In the first visit to the surrounding areas in the beginning of the year, Wang Yi's trip to Southeast Asia mentioned the "authenticity of multilateralism"

　　China News Service, Beijing, January 15th, title: First visit to neighboring areas in the beginning of the year, Wang Yi's trip to Southeast Asia mentioned the "authenticity" of multilateralism

　　Author Huang Yuqin

　　Only one day after returning from his visit to Africa, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi opened a visit to Myanmar, Indonesia, Brunei, and the Philippines from January 11 to 16 and will implement bilateral routes to the ten ASEAN countries since the epidemic. Full coverage of next contacts.

　　During his visit to Indonesia, Wang Yi put forward the "Four Perseverances" and "Three Objections" to practice true multilateralism, which attracted the attention of the international community.

He emphasized that only by practicing true multilateralism can peace, stability and development of the world be maintained. Promoting pseudo-multilateralism will only create new divisions and trigger new conflicts. The international community should be vigilant.

　　When the epidemic situation of the century has been superimposed and the situation has changed over a hundred years, when multilateralism continues to encounter "headwinds", history always seems to evoke people's memories and reflections at important times and places.

More than sixty years ago, it was at the Bandung Conference held in Indonesia that Asian and African countries worked together to try to solve international problems through multilateralism and the principles of sovereign equality.

Facing the treacherous international situation, the conference formed the Bandung spirit of unity, friendship, and cooperation and put forward ten principles for handling relations between nations.

　　Some analysts believe that when the international community once again faces an uncertain future, the Chinese side again mentions the "authenticity" of multilateralism in this special place in Indonesia, which not only shows its persistence to the outside world, but also emphasizes adherence to the " The purposes and principles of the UN Charter and the true multilateralism of respecting the sovereignty and roads of all countries are the key driving force for the development of international relations in the right direction.

　　It is undeniable that pseudo-multilateralism as opposed to true multilateralism also exists in current international relations.

“A small number of countries gather allies to suppress other countries under the banner of multilateralism. Its essence is full of exclusivity and does not conform to the spirit of multilateralism.” Gao Fei, vice president of the China Foreign Affairs University believes that China’s timely clarification of the authenticity of multilateralism will help the international community to improve It is easy to discern whether individual big countries emphasize returning to "multilateralism", whether they return to pseudo-multilateralism dominated by a few countries, or return to true multilateralism that embodies openness and tolerance.

　　In addition to conceptually clarifying the "truth and falsehood", the Chinese Foreign Minister is taking practical actions to further clarify his choice through this trip to Southeast Asia.

From welcoming Myanmar to take over as the coordinator of China-ASEAN relations, to supporting Indonesia as the presidency of the G20 in 2022, to supporting Brunei as the rotating presidency of ASEAN, China has continuously emphasized the importance of multilateral mechanisms and ASEAN’s role in regional cooperation. Central position.

　　In this regard, Xu Liping, a researcher at the Institute of Asia-Pacific and Global Strategy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that ASEAN countries are far smaller than China in terms of size, but China has always respected the important role of ASEAN countries in regional cooperation and multilateral mechanisms, reflecting China’s continuous Practicing the important principle of multilateralism, equal to all countries, large and small.

　　From the perspective of specific cooperation, as the friendly exchanges between China and ASEAN enter the "year of standing", anti-epidemic and development have become an important main line of cooperation between the two sides.

In anti-epidemic cooperation, China and Myanmar have reached a consensus to continue to provide anti-epidemic materials according to Myanmar’s needs, and reached a consensus with Indonesia to continue to promote vaccine research and development, procurement and production cooperation.

In development cooperation, China and Indonesia have decided to deeply integrate the “Belt and Road” initiative and the “Global Ocean Pivot” concept. China and Brunei have decided to steadily advance the two flagship projects of Hengyi Petrochemical and the “Guangxi-Brunei Economic Corridor”.

　　Some commentators pointed out that, looking at a series of cooperation from the fight against the epidemic to development, China and ASEAN countries do not set limits or attach conditions to each other as the most obvious feature.

"Whether it is uniting against the epidemic or economic recovery after the epidemic, the necessity of cooperation is self-evident for China and ASEAN." Lan Jianxue, deputy director of the Asia-Pacific Institute of the China Institute of International Studies, said, "The key to the problem is It is that the two sides can discuss the direction and method of cooperation from easy to difficult under the framework of true multilateralism. Fully consider the needs of each other in the prevention and control of the epidemic, and actively carry out strategic docking in the direction of development, which is by no means simple and rude Impose the rules it has established on others."

　　Looking forward to the cooperation between China and ASEAN in the post-epidemic period, it is undoubtedly one of the focuses of the outside world to jointly promote the "Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement" to take effect as soon as possible.

As a regional cooperation agreement dominated by ASEAN and finally signed after eight years of negotiations, it has brought a rare touch to the world in the shadow of the epidemic, and also marked the world's most populous, largest economy, and free trade with the greatest potential for development. The district set sail.

　　Observers believe that how China and ASEAN bring this important regional free trade agreement to a high-quality implementation is not only related to the platform for practicing multilateralism within the region, but also will have spillover effects, making multilateral mechanisms show their own attraction under the trend of anti-globalization. force.

　　"Multilateralism is not an empty talk concept, it needs to solve practical problems." Guo Yanjun, director of the Institute of Asian Studies of China Foreign Affairs University, pointed out that the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement is an important platform and path for China and ASEAN to practice multilateralism. The dividends of the world's largest free trade zone will be released to provide an important reference for promoting trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, and improving global economic governance after the epidemic.

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