印尼大使讲话英文版.docx

Enhancing Mutual Understanding and Promoting Sino-Indonesian Friendship Speech in the National Resilience Institute of RI By H.E. Ambassador Chen Shiqiu (July 16, 2001)Instructors, cadets and friends,It is a great pleasure for me to have this opportunity to meet everybody here. I am going to make a brief introduction on some basic facts about China, its foreign and defense polices as well as some issues of your concern. Part I. A Brief Account of China(I) A general picture of ChinaLocated in East Asia, on the western shore of the Pacific Ocean, the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) has a land area of about 9.6 million square km. From north to south, the territory of China measures some 5,500 km. From west to east, the nation extends about 5,200 km. China has 22,800-km-long land borders, with 15 contiguous countries. Across the seas to the east and southeast are South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. China enjoys a total maritime area of 4.73 million square km, with a total of 5,400 islands dot its vast territorial waters. The largest of these is Taiwan, with an area of about 36,000 square km. China, one of the worlds most ancient civilizations, has a recorded history of nearly 4,000 years. It has been nourished over the past five millenniums by a heritage that has great vitality and cohesion, which keeps the nation together. Ancient China boasted developed natural sciences and technology. It led the world in astronomy, agricultural science, medical science and mathematics as well as numerous inventions. It is estimated that by the 17th century, 75 percent of the worlds inventions came from China. The four great inventions of papermaking, printing, gunpowder and compass served as a catalyst to the rise of European civilization. As one of the worlds four oldest civilizations, the traditional Chinese culture is the only ancient civilization that has survived to this day with continuity. During the long Medieval years, China