President Xi Jinping started his journey as President with the launch of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). He was convinced that without sharing prosperity there is no rationale in claiming the status of a responsible state. In this way, China would not be different from other major powers of the world. It will also not be good for the sustainability of economic growth and development of China. More importantly, China will never be able to secure the vision of a shared future. Thus, he launched the BRI.
By launching the BRI, he offered the world to be part of China’s fortune. He urged his government and the business community to actively devise tools to achieve the goal of BRI and Community with Shared Prosperity. The BRI started to grow and now 140 states and many international organisations have become part of it. The importance of BRI can be judged from the actions taken by China during the COVID-19. First, China made sure the investment under the BRI must continue. Second, China also helped BRI countries to combat the challenge of COVID-19. China provided the protective instruments and shared its experience. Now China is providing vaccine to poor countries across the world.
On the other hand, China under the leadership of President Xi, has become more vocal about its sovereignty, which is evident from actions. First, China put its foot down on the issue of its claim of East and South China Sea. China told the world that it was China’s legitimate right to get hold of East and South China Sea in the light of historical facts. China has actively pursued its rights and deployed the required instruments of security.
In 2013, China declared an air identification zone in East China Sea. Japan and Taiwan (which is also part of China) also claim the airspace of the zone, but China is firm on its claims.
Second, an important example is the issue of Taiwan. China never recognised it as a country. It considers Taiwan part of the mainland like Hong Kong and Macau. China has asked the world to avoid direct contact with Taiwan. In recent times, the USA with the help of allies like Japan, India, Australia and some EU countries started to differ from One China policy. They are working to exploit the situation in their interest and pressurise China. However, their efforts did not have any effect on China. It has declared that any attempt to separate Taiwan from China would be an act of war and will be replied with full force. Third, China also did not give any heed to the Western propaganda about Hong Kong. China maintains that Hong Kong is its internal matter, and no one will be allowed to interfere in the internal matters of China.
These examples indicate that China will no more tolerate external interference and comprise on its legitimate rights. It is part of China’s policy of “no more tolerance to foul mouthing or foul play”. Mr Wang, foreign minister and state councilor, put it in words by saying, “We never pick a fight or bully others. But we have principles and guts. We will push back any deliberate insult, resolutely defend our national honour and dignity, and we will refute all groundless slander with facts”.
However, President Xi feels that peaceful coexistence must be a principle of global interaction and order. For that purpose, the world will have to change the existing systems of interaction and refine it according to the needs and requirement of the world and China is no exception. China needs it on an urgent basis as the country is facing multiple malicious campaigns and barriers to a peaceful rise of China.
These circumstances compelled China to look for new means at the global level to defy the impact of these campaigns and ensure its sovereignty. Thus, China started to reshape its engagement at the diplomatic front. The first thing was to refine its stance on the role of global institutes and the required reforms. China, under the leadership of President Xi, is a staunch supporter of the global system. He has mentioned many times the central and leading role of the UN and other global institutes. In his speech at the UN at the 75th anniversary of UN, he re-emphasised the importance of the UN and its central role. He also urged for meaningful reforms and equal respect for every country, irrespective of their economic status.
President Xi suggested four major interventions for the UN. First, the UN must stand firm on the issue of justice. No one should be allowed to exploit the system in its favour. Everyone should be treated equally and given equal respect, irrespective of their development status. Second, the UN must uphold the rule of law. No one should bully others and institutions must be the first in decision-making and implementation. Third, cooperation must be promoted by the UN and it should play a leading role. It is important to sustain the global order and solve major problems of the world. However, cooperation must be based on equality and no one should be preferred over the other. Fourth, the UN must promote real actions and come out of the mode of talks only. It should also speed up work and take real actions to combat problems like climate change, pandemics, poverty, food insecurity and environmental degradation, etc.
He reiterated the same sentiments at another UN conference about biodiversity. President Xi Jinping, in his address at the summit on biodiversity, highlighted the importance of the slogan, “Ecological Civilisation: Building a Shared Future for All Life on Earth” for COP-15. He advocated for urgent actions, which must be devised by keeping nature at heart and looking for harmony between humans and nature. He emphasised that beautiful nature is essential for a beautiful life. Biodiversity must be a priority in national and global planning and execution of plans.
This is not the first instance; President Xi is working on it for many years. He has already reformed and speeded up the efforts of China for reforms in the global system. President Xi had taken a bold step and moved one step forward from President Hu’s policy of active participation. He has infused the spirit of “leading active role” in global governance and reforms of the system. He urged foreign policy officials to take an active role in reforming the global system at the “Central Conference on Work Relating to Foreign Affairs” held in Beijing in 2018. Although the official statement came in 2018 the process was started earlier.
China is now working to sustain and strengthen the global system. In the times of uncertainty, China is trying to provide certainty to the global system, which was required. President Xi has shown his commitment at multiple forums, including the United Nations, World Economic Forum, etc. China is proving its commitment by actions. For example, despite all the negative campaigns, China is championing the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Another example is organisation of Biodiversity Conference in the times of COVID-19.
In a nutshell, we can say that President Xi is striving for a fair, equitable and rule-based global system. He considers it essential to create a community with shared future.
(The writer is a political analyst)
