On July 24, 2008, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi attended the 15th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Singapore and delivered a speech.

Yang said that the ARF has become an important force for promoting dialogue and cooperation and maintaining regional peace after 15 years of development and accumulated valuable experience for the region and the international community to seek a new type of regional cooperation pattern by going beyond the cold war mentality and exploring a new concept of security. Under the new circumstances, the ARF has started shifting gradually from the trust building measures to the preventive diplomacy, facing both opportunities and challenges. To give full play to the role of the forum and raise its cooperation level, the Chinese side proposes:

I. implementing the trust building measures throughout the process of development of the ARF at new stages and keeping accumulating mutual trust, increasing consensus and promoting the pragmatic cooperation.

II. Focusing on the real needs of the Asia and Pacific region, pushing forward the ARF's preventive diplomacy effectively and refraining from copying the model of other regions blindly.

III. Following the security concept and model of mutual respect, equal dialogue, consultation and cooperation, mutual benefit and win-win outcome. The ARF's preventive diplomacy should keep to the principle of cooperation instead of interference theory and create harmony instead of confrontation.

IV. Conducting preventive diplomacy mainly to guard against and cope with cross-border issues and non-traditional security challenges, especially strengthening dialogue and cooperation in the fields of disaster relief, fighting against cross-country crimes, anti-terrorism and marine security.

V. Maintaining the leading role of ASEAN while respecting and encouraging the enthusiasm of the ARF members to conduct dialogue and cooperation and enhancing the decision-making capacity and cooperation efficiency and effectiveness of the forum.

He noted that China is committed to maintaining peace and stability in the Asia and Pacific region, upholds the multilateralism to seek common security, supports the mutually beneficial cooperation for common prosperity and follows the spirit of tolerance to build a harmonious world. China actively participates in the building of an Asia and Pacific region with peace, development, cooperation and prosperity. It will, as always, practice the new security concept featured by mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and coordination and contribute more to building a regional environment with peace and stability, equality and mutual trust and win-win cooperation.

On the same day, Yang also met with the Adviser for the Foreign Ministry of Bangladesh Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama and Secretary-General of ASEAN Surin Pitsuwan respectively. Both sides exchanged opinions on strengthening the bilateral friendly cooperation and the development of the ARF.