Pulling together for prosperity

China-ASEAN community of common destiny is not a rebadged version of the United States' Monroe Doctrine

US Secretary of State John Kerry recently proclaimed that the era of the Monroe Doctrine is over. But it remains to be seen whether this is so. Meanwhile, Washington is sparing no efforts in claiming China is pursuing its own version of the Monroe Doctrine with its vision of a China-ASEAN community of common destiny.

This is totally ridiculous, as the China-ASEAN community of common destiny and the Monroe Doctrine are different in nature. The proposal to establish a community of common destiny and shared benefits with the members of ASEAN represents Beijing's desire for greater regional cooperation in pursuit of common development and prosperity. Of course, there is a long way to go to reach that goal, but this is clearly different from the Monroe Doctrine, which was a product of the US' pursuit of hegemony.

This year, China's new leaders have creatively built on the long-standing foundations of its foreign policy, good-neighborly relations and the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, and put forward a series of new policy proposals, including the establishment of a new type of relationship among major powers and new international organizations. And further demonstrating China's affinity with other countries, President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang have between them visited Russia, Africa, Latin America, the United States, Central Asia, Southeast Asia and Europe, where they received warm welcomes.

It is particularly worth mentioning that in October a high-level seminar was convened in Beijing to map out the strategic goals, basic principles and overall plan of China's periphery diplomacy for the next decade. China put forward a lot of proposals and ideas conducive to the common development and prosperity of the whole region. In addition to the proposal to work with ASEAN countries to build a "maritime Silk Road" and establish an Asian infrastructure investment bank, the most remarkable initiative was the proposal to jointly build a more close-knit China-ASEAN community of common destiny.

Some observers have suggested that this is just wishful thinking on China's part, because although ASEAN countries depend on China's economic development for their own, many seek security guarantees from the US. This is simply not true. In spite of some disputes with individual members, China and ASEAN countries have been engaging in closer cooperation and friendly exchanges in the economic, cultural and security fields.