•Consequently, the country has come up with a clear roadmap towards changing the unsustainable status quo for progeny.
•China has been a defender of the international order and is committed to upholding the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, the international system with the UN at its core and the international order based on international law.
Image: UN Photo
In the recently concluded General Debate of the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly held in New York last month, China stepped up its commitment in playing its role as a major country in stabilising a troubled world. The currently escalating challenges have adversely affected global peace and development.
In his statement during the occasion, China’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi noted that the Covid-19 pandemic has kept resurfacing.
In addition, global security faces uncertainty, economic recovery is fragile and unsteady. The world has entered a new phase of turbulence and transformation, while changes unseen in a century are accelerating.
Still, these challenges have come with the hope and promise of a bright future. As Wang Yi noted, the world continues to move toward multi-polarity; economic globalization is deepening, and our societies are becoming increasingly digitised and culturally diversified. Peace and development remain the underlying trend of our times. Around the world, the people’s call for progress and cooperation is getting louder than ever before.
Therefore, there is an urgent need to respond to the call of our times and ride on the trend of history to build a community with a shared future for mankind.
China has been a builder of world peace and has actively promoted the cause for international peace and participated in the international arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation process. It is the only country in the world that pledges to “keep to a path of peaceful development” in its Constitution.
China has been a contributor to global development ad has endeavoured to build a system of high-standard opening-up and safeguard the security and stability of global industrial and supply chains. China is a major trading partner of over 130 countries and regions, contributing about 30 per cent of annual global growth.
China has been a provider of public goods. In the face of Covid-19, the country has made all-out efforts to advance and engage in global cooperation against the pandemic. The country has provided anti-pandemic supplies, shared its practices on combating the virus, and provided over 2.2 billion doses of vaccines to more than 120 countries and international organisations.
China has been a mediator of hotspot issues by exploring workable Chinese approaches to solving hotspot issues. While adhering to the principle of non-interference in others’ domestic affairs and respecting the will and needs of the countries concerned, China has endeavored to help settle hotspot issues in a constructive way.
China has been a defender of the international order and is committed to upholding the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, the international system with the UN at its core and the international order based on international law.
Consequently, the country has come up with a clear roadmap towards changing the unsustainable status quo for progeny. First, the country proposes that we must uphold peace and oppose war and turbulence. Peace is crucial for our future and it underpins common security of all countries. We should remain committed to addressing differences through peaceful means and resolving disputes through dialogue and consultation.
Secondly, we must pursue development and eliminate poverty. We should place development at the centre of the international agenda, build international consensus on promoting development, and uphold all countries’ legitimate right to development. We should foster new drivers for global development, forge a global development partnership, and see that everyone in every country benefits more from the fruits of development in a more equitable way.
Thirdly, we must remain open and oppose exclusion. Openness is the sure way to realise human prosperity and advancement. Protectionism can only boomerang and decoupling and supply chain disruption will hurt both those who practice them and others. We should uphold the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organisation at its core and endeavour to build an open world economy.
Fourth, we must stay engaged in cooperation and oppose confrontation. While it is natural for countries to have differences among themselves, they should increase mutual understanding on the basis of equality and respect. Countries should engage in dialogue, consultation and win-win cooperation, reject conflict, coercion and zero-sum game.
Fifth, we must strengthen solidarity and oppose division. Peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy and freedom are common values of humanity. Difference in system should not be used as an excuse to create division; still less should democracy and human rights be used as tools or weapons to achieve political ends.
Sixth, we must uphold equity and oppose bullying. Mutual respect and equality of countries big and small is a primary principle of the UN Charter. We should promote and practice true multilateralism, promote equality of all countries in terms of rights, rules and opportunities, and build a new type of international relations featuring mutual respect, equity and justice, and win-win cooperation.
Wang Yi reiterated that as a permanent member of the UN Security Council and the world’s largest developing country, China is committed to boosting solidarity and cooperation with other countries. It will follow the trend of the times and pursue the shared interests of the vast majority of countries.
The writer is the Executive Director of South-South Dialogues and a PhD student in International Relations at USIU-Kenya