President Xi Jinping: China will never seek hegemony

BEIJING, Nov. 22 (YPA) – Chinese President Xi Jinping told leaders of the 10-country Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) at a summit on Monday (Nov 22) that Beijing would not“bully” its smaller regional neighbours amid rising tension over the South China Sea.

He added, to mark its 30th anniversary, the China-ASEAN Summit would support peace, stability and development in the region.

China would never seek hegemony nor take advantage of its size to coerce smaller countries, and would work with Asean to eliminate “interference”, Xi said.

“China was, is, and will always be a good neighbour, good friend, and good partner of Asean,” state media quoted Xi as saying.

E.M