Xi Jinping attacks concept of global hegemony, in dig at United States
President's remarks seen as criticism of Washington's foreign policy
President Xi Jinping has vowed that no violations of territorial integrity will be tolerated and said no nation should be allowed to monopolise global affairs.
The comments, which were made as Xi hosted the leaders of India and Myanmar in Beijing, were seen as a veiled attack on the United States, and highlighted the suspicions between Beijing and Washington.
Xi, Myanmese President Thein Sein, and Indian Vice-President Hamid Ansari commemorated a decades-old agreement to principles of coexistence. The principles were agreed when then premier Zhou Enlai visited the two nations in 1954, as China sought to break the diplomatic isolation of the Communist regime in its early years.
Xi used the ceremonial occasion to outline China's diplomatic direction. "Sovereignty is the reliable safeguard and fundamental element of national interest. Sovereignty and territorial integrity should not be infringed upon," Xi said. "This is the hard principle that should not be cast aside" at any time.
China is locked in territorial disputes with neighbours including Japan, the Philippines and India. Washington has said it will honour its treaty protecting Japan if the nation were attacked, and signed an agreement with Manila that will allow a bigger presence of US forces in the country.
Xi said all nations should be given equal footing in the global security framework, and share equal rights.
