Xi heads effort to safeguard world peace

Editor's note: China Daily presents a series of analyses to explain how and why China, led by President Xi Jinping, addresses the "questions of the times" by advancing peace, progress, openness and cooperation around the world.

Global Security Initiative manifests the great sense of duty of nation, expert says

As one of the ultimate questions facing the planet, "peace or war", has been high on the agendas of officials, experts and peacemakers around the world this year amid lingering conflicts and military tensions.

This question also ranked first among the "questions of the times" brought up by President Xi Jinping in June at the opening ceremony of the BRICS Business Forum.

In his speech, Xi pointed out that "hegemony, group politics and bloc confrontation bring no peace or security", and "the Ukraine crisis is another wake-up call for all the world".

In responding to this question with action over the past 10 years, China's diplomatic and security missions have delivered engagement in global security governance under Xi's leadership with efforts of an unprecedented scale, depth and level, leaders, officials and experts said.

Harvey Dzodin, a senior fellow at the Center for China and Globalization and a former legal advisor in the Jimmy Carter administration, said the world today is faced with "a colder and colder peace between East and West", and the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine threatens to "create more starvation, death and disease in much of the developing world".

"China, by contrast, follows a model of common prosperity," he said.

Liu Chong, director of the Institute of International Security of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said: "It is unlikely that a major country can gather and win the hearts of the vast majority of countries across the world if it is obsessed with expanding its own self-interest and hegemony. What major countries really should do at this moment is to accommodate the common security pursuit of all countries and work for the common good of the world rather than worsening the world's deficits in security, trust and development."

The Global Security Initiative, first put forward by President Xi in April, manifests the great sense of duty of China in the area of global security and defense, and the initiative "takes good care of the legitimate rights and interests of the vast number of developing countries", Liu said.

The initiative has been hailed and supported by more than 70 countries as of the end of September, said the Foreign Ministry.

Wang Peng, a research fellow at Huazhong University of Science and Technology's Institute of State Governance, said global peace currently is faced with a very dire situation and the efficacy and authority of the United Nations "have suffered major frustrations as well".

US-led Western countries are "pushing the world toward the edge of another cold war" by continuing to fuel the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and "major powers should abandon selfishness at the strategic level and tangibly honor multilateralism".

Adnan Badran, former prime minister of Jordan, said, "China's vision is multipolar, based on noninterference and partnership to promote stability and security through development and peace and not the Western notion of 'democratic peace'."

At a webinar last month, Badran hailed the China-led Belt and Road Initiative, saying that the initiative "avoids replicating Western intervention" and the country seeks "neutral engagement with all countries in the Middle East".

"Now the whole world is paying the price for hegemony and power politics pursued by the United States, which is behind NATO's frequent expansions," said Xu Xiujun, director of the International Political Economy Department of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of World Economics and Politics.

"Turmoil and chaos have prompted many nations to firm up their belief in peace and cooperation rather than war and confrontation," Xu said.

From the Ukraine crisis and Iran's nuclear issue to the Afghanistan situation, China has always persisted in promoting peace talks and advocated the settlement of disputes by peaceful means, policy watchers said.

China has faithfully fulfilled its duties and mission as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, it dispatched over 50,000 personnel to participate in UN peacekeeping missions and it has become the second largest contributor to both UN regular budget and UN peacekeeping assessments, Vice-Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu said last month.

Ren Lin, head of the Department of Global Governance at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of World Economics and Politics, said the global security landscape is being split by various kinds of blocs and constructive, positive forces eligible for security governance have been distracted.

In contrast, China has always been a force for world peace, a contributor to global development, a defender of the international order, a provider of public goods and a mediator of hot spot issues, said Ruan Zongze, Chinese consul-general in Brisbane, Australia.

"As the largest developing country, China will stick to the path of peaceful development, build a new type of international relations, make efforts to improve global governance and promote a community with a shared future for mankind," Ruan said.