China’s proposal on global security fits modern world
China's President Xi Jinping meets with his Micronesian counterpart Peter Christian at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 27, 2017. Christian was welcomed by Xi after attending the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference.
At this 2022 annual gathering of the Boao Forum for Asia, China’s President Xi Jinping proposed the Global Security Initiative, a move aimed at galvanising the international community to synergize in pursuit of perpetual world peace and security.
The pronouncement comes at a time of inordinate international strife. The perils of great power politics are clearly marked out in the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
The Covid-19 global pandemic has also visited an immense economic and health toll on the world economy while climate Change continues to precipitate calamities with unparalleled humanitarian reach.
In his example on the way out of these and other world afflictions, President Xi has put forward some remedies. He has challenged world leaders to uphold the principles of the United Nations Charter and eschew the impulse of meddling in other state’s internal affairs.
The Chinese leader has also urged countries to prioritise consultations and dialogue as means of pacifying active and potential cross-border conflicts.
Consolidate peace
A more durable path to consolidate peace and security for the international community, according to President Xi, is rooted in inclusive and sustainable socioeconomic development.
China’s proposed peace and security framework echoes a number of time tested principles that have anchored human progress over the centuries. The first concerns civilizational amity – the idea that each civilisation or social system is unique and only through strategic dialogue can world societies peacefully cooperate and overcome common challenges.
China’s idea of common prosperity for humankind has found relevance and wide acceptance among developing countries. In the fight against the global health crisis, Beijing used its technological capabilities to promote a united international response against Covid-19.
So far China has provided over 2.1 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccine doses to over 120 countries and international organisations. The commodities that are either produced overseas or shipped from China have made a huge contribution to global wellness against the pandemic.
Economic development
The third principle is based on economic development as a guarantor of peace and security. Drawing from its own past of revolutions and feudal conflicts, China has dusted its economic toolkit, providing respite against penury for over 850 million people in just three decades. As a result, many societies around the world are eager to learn from China. Since Beijing fronted the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013, fifty African countries have signed up.
Just four countries in the continent are yet to join BRI. In the last decade Chinese enterprises have contributed up to 20 per cent to Africa’s economic growth.
President Xi’s Global Security Initiative can also be viewed alongside regional proposals such as the Initiative of Peaceful Development in the Horn of Africa. Beijing is nudging horn countries to reset governance and development matrices in order to generate necessary public goods that can guarantee durable peace, security and development.
The initial visit by Chinese envoy for the Horn of Africa Ambassador Xue Bing in March 2022 revealed just how peace and security hungry the region is. Horn countries have since agreed to a China supported peace conference to reimagine the future of the region; a tangible demonstration of Beijing’s constructive role in African issues.
Multilateralism
In his proposal, President Xi also sees multilateralism as the most potent tool to deal with traditional as well as new peace and security threats in the world. Terrorism, climate change, pandemics and cyber-security present some of the most intractable headwinds to international peace, security and stability. Only through synergy can countries shove these new threats aside and guarantee liveable spaces globally.
China’s new proposal on global security now invites countries to consider it; being an offshoot of Beijing’s international engagements which includes serving as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. There is no doubt that the world is currently facing a multiplex of peace and security challenges that require urgent and sustainable solutions.
The proposal should be given due consideration by China’s international partners.
The writer is a scholar of international relations. Twitter: @Cavinceworld
