Chinanews.com, Beijing, January 1. Title: 2023 Prospects: "Four Deficits" Impact the Global Governance Order China's Plan is Committed to Win-Win

  Reporter Meng Xiangjun is sweet

  Geopolitical conflicts have not disappeared, major power competition is fierce, and security crises are frequent. Entering 2023, global peace deficits, security deficits, trust deficits, and governance deficits will continue to increase.

  In the new year, how will countries work together to reduce the "four major deficits", promote sustainable development, and maintain world peace and security?

How will China contribute to global governance through diplomatic practices?

  Recently, Su Hao, director of the Center for Strategic and Peace Studies at the China Foreign Affairs University, Cui Hongjian, director of the European Institute of the China Institute of International Studies, Joseph Gregory Mahoney, a professor at the School of Politics and International Relations at East China Normal University, and Aina, a senior researcher at Taihe Institute Tang En participated in an online interview with Chinanews.com, focusing on the difficulties faced by global governance in 2023 and the direction of China's diplomacy.

[The era of hegemony "return to light"?

The United States faces governance failure]

  Looking back on China's diplomatic performance in 2022, Mahoney believes that despite facing numerous provocations, China has "successfully restrained itself" and tried to "avoid being pulled".

  He pointed out that although some cracks have begun to appear in the U.S. policy toward China, overall, the development trajectory of Sino-U.S. relations in 2023 should "remain unchanged."

However, if the "pivot to Asia" initiative initiated by the Obama administration and further promoted by the Trump and Biden administrations continues, it will put increasing pressure on China's relations with other Asian countries.

  Mahoney criticized that the United States failed to implement effective governance at home, and instead tried to create problems and loopholes in global governance to cover up domestic governance incompetence.

"Without seeing solutions to the problems of domestic governance in the United States, the situation is getting worse, and we will continue to see the United States play a dirty role in global governance," he pointed out.

  "The dream of the United States is to always be the hegemony of the world." It believes that it must control the world by itself. Tang En analyzed that in order to maintain political, economic and military hegemony, the United States often attacks and violates international institutions and agreements.

On April 5, 2022 local time, high-level U.S. military officials attended a hearing in the House of Representatives on the defense budget for fiscal year 2023.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Chen Mengtong

  However, China is taking the opposite path to the United States, not drawing a line based on ideology, but pursuing mutual benefit with other countries.

Tang En said that China continues to maintain stability, provide trade opportunities, and work together with other countries on issues such as economic recession and climate change, which is to set an example.

  Su Hao made an in-depth analysis and said that what the United States and the West insist on continuing is a maritime era in which the West dominates the world based on industrial civilization and sea power.

However, this era dominated by the West has actually "returned to the light".

  Now the United States and the West feel that globalization is not good for them, and there are anti-globalization and "decoupling and breaking chains" behaviors.

The United States is trying to intervene and tear East Asia apart, using the so-called "Indo-Pacific Economic Framework" to pull Japan, South Korea, and even ASEAN, and promoting the "four-sided mechanism" of the United States, Japan, Australia, and India. In Su Hao's view, the West is going against the trend of history. The logic of the ocean age will end sooner or later.

  At the same time, Su Hao pointed out that with a series of high-tech developments such as information networks and digital technologies, a large number of developing economies have risen in groups, and land is no longer a barrier and obstacle that hinders human exchanges.

This indicates that human society will surpass industrial civilization, and a "New World Era" in which digital and intelligence are mixed will come.

[Regionalization strategy has made achievements, "the Belt and Road Initiative" promotes the new process]

  In Su Hao's view, the future human society will take the Eurasian continent as the leading platform, and reconstruct the relationship between various civilizations based on the land.

The historical traditions such as the ancient Silk Road and the Maritime Silk Road in China are being revived through the "Belt and Road" initiative.

Su Hao believes that this is determined by historical logic and inertia, and cannot help but be misinterpreted and misunderstood by the West.

Data map: The "China Tianshui-Cape Town, South Africa" ​​international train departs from the Tianshui Railway Freight Yard of the Lanzhou Freight Center of the Lanzhou Railway Bureau.

Photo by Li Zhijie issued by China News Agency

  Under the framework of the “Belt and Road Initiative”, in order for major country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics to play a role, it must first promote regional cooperation based on China’s geographical location in the East Asian continent.

  First, China continues to promote ASEAN, China, Japan and South Korea 10+3 East Asian regional integration cooperation.

  Su Hao said that in the past 20 years, China has been promoting the 10+3 East Asia cooperation mechanism in line with geopolitical logic.

Today, as two developing economies, China and ASEAN countries are each other's largest trading partners and further deepening relations is determined by its inevitable logic.

  With the implementation of the “Belt and Road” initiative, China-Laos, China-Vietnam railways, high-speed railways in Indonesia and Thailand will continue to be built or will be completed, which will help China-Southeast Asia’s infrastructure construction to form interconnection and enhance positive cooperation between the two sides.

  As for the United States' attempt to intervene in East Asia, Su Hao reminded that even if the United States is pushing, East Asian countries like Japan cannot "decouple and break the chain" with China.

In fact, deep integration with China in East Asian regional cooperation is the future of East Asian countries.

  Second, China and East Asian countries actively promote "open regionalism".

  Su Hao explained that this "open regionalism" is based on regional identity to realize the opening of East Asia to the outside world, so as to realize the overall diplomatic construction of Asia, which is different from the concept of "regionalism" in Europe and the United States.

  He believes that China is promoting the "four-ring diplomacy" in Asia, with the 10+3 East Asia cooperation to the east and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to the west.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization agreed to absorb Iran to increase its staff and other expansion, and the progress has been good, which will help the Eurasian continent to build a new model.

  In addition, Chinese leaders visited Saudi Arabia not long ago, and the China-Arabia summit was held for the first time, indicating that China and the Arab world have new development space between Eurasia.

As the meeting point of Eastern and Western civilization systems, the Middle East will play a new role.

Data map: Aerial photography of Wadi Dawasir, a desert in northeastern Saudi Arabia, dotted with circular fields.

  Dunn also observed that China has made many achievements in regionalization strategies. From the BRICS countries to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, these regionalization organizations that mainly cover southern countries are functioning well.

The decisive point is that countries can make their own sovereign decisions and not be at the mercy of others.

  He affirmed China's role in building a digital economy. For example, China and the Arab world discussed deepening energy and power cooperation, and trading in digital renminbi.

  Dunn pointed out that China has not asked other countries to adopt its own standards, but has worked closely with countries in setting standards.

This is very different from the United States, which still wants to decide for itself what countries do.

He believes that China's model will be more productive in the long run, especially in the face of a more multipolar world.

  Third, China is working hard to promote coordination and cooperation between Asia and Europe.

  Su Hao pointed out that, for example, the China-Europe Railway Express and the land-sea coordination will naturally connect China with East Asia, Asia, and Europe.

This also shows that the big history determines why European countries such as Germany and France still need to strengthen coordination and cooperation with East Asian countries.

[New Opportunities in the Asian Century, China Advocates True Multilateralism]

  From the perspective of development, Su Hao believes that China is continuing to advocate genuine multilateralism.

The economic globalization proposed by China is a "three-dimensional" globalization, which is different from the "flat" world dominated by the West.

  Through the implementation of the "Belt and Road" initiative, China has expanded high-quality cooperation within and across regions, forming a global network structure.

This is a new style of global governance that Western countries have not done.

China's diplomacy will play a more prominent role in it.

This also shows that China's own development is a new opportunity for the world economy.

Data map: Aerial photography of the second phase expansion project of Haikou Meilan International Airport.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Luo Yunfei

  From the perspective of security, Su Hao said based on his own investigation experience, on the South China Sea issue, China and neighboring countries are exploring new paths, such as considering future joint cruises, there will definitely be new cooperation space.

However, whether the United States uses the traditional "freedom of navigation" as an excuse, or deeply intervenes in the South China Sea to challenge the security of China's surrounding areas, these are outdated behaviors.

  He also pointed out that although there are differences between China and India, both sides agree and jointly promote the concept of "the 21st century is the Asian century".

Differences between the two sides will not be subversive and can be managed.

China, India, Russia, and even countries on the European continent such as Germany and France in the future, all parties will carry out economic coordination to revive the Asian economy, so as to lay a good foundation and form a new framework across the Eurasian continent.

  Mahoney also noticed that in Asia, China is increasingly seeking ways to resolve issues with Vietnam, India, the Philippines and other countries.

He believes that the best way to defeat the US policy of containing China is to "make friends with other countries".

For example, China and India have a historic opportunity to resolve unresolved issues, and he hopes that the two countries will find a way to move forward.

【Proposals to direct China to respond to new global governance requirements】

  In terms of global security governance, Cui Hongjian pointed out that the current international political changes, rising geopolitical factors, and the Ukraine crisis have put forward new requirements for China's participation in global governance.

In the future, China needs to assume the responsibilities within its capacity and play its role within its capacity.

  He pointed out that China has an "improved" attitude towards the global governance system. On the one hand, in the field of political, economic and security, China opposes hegemonism, unilateralism and protectionism, and wants to eliminate unfair and unreasonable phenomena; , On the basis of inheriting rationality, further promote the construction of rationality, but China's contribution to the existing international governance system is often deliberately avoided and ignored by Western media.

  Even so, China's attitude is very clear. The issue of global governance cannot be solved by one or a few countries. It is fundamentally a common challenge faced by human society.

Cui Hongjian noted that on the basis of strengthening bilateral coordination, China is putting forward more directional initiatives and goals to carry out better cooperation with like-minded countries and regions.

  For example, he said that China's global development initiative and global security initiative systematically answered and sorted out the role and goals China wants to play in global governance, as well as what kind of partners it wants to work with.

  The goals and directions have been proposed, and the next step is to see how to implement them.

Cui Hongjian believes that "if global governance is done well, it can in turn further promote the improvement of relations between major powers."

  Mahoney also expressed his belief that the Global Security Initiative is expected to work with other multilateral initiatives to "build a framework" for the realization of Asia's goal of leading global peaceful development.

Although the global security initiative is still in its early stages, it has promising prospects.

(use up)