BEIJING - China will insist on peace and denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula and will object to any nation causing trouble in the region, a high-ranking Chinese diplomat said on Monday when talking about China's diplomatic policies in the next five years.

"The peninsula must be stable, and it must be denuclearized," said the official in charge of policy planning at the Foreign Ministry who declined to be named.

He made the remarks at a background briefing on the new five-year plan for China's diplomacy.

The Communist Party of China has discussed the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015), and it will be submitted to the annual session of the National People's Congress early next month.

"These are our principles. We object to any country making trouble (on the peninsula)," he said.

If a war took place there, it would be a disaster for both people there and those in neighboring countries including China, Russia and Japan, he said.

On the future of relations between Beijing and Washington, the official said the two are so interconnected that there is no possibility of war.

"The option of war can be excluded," he said.

With thousands of people traveling between the two countries every day and surging business cooperation, the relationship between China and the US is completely different from that between the former Soviet Union and the US, he said.

Regarding China's diplomatic strategy in the next five years, the official stressed China will stick to the path of peaceful development.

"It is impossible for us to seek the maximization of our interests," he said, adding that the only practical way for China to handle foreign-related issues is to look for win-win solutions.

"Some (Chinese) scholars, even several in military uniform, have made extreme remarks. That does not stand for (the position of) the Communist Party of China and official policies," he said.

When answering a question about China's distorted image in some media reports, the official said he is often frustrated and confused by them.

"Some people feel the development of China is certain to break the current (global) structure. But it's not the case, China has actually developed within the structure."

And for those who insist China is a threat no matter what the country does, "there is nothing we can do", he said.

But he also stressed that Beijing will not sacrifice its core interests in order to compromise.

"It is said that Beijing is taking a tough stance when we protect our justified interests. We are following the path of peaceful development, but it does not mean we have to keep silent when bullied."

Priorities for the Foreign Ministry in the next five years include promoting development and trying to take both domestic and global factors into consideration when making decisions, he said.

The official also said his ministry will make more efforts in exploring omni-directional diplomacy.

Su Hao, director of the Center for Strategic and Conflict Management at China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing, said the statement that "China will not maximize its own interests" is in response to criticism from some Western nations.

"This is to let the world know that China will not only consider itself," Su said.

And the task of promoting development is in line with China's role as the world's top creditor and the second-largest economy, he added.

China Daily