(Essential questions) Blockbuster|Zhang Yunling: To get out of the world’s predicament, why do we need the cooperative civilization of the East?
China News Service, Weihai, October 20th, title: Out of the world’s predicament, why do we need a cooperative civilization in the East?
Author Wen Longjie Yang Bing Wang Jiaoni
The world today is facing major changes unseen in a century. Under these changes, there are both challenges and opportunities.
The new crown pneumonia epidemic is raging around the world, adding "uncertainty" to today's world full of uncertainty. How to explore the context and way out of the chaos and chaos?
How did China disappear during the period of strategic opportunity due to the contingency situation?
Zhang Yunling, member of the Faculty of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Chair Professor of Shandong University, and Dean of the Institute of International Studies, Shandong University, recently accepted an exclusive interview with China News Service on the issue of “East and West Questions”.
Zhang Yunling served as a member of the 10th, 11th, and 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and vice chairman of the China-Korea Friendship Association. Based on China and looking at the world, Zhang Yunling gave observation and analysis.
Data map: The busy Chengdu International Railway Port.
Photo by Zhang Lang
The summary of the interview record is as follows:
China News Service: As a well-known expert on international issues who knows both theory and practice, how do you see China's current world structure and situation?
Zhang Yunling: The
rapid increase in China's comprehensive strength has attracted great attention from all walks of life, especially the United States, which has increased its strategic vigilance and response to China.
During the Obama era, the United States proposed to return to Asia and "rebalance the Asia-Pacific."
During the Trump administration, he proposed "America First" and imposed comprehensive restrictions on China.
Trump's China policy has caused serious difficulties in Sino-US relations.
If the United States still adjusted its strategy alone during the Trump era, in the Biden era, the United States began to mobilize the entire West and expand its circle of friends to jointly respond to China.
Biden proposed "comprehensive strategic competition", including economic, political, military and other aspects. This is considered to be a competition in national governance.
China implements a socialist market economy and pays attention to the role of the government and public economy in the operation of the market. This is regarded by the United States as a departure from the market economy. Therefore, China must be restricted and restricted.
The core of Biden's "comprehensive strategic competition" is the question of "who wins", which is the basic meaning of strategic competition.
Although strategic competition is different from the Cold War issue of "who destroys the other party", it is a big problem to simply characterize the relationship between the United States and China as "who wins", and it is also a "zero-sum game."
Therefore, the situation is still very serious. The United States will adopt various methods to restrict China, strengthen itself, and suppress China as a person who does not abide by the rules and is trying to change the order.
This is a major change and new situation that we have faced since the reform and opening up.
Will China confront the United States?
It is impossible to simply answer "yes", nor is it difficult to answer "no". It is possible to make "yes" possible and "no" to be more scientific.
China is unwilling to confront, and has repeatedly declared that it must unswervingly follow the path of peaceful development and not follow the old path of the rise of traditional powers.
China’s initiative to "build a community with a shared future for mankind" focuses on promoting the construction of a new type of international order and proposes to build a new type of relationship between major powers, aiming to achieve "non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect, and win-win cooperation."
Therefore, China will not take the initiative to engage in confrontation, and will try its best to create an environment conducive to dialogue and cooperation.
However, China will also take countermeasures against the confrontational practices of the United States and its allies. The purpose is to push the relationship forward, not backward.
China News Agency reporter: What do you think of the great changes in a century?
Zhang Yunling: The
great changes in the century were proposed by Chinese leaders. This is a very important observation and generalization.
Changes in international relations and order are an important aspect of the big changes, but it is not only international relations, but also economic development paradigms and climate change.
As far as the development paradigm is concerned, the West has been industrialized for hundreds of years. Starting with the British Industrial Revolution, two major development trends have been gradually created. One is the road to industrialization; the other is the process of urbanization.
Industrialization has high productivity and people's lives have been improved. However, industrial production requires the development of natural resources. Urbanized life increases the discharge of waste gas, waste water, and garbage, which leads to ecological deterioration.
With the increase of the world's population, more and more countries have entered the traditional paradigm, and the accumulated problems have become more and more serious, leading to climate change and destroying the entire ecosystem of the earth.
Scientific research has shown that the earth is now operating with negative energy, the ecology has been out of balance, can no longer repair itself, and the situation is still deteriorating, which is unprecedented.
We are experiencing a new technological revolution.
The new technological revolution is hope, and it may also lead to disasters. It requires new wisdom and new means to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages.
The typical feature of this technological revolution is intelligence, which will produce higher efficiency, but it will also bring about major changes in human life style, production methods, and ideological concepts.
As far as China is concerned, being at the center of the big changes is an important force driving change.
In history, China was the country with the strongest overall national strength in the world, and was the center of Eastern civilization and the "order under heaven."
Since modern times, China has declined and has been bullied and violated by foreign powers.
The founding of the People's Republic of China stopped the downward movement and started the process of national rejuvenation.
In this century, that is, in 2000, China was relisted among the world's major powers in terms of economic aggregates. Since then, the recovery process has accelerated and it has become the world's second largest economy, and its international influence has greatly increased.
China's change itself is an important part of the world's changes.
Of course, not only China is changing, but the world is also changing. For example, in terms of the balance of power, the most important change is the substantial increase in the group power of developing countries, the change in the pattern of Western dominance of the world, the decentralization of the pattern of power, and the diversification of international governance. It's a big trend.
At the same time, major changes in the earth's ecology and climate have made mankind face severe challenges together.
Therefore, it is necessary to "work together in the same boat", strengthen cooperation, and engage in division and confrontation without a winner.
China News Agency reporter: Is there still a period of strategic opportunities for China?
Zhang Yunling:
The environment of China's strategic opportunity period has changed, but it still exists.
The period of strategic opportunity has two basic meanings, one is the positioning of its own strategic development, and the other is the comprehensive external environment.
Goal setting provides opportunities. China will basically realize socialist modernization by 2035 and build a developed socialist modernization power by 2050.
Going forward in accordance with this goal setting and finally realizing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, such a period of opportunity is unprecedented.
We have the ability to adjust and change with the times. For example, when the traditional development paradigm is unsustainable, we put forward scientific development concepts and new development concepts in a timely manner to promote the transformation of economic development methods and changes in the external environment. Next, we adjusted in a timely manner and shifted to a dual-cycle development strategy of focusing on internal and integrating internal and external.
Despite the sudden changes in the international situation, the United States has undergone major changes in its strategy and policy towards China, from the so-called "full engagement" to "full competition," imposing sanctions, restrictions, blocking, and decoupling on China, and wooing allies and partners to contain China. , But the external environment cannot be regarded as dark.
First, we are not completely passive, and we have the opportunity and ability to proactively respond. Second, not all countries will choose a side station. Even the United States will consider the cost of insisting on singing the opposite stage with China for a long time.
Facts have proved that China and the United States cannot be completely separated. Both sides have the willingness to avoid full-scale confrontation and develop relations, including cooperative relations.
At the same time, not most countries regard China as a threat.
Whether it is with Western countries or with the vast number of developing countries, there is a strategic space for developing relations. We should make good use of it, grasp it, and open it up.
China is not alone. It is an important member of the United Nations system and an important role in multilateral systems such as WTO and G20.
China's initiatives and initiatives, such as the “Belt and Road” initiative and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, are all exerting greater and greater influence.
In the high-tech field, although the United States is blocking it, China also has a leading field. At the same time, the business community will also seek ways to develop relationships out of business interests.
"Mountain darkly, vista".
Sometimes it seems that there is no way, but by changing methods and pioneering and innovating, new opportunities can be created.
Recently I edited two books, "Hundred Years of Great Changes: The World and China" and "Global Trends: Grasping the Pulse of Changes in the New Era", in-depth analysis of the great changes, world trends and China’s strategic opportunities, and proposed to create opportunities , This is very important.
Data map: The scene of the 18th China-ASEAN Expo.
Photo by Lin Jieqi
China News Agency reporter: What kind of experience can China-ASEAN cooperation provide for solving today's world puzzles?
Zhang Yunling: The
era needs new ideas and new civilizations.
Eastern culture has rich content in promoting world peace, cooperation and development.
Today, with the revival of China and other Eastern countries, Eastern thought and culture, which once made great contributions to world civilization, will play a unique role in a century of great changes.
Eastern culture emphasizes mutual respect, and all countries are equal regardless of size; it is normal for all parties to have differences, but everyone will work in a good direction; advocate harmony, harmony but difference, and learn from each other.
These are also the spirit of a community with a shared future.
The reason why ASEAN’s development continues to make progress is that an important experience is based on the principles of consultation, coordination, consensus, and cooperation, rather than system intervention.
The same is true between China and ASEAN, insisting on consultation and cooperation, discussing matters when necessary, and avoiding confrontation in the face of differences, and co-creating benefits and sharing benefits through cooperation.
In commemorating the 30th anniversary of the China-ASEAN Dialogue, I proposed that the guiding principle of China-ASEAN relations is cooperative values and cooperative civilization.
In Eastern culture, there are concepts such as "peace is precious" and "cooperation for mutual benefit". Cooperation has become a value and civilization. Its significance lies in leading and advancing the construction of new international relations and order, and advancing a new world based on the cognition of a community with a shared future for mankind.
In my opinion, the gist of the Community of Shared Destiny initiative is not to promote the establishment of organizations, but to promote ideas and cooperative actions based on ideas.
For example, between China and ASEAN, one is a country and the other is a regional organization that includes 10 countries. It is not easy to handle relations well. However, over the past few decades, there are differences and no confrontations. "There are surprises but no dangers." The key is to promote consultation through dialogue, promote action through consensus, and meet each other halfway.
For example, when China and ASEAN started negotiating a free trade area, there are huge differences between the parties, and ASEAN is in the recovery period of the financial crisis, how to solve the problem?
We started with the "early harvest" expected by ASEAN countries. China announced the first to open 400 agricultural products and signed an agricultural cooperation agreement with ASEAN to help Southeast Asian agricultural products enter the Chinese market, thus winning the trust of ASEAN countries.
The negotiation adopted the characteristic method of first easy and difficult later, step-by-step advancement and consideration of less-developed countries, thus making the process of building a free trade zone smoother.
(over)
About the interviewee:
Photo by China News Agency reporter Yang Bing
Zhang Yunling, a well-known expert on international issues at home and abroad, member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Chair Professor of Shandong University, Dean of the Institute of International Studies, and Director of the Academic Committee of the Northeast Asian Institute, won the title of National Expert with Outstanding Contributions; once served as Asia-Pacific Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Director of the Institute, Director of the Department of International Studies; Member of the 10th, 11th, and 12th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, President of the China Asia-Pacific Society; Between Reality-My Research, Participation and Thinking on East Asian Cooperation, "A Hundred Years of Great Changes: The World and China", "The Trend of the World-Grasp the Pulse of Changes in the New Era", etc.