how important is the forum now becoming on the global arena?



During the three-day forum, April 6- 8 leaders from government, business and academic circles will be able to choose from 50 panel discussions. What will they talk about? What can be expected?

Boao Forum for Asia is all about dialogue. The talks will take the form of sub-forums, round-table discussions, and closed door meetings.

In some cases, guests will even be able to have private talks with big names like Bill Gates.

President Xi Jinping is expected to have a one-hour talk with 30 entrepreneurs from around the world.
Organizers say topics of discussions this year illustrate the forum’s global vision.

Yao Wang, head of Research Inst., Boao Forum for Asia, said, "For the first time, we will set up sub-forums for Africa, Latin America and Europe. Such a design shows the Boao Forum for Asia is getting more and more international."

In addition to macroeconomic issues like the debt crisis and monetary policy, topics concerning people’s daily lives -- such as education, health, tourism, and the Internet -- will also be addressed.

Most of panel discussions will last anywhere from 45 minutes to one hour and a half. During the busiest time slot, guests will be able to choose from five seperate talks.

The International Monetary Fund said on Thursday that its Managing Director Christina Lagarde will visit China in April to attend the upcoming annual Boao Forum for Asia.

Lagarde will be traveling to China's Hainan Province on April 6- 8 to attend the Boao Forum, IMF spokesman Gerry Rice told reporters at a regular news briefing.

He added that Lagarde will meet with government officials of China and other Asian countries during her stay.

This year's Boao Forum for Asia, one of Asia's biggest annual economic meetings, will be held under the theme of "Asia Seeking Development for All: Restructuring, Responsibility and Cooperation ". More than 10 state and government leaders from Asia and other regions will be invited to the three-day forum, which will begin on April 6 in Boao, a coastal town in south China's Hainan Province.  

In  2012, more than 2,000 government, business and academic leaders from around the world attended the meeting.

Started on Sunday, the three-day forum is being held in Boao, a scenic town on the eastern coast of Hainan.

It introduces a wide range of topics, including eurozone debt crises, employment and growth, the reform of the international monetary system as well as the strategic breakthrough of Asian manufacturing.

The Boao Forum for Asia is a non-governmental and non-profit international organization founded in 2001.

It has been committed to promoting regional economic integration and bringing Asian countries closer to their development goals.

China, Brunei to foster ties

Both countries pledge to step up bilateral cooperation 

Play Video

China and Brunei agreed on Friday to nurture their relations at a higher level as "strategic" and "Cooperative", vowing to step up bilateral cooperation in areas like energy and infrastructure.



The agreement was reached while Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with the visiting Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah in Beijing.

Xi praised China-Brunei relations that featured mutual respect and equality as a regional model for small and big nations to harmoniously coexist and harvest mutual benefits and common prosperity.

"Strategic and cooperative China-Brunei relations will boost bilateral cooperation and play a leading role to promote regional peace and development," Xi said.

He stressed the two nations should pay sufficient attention to each other's key concerns and honor their independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity as well as the development paths chosen to fit their domestic situation.

"China encourages its companies to actively involve themselves into Brunei's infrastructure and agriculture development and looks for further progress on bilateral cooperation in the oil and gas, petrochemical and renewable energy sectors," Xi told Hassanal.

The Chinese president also highlighted the country's foreign policy with neighboring countries, calling on the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to jointly safeguard the peace and stability of the South China Sea and resolve disputes via direct friendly dialogue and consultation between the involved sovereign states.

China will work actively with Brunei, who chairs the ASEAN in 2013, to eliminate any possibilities that might undermine friendly cooperation with ASEAN and reinforce peace and stability in the region, Xi noted.

China will continue to back ASEAN's leading role on East Asia affairs, he added.

Echoing Xi's views, Hassanal acknowledged China's development as a major contributor to boost regional development and prosperity.

Brunei believes the ASEAN-China ties will continue to grow and involved parties should seek for peaceful resolutions to disputes concerning the South China Sea via dialogue and consultation based on the the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties, Hassanal said.

He also pledged an active role that Brunei will play to nurture ties between the ASEAN and China.

Hassanal is the first foreign head of state Xi has received after he was elected Chinese president in March. The two leaders will attend the opening ceremony of the annual Boao Forum for Asia on Sunday in southern China's Hainan Province.- Xinhua

Singapore kiasu (怕输) in a rising China

The republic is concerned about China’s rising economy resulting in an expanding maritime force at a time when the US military might is weakening.

FOR a few days last week, Singapore’s prime minister left behind his troubles at home to face a tricky foreign policy matter that his father once excelled in.

Lee Hsien Loong paid his second visit to the United States in six years that was evidently aimed at deepening Singapore’s strategic ties with Washington at a time of rising tensions in Asia.

In a meeting with President Barack Obama at the White House, Hsien Loong appealed to the economically-weakened United States to stay committed in Asia despite plans for big defence cuts.

Of late, Asia has been plagued by territorial claims and counter-claims involving China and at least a dozen countries, sometimes resulting in frictions and warning shots being fired.

While Hsien Loong was in America, former Singapore prime minister Goh Chok Tong arrived in China for a seven-day visit, where he met the new Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

The Singaporean leader’s US visit took place as many foreign leaders were sending congratulations to Xi on his assumption of office.

It comes in the wake of a decision by the American president and Congress to cut the Pentagon’s budget by US$487bil (RM1.498 trillion) over the next decade. The cut took effect on March 1.

Singapore has become more concerned about China’s rising economy resulting in an expanding maritime force at a time when the US military might is weakening.

His attempt to maintain a balance in the republic’s ties with China and United States had long been the forte of founding leader Lee Kuan Yew. It had kept Singapore in good stead with both.

Despite this, Singapore has been placing greater trust on the protection of the United States.

Although Singaporeans are predominantly Chinese and have built up strong economic and other ties with Beijing, the city has strong military and strategy relations with Washington.

Singapore is more worried about China’s soft encroaching use of its power in the area than any prospect of it starting a war in Asia.

For example, Beijing has begun using a new passport which shows a map showing several disputed territories as part of the nation of China.

This has instilled regional worries, leading several countries involved to strengthen ties with the United States.

In a new book released in February, Kuan Yew – now a passive 89-year-old Member of Parliament – voices worries about China’s rise in power.

“Many small and medium countries in Asia are concerned (and are) uneasy that China may want to resume the imperial status it had in earlier centuries,” Kuan Yew says.“They have misgivings such as being treated as vassal states.”

“China tells us that countries big or small are equal, that it is not a hegemon,” Kuan Yew writes.

“But when we do something they do not like, they say you have made 1.3 billion people unhappy. So please know your place.”

It prompted Singapore to move closer militarily to the United States years ago by offering passing facilities for its air force and navy, including aircraft carriers.

Hsien Loong’s visit probably has another purpose. Singapore is reportedly on the verge of making a decision to buy America’s F-35 fighter jets to upgrade its air force.

Singapore’s defence minister Ng Eng Hen said last week that the air force “has identified the F-35 as a suitable aircraft to further modernise our fighter fleet”.

“Our F-5s are nearing the end of their operational life and our F-16s are at their mid-way mark,” he said in parliament. “We are now in the final stages of evaluating the F-35.”

The order could be for 12 F-35Bs (estimated cost: US$2.8bil (RM8.6bil)), which can take off and land vertically, a useful feature given Singapore’s limited air space.

However, it is not known if there are further plans to buy more in future. Reuters quoted industry and US sources as saying Singapore may buy up to 75 F-35Bs eventually.

Singapore was the world’s fifth-largest importer of conventional weapons in 2008-12, at 4% of the global total, the Stockholm Inter­national Peace Research Institute says. It trailed behind India, China, Pakistan and South Korea.

The visiting Hsien Loong was assured by US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel that the United States remained “committed to­­wards the Asia-Pacific region”.

Of growing US focus is China’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, which is projecting the country’s new maritime power.

Although Hsien Loong became prime minister eight years ago, this is his first real test of his diplomatic skill in a major foreign policy without Cabinet guidance from his father.

This visit – and the consequences – will determine if he could succeed in steering Singapore through the intensifying rivalry of China and the United States.

In his after-dinner speech in Washington, Hsien Loong said Singapore got along well with both.

One reason he implied was China needed to look at his city-state to try to understand how it could balance its own economic and social goals while growing.

The Chinese needs Singapore as a political model for them to learn from, without political reforms, Hsien Loong told the Americans.

What of China’s intention? Kuan Yew says he is certain China’s leaders want to displace United States as the leading power in the Asia-Pacific.But in speeches published, he says he is less worried about the current generation of leaders than he does about the next.

  Insight: DOWN SOUTH By SEAH CHIANG NEE

Related posts:
Singapore warns US on anti-China rhetoric!
South-East Asia in the frontline of US containing China
Bridging the rich-poor gap in Singapore
Foreign worker flow choked in Singapore
Singapore millionaires who don't feel rich 
Singapore job growth high, unemployment low ...