On September 12, 2020, Vice Foreign Minister Luo Zhaohui attended the 27th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Virtual Foreign Ministers' Meeting on behalf of State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who was on a visit.

Luo Zhaohui spoke highly of the long-term efforts made by the ARF in confidence-building measures and the maintenance of peace and stability in the region, and stressed that we should learn lessons from 9/11 and deepen international cooperation against COVID-19.

Luo Zhaohui emphasized the following points: First, we should learn lessons from 9/11 and work together to address non-traditional security threats. Yesterday marked the anniversary of 9/11 and today the intra-Afghan talks begin in Doha. The brutal lesson that humanity has learned from 9/11 is that the world is in an era where traditional and non-traditional security threats are interwoven. Threats and challenges posed to mankind by non-traditional factors have been increasingly severe. But the useful lesson that we have learned from the 9/11 is that we, human beings, live in the same global village and have our destiny closely related. The only way to solve the transnational problems is through transnational cooperation.

Rarely seen in a century, the current pandemic has once again demonstrated the lessons and experience of 9/11. History shall never be forgotten. As of today, COVID-19 has infected more than 28 million people around the world and claimed over 910,000 precious lives. The virus is still raging across the globe and continues to take its toll. Virus respects no borders or race. For people from all over the world, solidarity and cooperation is the only sure way to defeat COVID-19.

Second, China is a positive energy to advance international cooperation in fighting the pandemic. Putting people and their lives front and center, the Chinese government has raced against the clock to fight the disease and secured major strategic achievements in the nationwide fight against the virus, thus buying valuable time and gaining experience for the global fight against the pandemic, which demonstrates Chinese people's spirit, the country's strength and its determination to shoulder responsibilities; China has worked with countries around the world to tide over this difficult time, gaining support from the international society and providing assistance to the world. China has provided a total of 50 million US dollars of cash assistance to World Health Organization (WHO), sent 34 medical expert teams to 32 countries and 283 shipments of medical supplies to 150 countries and 4 international organizations. China has offered and exported anti-epidemic materials to over 200 countries and regions, including more than 6 billion masks to the United States (US). When vaccine development and deployment in China is available, China will make it a global public good; China will also take the lead of economic recovery to make new contribution to the global economic growth.

Third, the US goes against the global trend and stands on the wrong side of history. In total disregard of the global public health security, the US, holding the idea of "America First", continues to practice unilateralism and bullying, willfully withdraws from international treaties and organizations, and even declares to withdraw from WHO in the critical period of the global fight against COVID-19; ignoring the international cooperation against COVID-19, the US shifts the blame to China, interferes in China's internal affairs, and suppresses China to stir up trouble and muddle the waters; ignoring the experience and lessons of 9/11, the US insists on the Cold War mentality, advances its Indo-Pacific strategy, and ties the mechanism of US, Japan, India, and Australia to the NATO to deliberately cause friction in the South China Sea. In the first half of this year alone, the US sent nearly 3,000 sorties of military aircraft and some 60 naval vessels to the South China Sea, including, in many cases, bombers and dual carrier operations to flex its muscles and deliberately heighten the risk of regional conflict, which has made itself the biggest factor fueling militarization in the South China Sea and the most dangerous factor jeopardizing the peace in the Asia-Pacific.

Fourth, while instabilities in the Asia-Pacific region are increasing, peaceful cooperation is still the mainstream. ARF should stick to the right direction. Although the US continues to disrupt the situation, hype up hotspots, undermine cooperation, and provoke a confrontation, countries in the region still share the consensus of seeking common security through dialogue and cooperation, promoting common development through regional economic integration, seeking common ground while reserving differences, and properly handling differences.

ARF should stick to its original aspiration, conduct in-depth discussions on Asia-Pacificsecurity cooperation and direction for its future development, and explore new methods in confidence building measures and preventive diplomacy.

China adheres to the path of peaceful development, the development strategy for mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation, and the neighborhood diplomacy of forging friendships and partnerships with our neighbors, and advances security and stability in the Asia-Pacific. The Chinese side is willing to work with countries in this region to uphold the concept of common, comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable security, concentrate on confidence building measures, push ARF back on the right track, and make it a platform for dialogue and cooperation instead of confrontation and rivalry. We should adhere to multilateralism, fairness, and justice, oppose all kinds of blocs and "decoupling" in any form, uphold open scientific and technological cooperation, while rejecting wielding the big stick of sanction in science and technology. The Chinese side has proposed a Global Initiative on Data Security, looking forward to the participation of all sides. The Chinese side appreciated the Statement on the Importance of Maintaining Peace and Stability in Southeast Asia issued by ASEAN foreign ministers. China supports the central position of ASEAN in regional cooperation, and supports the ASEAN-led regional cooperation mechanismin providing a strong guarantee for all parties to carry out positive interactions and achieve lasting regional peace and common prosperity. For the common interests of the people of China and the US, the Chinese side is willing to, in the spirit of equality and open-mindedness, communicate with the US side. We hope that the US side can meet the Chinese side halfway. The Chinese side is willing to join hands with the US side to propose cooperative initiatives on dealing with marine plastic waste under the framework of ARF, and also hopes to continue discussions on cooperation in fields such as environmental protection, drug control, disaster relief, and preventive diplomacy.

In response to the unreasonable accusations made by the US, Japan, Australia, and Canada on such issues as the South China Sea, Hong Kong, the Taiwan question, and arms control, Luo Zhaohui solemnly refuted the unreasonable accusations and elaborated on the Chinese side's position, and reiterated the Chinese side's policies on issues such as the Korean Peninsula issue and the Rakhine State issue.

The conference adopted outcome documents such as the statement on Cooperation in the Field of Security of and in the Use of ICTs in the Context of International Security, which was proposed by the Chinese side.

Founded in 1994, ARF currently has 27 members, including 10 ASEAN countries, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Mongolia, Russia, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and the European Union.