Abstract
Fifty years ago, the late Premier Zhou Enlai paid separate visits to India and Myanmar, during which joint government statements were issued to define and initiate what we now call the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. These principles are: mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit and peaceful coexistence. Half a century has gone by with these principles still shining with the radiance of truth as they continue to guide the conduct of relations among states. Now, at this moment of reflection, we cannot but feel the greatest respect for and cherish the deepest memory of those elder statesmen, Chinese or otherwise, who not only advocated the Five Principles but practiced them meticulously.
The Five Principles came about as a historical inevitability. Following the collapse of the world colonial system after World War II, there emerged a large number of newly independent nation-states in Asia and Africa. Their most pressing task was to safeguard independence and sovereignty, resist aggression and outside interference, cultivate equal relations with other countries, and secure an international environment of peace to develop their national economies. The founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 was an epoch-making event in China’s history. New China cherished its independence, actively sought peaceful coexistence with other countries around the world and worked hard to improve its external environment, particularly in its surrounding areas. It was at this critical juncture that China, India and Myanmar, countries that gained independence fairly early in Asia, went along with the tide of history by jointly initiating the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, which were enthusiastically echoed by many more countries. In 1955, the Asian-African Conference participated by over 20 countries embraced the Five Principles. Later on, an increasing number of important international documents have had these principles incorporated in their provisions as the majority of world’s countries have taken them as the basic norms governing state-to-state relations.
 
Read the full article here