Intéressant colloque, organisé à Islamabad les 27 et 28 septembre 2005, par l'Institute of International Studies d'Islamabad, avec le soutien de la Hanns Seidel Foundation.
Participation asiatique très variée et très large. On regrette seulement que sur les six intervenants chinois un seul, ait été capable de faire autre chose que de la langue de bois et/ou des phrase creuses. La palme revient au Général Gong Xianfu qui a émis cette forte pensée : "Globalization has increased interdependance".
Quant à la liberté d'expression dans ce type de rencontre, telle qu'elle est conçue par les officiels ou semi-officiels chinois, elle se retrouve dans une très belle phrase de Mr Ruan, en direction de l'intervenant japonais : "You are not allowed to say that China does not accept freedom of speech in Japan".
The conference commenced with the Inaugural Session, with the Director General of the Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad, Dr. Shireen Mazari, extending a warm welcome to the participants and calling on the Chairman of the Institute, Mr. Inam-ul- Haq to give his welcome address. The latter and the main part of the session comprised remarks by the Resident Representative, Hanns Seidal Foundation, Dr. Andreas Rieck and a speech by Prime Minister, Mr. Shaukat Aziz.
The First Session was centred on the subject of "The Emerging Asian Century." This session was chaired by Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed. Four different scholars presented their views on various themes pertaining to the subject. These included Professor Emeritus Dr. Muhammad Ariff bin Abdul Kareem, Executive Director, Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER), Kuala Lumpur; Mr. Ruan Zongze, China Institute for International Strategic Studies(CIIS), China, Mr. Chen Xiangyang, China Institute of Contemporary International Relations (CICRC), China and Dr. Jaeho Hwang, Korea Institute for Defense Analysis (KIDA), South Korea.
The Second session of the conference was titled 'China and the South Asian Region.' The session was chaired by Ambassador Nyunt Tin, Secretary, Myanmar Institute of Strategic and International Studies (MISIS), Yangon. The speakers of the session included: Dr. Swaran Singh, Associate Professor at the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) ,New Delhi; Mr. Fazal-ur-Rehman, Director of East Asia at the ISSI; Major General Gong Xianfu, Vice President of China Institute for International Strategic Studies (CIISS), Beijing and Major General Muhammad Abdul Matin, Director General of the Bangladesh Institute for International Strategic Studies (BIISS), Dhaka. EN-GB">
The Third session of the conference was titled 'China and Foreign and Security Policies of the Major Powers,' and was divided into two parts because of the number of speakers. The speakers in the first part of the session included Dr Elizabeth Van Wie Davis, Professor of Regional Studies, Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (APCSS) Honolulu, Hawaii, Professor Zhao Gancheng, Director, Department of South Asia Studies, Shangai Institute for International Studies (SIIS), Shanghai, and Dr. Vitaly Naumkin, Director, Center for Strategic and Political Studies (CSPS), Moscow. The speakers in the second part included Dr. Yasuhiro Matsuda, Senior Research Fellow, The National Institute for Defense Studies (NIDS), Tokyo, Dr. Gudrun Wacker, Head of Research Unit, German Institute for International & Security Affairs (SWP), Berlin, and Air Comdre, (Retd) Jean Vincent Brisset, Director of Research, Institute of Relations International ans Strategiques (IRIS), Paris. The session was chaired by Mr. Daljit Singh, Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISAS), Republic of Singapore.
The Fourth session was chaired by the Chairman Board of Governors, Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI), Mr. Inam-ul-Haque. Participants of this session were; Ms. Farzana Noshab, Research Fellow ISSI, Mr. Hou Hongyu, Research Fellow, Chinese People's Association for Peace and Disarmament (CPAPD), Beijing, and Dr. Shireen M Mazari, Director General, ISSI.
Vote of Thanks by Dr. Shireen M. Mazari
The Director General, Dr. Shireen Mazari, expressed her appreciation and gratitude to all the participants who played an important role in the successful operation of the conference. She expressed her sincere thanks to all the scholars who had contributed so wonderfully to the two-day interesting and frank discussions, which not only revealed different points of views, but also led to a diverse range of dialogue along with the emergence of different synthesis. She also thanked Dr. Reick and the others at the Hanns Seidal Foundation for their tremendous support in the conference. For the first time, two banks, Habib Bank Limited and National Bank of Pakistan, provided critical financial assistance for the conference, that was also appriciated and the Chairman presented shields to their representatives, Mr. Muhammad Afzal, the Regional Business Chief of the National Bank of Pakistan, Islamabad, and Mr. Bader-ud-din Qazi, the Regional Chief Executive of Habib Bank Limited, Islamabad. Dr. Mazari also thanked all the staff members and the researchers of the Institute followed by special thanks to the Chairman of ISSI, Mr. Inam-ul-Haque, for his full participation in the seminar and; last but not the least, deepest appreciation was also expressed for all the attendees, who were a very vital aspect of the conference, especially in terms of their active interaction and participation on the open floor.