President Xi Jinping delivers a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Second World Internet Conference in Wuzhen township, East China's Zhejiang province, Dec 16, 2015. (Photo/Xinhua)
On December 16, 2015, President Xi gave a 30 minute opening speech to the World Internet Conference, held for the second time in the ancient city of Wuzhen, in Zhejiang Province. Wuzhen is a small city by Chinese standards, yet it stands as a city that is ranked first among the six ancient towns south of the Yangtze River. It is a city that President Xi is quite familiar with as he worked there for many years and has visited many times. [Special coverage]
This conference is the perfect platform to portray the virtue of ancient China coupled with President Xi's design for the future of the global Internet community. And, it is in that spirit that President Xi communicated his responsible and balanced view of the present development and future expansion of the Internet.
What strikes me most about President Xi as a leader and clear minded man, is his continued view of not only China and its development, but, the goodwill that he shows toward the world at large. He has proved himself over and over again as a global leader as well as a regional leader. He did this again today in his speech.
In his speech, he set out the goal of China in the future development of the Internet, which is to 'let the achievements of the Internet benefit the 1.3 billion Chinese people and create better livelihoods for people around the world.' He gave further details of China's intention in showing 'mutual respect and trust' in the development and progress of a global Internet governance system. His aim is to promote commerce via the Internet while assuring a 'healthy cyberspace' for all.
He encouraged the international Internet community to respect each other's cyber sovereignty so that no nation dominates control of our mutually and globally shared asset. He also addressed the need to fight cybercrime as it has become an international problem for the few who seek to use it for dishonorable purposes such as terrorism and other serious offenses.
He made five proposals to build a more efficient, safe and mutually beneficial Internet. First, he encouraged faster development of infrastructure and inter-connectivity. Second, he suggested that platforms for cultural exchange and mutual understanding should be constructed. Third, he shared that the Internet should be a place for innovative cyber economics for common prosperity. Fourth, he set forth the suggestion that cyber security and orderly development should be maintained. Fifth, he recommended that an international governance system should be established to boost fairness and justice.
I love the consistency he shows in all of his dealings with issues related both to China and his continued view, beyond China, of the world beyond China's borders. He is, in my view, without doubt, a global leader to be respected and most importantly, heard by every Chinese citizen and every rational and moral person throughout the world.
The author, Michael Murphy, is a senior blogger on China Daily online blog platform.
