On March 14, three oil companies from China, the Philippines and Vietnam signed in Manila the "agreement on tripartite joint marine seismic work in the agreed region of the South China Sea". According to the agreement, the three parties will jointly carry out three-year oil/gas exploration work in the agreed region of the 140,000-sq. km South China Sea. The agreement points out that the three parties strictly abide by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 2002 ASEAN-China Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea signed by China and the ASEAN (Association of the Southeast Asian Nations) in 2002, the signing of the cooperative agreement will not weaken and change the basic stands of various respective governments on the question of the South China Sea, rather it would turn the territorially disputed South China Sea into a region of peace, stability and development. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs hails this cooperation as an important move for the three parties to jointly carry out the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, which has made historic contribution in promoting the stability and development of the South China Sea region. China is willing to conduct pragmatic cooperation with related countries in line with the proposition of "putting aside disputes and engaging in common development", so as to turn the South China Sea into a "sea of friendship" and a "sea of cooperation".

In the late 1970s, Comrade Deng Xiaoping stated for the first time that the Chinese side was willing to solve the controversial issue of sovereignty with neighboring countries in line with the pattern of "putting aside disputes and engaging in common development". The present concord reached among China, the Philippines and Vietnam has proved the political wisdom and actual possibility as contained in Deng Xiaoping's tentative idea.

Many disputes of humankind and of countries are, to the final analysis, dispute over ownership of sovereignty and interests. There is a saying in the theory of international relations, to the effect that the international community is an anarchic society, a society acting upon the jungle law and making decision in line with power politics. In a certain sense, this is a fact, at the same time it is also a tragedy of humankind. Historically, disputes between countries were resolved through reliance on strength and in a zero-sum form, the frequent consequence of which was that the loser suffered crushing defeat, while the winner gained disastrous victory, all those involved were beaten., different only in degrees. Such incidents are too many to enumerate.

In view of the above-mentioned human tragedies, philosophical thinkers put forward many ideals and conceptions, for example, Confucius put forward the idea of "Great Harmony", Immanuel Kant put forward the ideas of "World Government" and a "Global Citizen Society". Although the human reality is still quite far from these ideals, the establishment of the United Nations after WWII and the formulation and execution of many international laws reflect the efforts of human beings heading for such ideals.

Within the transition period of advancing toward the ideal of the great harmony of mankind, the idea and method employed by countries for handling disputes among them are of important significance. What has to be changed first is the zero-sum concept on disputes over rights and interests. If one wants to take up everything, or the victor wants to eat up everything, the result is likely to make one completely isolated, leaving him nothing to eat. This is true of an interpersonal society as well as of the international community. Conversely, if the countries involved are relatively mature and rational and can conduct effective consultation and communication, then it is possible to bring about an all-win situation in the course of a share in interests.

The South China Sea issue is faced with such a situation. There exist here many-sided disputes over sovereignty and the potential of oil/gas resources. One possibility for the development of the situation would be a stalemate among various parties in which no one could get anything; another possibility would be the eruption of conflicts, ending in the destruction of all parties. Taking all these into calculation, we think the best method is to "put aside disputes and seek common development" and thus bring about an all-win result.

After the signing of the agreement among the three parties of China, the Philippines and Vietnam, the various parties spoke highly of it. The Chinese side hailed it as an event of "political demonstration significance and major historic significance", the Philippine President exclaimed it to be a "historic breakthrough", and the Vietnamese side applauded it as a "historic cooperation" among the three countries in the field of the development of energy resources. All these are not merely polite remarks.

At this moment we think more of Comrade Deng Xiaoping. In those years, he set forth a "non-argument" principle for domestic questions, and the tentative idea of "shelving disputes and engaging in common exploitation" for dealing with international disputes, his remarks, though simple, are imbued with political wisdom and feasibility.

Carried on the front page of People's Daily (Overseas Edition) on March 18, this article by Huang Qing is translated by People's Daily Online