Meeting with the Australian Prime Minister, why did Xi Jinping talk about "small" and "big"?
China News Service, Beijing, November 11 (Xie Yanbing, Liang Xiaohui) "Small circles cannot solve the big challenges facing the world, and small groups cannot adapt to the great changes in the world today. On the afternoon of the 7th, Chinese President Xi Jinping talked about the dialectical relationship between "small" and "big" several times when he met with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who was on an official visit to China, at the Great Hall of the People.
This is Prime Minister Albanese's first visit to China since taking office, and the first visit by an Australian Prime Minister to China since 2016. During his visit, he also attended the <>th China International Import Expo. Against the backdrop of improving relations between China and Australia, the visit is considered to be a positive signal of the warming of relations between the two countries.
The outside world especially hopes that the meeting between the leaders of the two sides in Beijing will help bring the development of bilateral relations back on the right track. The interviewed experts believe that in this high-profile meeting, Xi Jinping talked about "small" and "big" many times, which contains profound considerations on how to develop China-Australia relations.
First, the development of China-Australia relations should be based on the general trend of the world.
"From the perspective of national priorities, the world is small and crowded, with risk and competition all the time. From the perspective of shared destiny, the world is vast and broad, and there are opportunities and cooperation everywhere. During the meeting, Xi Jinping pointed out that the two sides should grasp the correct direction of development of China-Australia relations in the midst of profound changes in the general trend of the world.
Today's world once again stands at the crossroads of history, and there are two orientations at the same time: one is to proceed from the common well-being of mankind, strive for unity and cooperation, and advocate openness and win-win results; The second is to regain the Cold War mentality, incite separatism and confrontation, and create bloc confrontation. The game and contest between the two orientations are related to the future of mankind.
Gao Fei, vice president of the China Foreign Affairs University, said that in today's world, there are more unstable, uncertain, and unpredictable factors, and whether there is a "narrow and crowded" or "broad" future depends on the choice of each country itself. China and Australia should follow the trend of the times, seek common ground while reserving differences, and cooperate for mutual benefit, which is in the common interests of the two countries and two peoples, and will also help the international community better cope with the various risks and challenges brought about by the changes in the world in a century.
Liu Qing, vice president of the China Institute of International Studies, believes that China and Australia are both important countries in the Asia-Pacific region, and how they view the general trend of the world plays a very important role in handling Sino-Australian relations. During the meeting, the Chinese side proceeded from China-Australia relations, but was not limited to one country, one region, one time and one event, but grasped the development of bilateral relations from the perspective of the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind, reflecting a sober and correct understanding.
Second, in developing China-Australia relations, we must also refrain from doing something.
In the past few years, the Australian side once regarded China as an "adversary" and adopted wrong words and deeds on issues involving China's core interests.
Xi Jinping stressed during the meeting that "small courtyards with high walls", "decoupling and breaking chains", or "de-risking" are all protectionism in nature, which violates the laws of the market, the laws of scientific and technological development, and the development trend of human society. "Small circles cannot solve the big challenges facing the world, and small groups cannot adapt to the great changes in the world today," he said bluntly, "We must be vigilant against those attempts to mess up the Asia-Pacific region, and we must oppose them on the one hand." ”
Experts believe that this has broken the essence of the current international community's counter-current set off by the United States and the Western world, and once again pointed out that the development of China-Australia relations should be insignificant.
Gao Fei said that when China talks about the dialectical relationship between "small" and "big", it hits the nail on the head and finds the basic logic and principle for the steady and long-term development of China-Australia relations, that is, the development of China-Australia relations should adhere to the principle of not targeting or being controlled by a third party, so as to improve China-Australia relations, reduce negative assets, and accumulate positive energy.
Chen Hong, director of the Center for Australian Studies at East China Normal University, believes that Albanese's choice of the time node for the CIIE to come to China is a very clear signal, indicating that Australia hopes to consolidate economic and trade relations, the cornerstone of China-Australia relations, by personally leading a large business delegation to participate in the CIIE. In a way, this also shows that "small circles cannot solve the big challenges facing the world".
Third, in developing China-Australia relations, we must make efforts to cooperate.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of former Australian Prime Minister Whitlam's visit to China. During the meeting, Xi Jinping described Albanese's visit as "inheriting the past and forging ahead into the future". He pointed out that with the joint efforts of both sides, China and Australia have resumed exchanges in various fields and embarked on the right path of improving and developing relations.
Since Albanese took office in May last year, China-Australia relations have shown signs of warming. Since the meeting between Xi Jinping and Albanese in Bali, the two countries have interacted frequently at all levels, and economic, educational, tourism and local exchanges between the two countries have gradually resumed.
"In the turbulent waves of the global crisis, countries are not on a small boat with more than 190 small boats, but on a big boat with a common destiny." Xi Jinping further pointed out that China and Australia should follow the trend of the times, proceed from the common interests of the two countries, jointly build a China-Australia relationship that treats each other as equals, seeks common ground while reserving differences, and cooperates for mutual benefit, so as to promote the continuous development of the China-Australia comprehensive strategic partnership.
Gao Fei said that the "big ship with a shared future" shows that China is willing to share the dividends of development with Australia, and there are no disputes left over from history and major conflicts of interest between China and Australia, and there are unlimited opportunities for cooperation. China and Australia should look to the future and better achieve mutual benefit and win-win results.
Regarding the next step of cooperation, Xi Jinping also pointed out during the talks that the potential of the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement should be fully utilized and cooperation in emerging areas such as climate change and green economy should be expanded. Albanese expressed his willingness to work with China to actively promote the steady development of bilateral relations, strengthen economic and trade exchanges, strengthen cooperation in clean energy, climate change and other fields, and bring more benefits to the two peoples.
"The economies of China and Australia are highly complementary, and the prospects for cooperation are broad, and a series of specific cooperation has clarified the focus for the next development of China-Australia relations." Gao Fei pointed out that Australia has a large demand for clean energy, although it is rich in mineral resources, but its own refining and processing and manufacturing capabilities are insufficient, which is China's strength, and China and Australia have a broad space for cooperation.
Liu Qing said that President Xi Jinping has talked about the dialectical relationship between "small" and "big" several times, and from a strategic and long-term perspective, he summed up the way China and Australia get along, and formulated a roadmap for the improvement and development of China-Australia relations in the next stage. I believe that this will help both sides return to their original intentions, calibrate their course, reorganize their outfits and set off again. (ENDS)