China seeks to allay fears at Afro-Asia summit

JAKARTA, Thursday (Reuters) President Hu Jintao will seek to use an Asia-Africa summit to allay fears a rising China poses a threat to the region in the wake of anti-Japanese protests at home and a new law mandating war against Taiwan. Hu is due to arrive in Jakarta on Thursday and take centre stage at this week's summit to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1955 Bandung Conference that marked the first move by the Third World to assert itself in world affairs.

He could use the meeting to try to contain diplomatic fallout after three weekends of violent anti-Japanese protests across China.

Hu will also seek to calm regional nerves after passage last month of an Anti-Secession Law mandating war or other "non-peaceful" means if self-ruled Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own, formally declares statehood.

"Through this kind of diplomatic event, China will state clearly that it is not a threat to the region and very willing to be a partner in cooperation with the Asian-Pacific region," said Niu Jun, a professor of international relations at Peking University. "China will still adhere to its long-standing foreign policy of maintaining peace and promoting development despite deteriorating Sino-Japanese relations," Niu added.

He will seek to reassert China's position as a leader of the Third World, albeit that is a role Beijing officially seeks to play down.