A more proactive and enterprising China is making important contributions to appropriate resolutions of international hotspot issues. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China knows full well its major mandates and responsibilities and works hard to address hotspot issues at regional and international levels. In December 2013, China sent peacekeeping troops to Mali, the 24th UN peacekeeping mission it has participated in since 1990. Not long ago, I attended on behalf of China the dialogue of the P5+1 countries and the EU with Iran. The Chinese side upheld justice, made constructive recommendations and encouraged the parties to reach agreement on the first-step measures to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue. We have also actively supported the destruction of chemical weapons in Syria and decided to provide a naval escort for the Syrian weapons. As two major forces working for world peace, both China and the EU stand for defusing crises with diplomacy. And the two sides should work together to uphold the sanctity of the UN Charter and make still greater contribution to world peace and development.

A China that is committed to good neighborliness is injecting ever greater positive energy to peace and development in the Asia-Pacific region. With 20 land and maritime neighbors and a land boundary totaling 22,000 kilometers, China has more neighbors than any other country in the world. The neighborhood where China finds itself is what China depends on for survival, development and prosperity. Therefore, we will commit ourselves to developing amicable relationships and partnerships with our neighbors, fostering an amicable, secure and prosperous neighborhood and pursuing the principles of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness. China and Russia are committed to ensuring peace and friendship generation after generation along their 4,300-kilometer boundary. From Dandong (on the China-DPRK border) to Manzhouli (on the China-Russia border), and from Horgos (on the China-Kazakhstan border) to Dongxing (on the China-Vietnam border), over 50 Chinese ports are bustling with people doing a brisk business. China has worked vigorously to develop a partnership of maritime cooperation with ASEAN countries and its initiative for a Maritime Silk Road of the 21st century has been enthusiastically received. All this stands as a convincing proof that peace, development and cooperation prevails in China's neighborhood. Admittedly, there are outstanding territorial or maritime disputes between China and certain countries. We have always stood for peaceful settlement of such issues through negotiations and hope relevant countries will work with us toward the same goal.

What deserves our attention is that 68 years after World War II came to its end, Japan remains unwilling to face up to its past of aggression and its leader has gone so far as to pay homage to the Yasukuni Shrine where 14 Class A war criminals of World War II are honored and even regard war criminals as "those who had fought for the country and made ultimate sacrifices". Japan's attitude toward its past of militarist aggression contrasts sharply with that of Europe which made a thorough condemnation of Nazi crimes. The Japanese leader, by trying to turn back the wheel of history, is leading his country down a dangerous road. The international community needs to stay vigilant and stand firmly for human conscience and the post-war international order.

Today's China has come under the spotlight of the world, but the international stage belongs to all countries. China is increasingly in need of the world for its development while the world also needs China for its prosperity. Looking into 2014, countries will form a community of shared destinies in which their interests mingle and integrate more closely, while at the same time they will face still more complicated global challenges. In the year 2014, China will play its role as a responsible major country more effectively. Its diplomacy will display a broader global vision, an enterprising and innovative spirit and more actions to translate the principle of win-win cooperation into practice. We will respond to what the international community has expected of us with a more proactive and vigorous diplomacy and present the world with a better China. Together, we, all of us, will make our world an even better place.

The author is foreign minister of China. The article was first published in New Europe.