Global Security Initiative: A sure path to lasting peace, tranquillity

The world today is far from being peaceful and tranquil, as regional security hotspots keep flaring up and the European security issue receives worldwide attention. The repercussions for international security are massive.

Unilateral sanctions that violate international law are inflicting enormous damage, compounding the enormous strain on global food and energy supply, finance and supply chains. Kenyans have been heavily affected by negative spillovers brought about by sanctions; from rising oil and wheat prices to the shilling’s devaluation.

Amidst the raging torrents of a global crisis, countries are not riding separately in small boats, but are all in a giant ship with shared destiny.

With growing threats posed by unilateralism, hegemony and power politics, and increasing deficits in peace, security, trust and governance, mankind is facing more and more intractable problems and security threats. This situation should not continue anymore because it runs counter to the trend of history as well as the security and well-being of humanity.

Shared future for mankind

What kind of security concept does the world need? How can countries achieve common security? To answer those questions, President Xi Jinping recently proposed a Global Security Initiative (GSI) at the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2022, which is another global public good offered by China and a vivid illustration of the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind in the security field.

The GSI champions commitments in six areas: to stay committed to the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security; stay committed to respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries; stay committed to abiding by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter; stay committed to taking the legitimate security concerns of all countries seriously; stay committed to peacefully resolving differences and disputes between countries through dialogue and consultation; and stay committed to maintaining security in both traditional and non-traditional domains.

This major initiative was proposed to meet the pressing need of the international community to maintain world peace and prevent conflicts and wars, the common aspirations of all countries to uphold multilateralism and international solidarity, and the shared desire of all peoples to work together to overcome difficulties and build a better world beyond the pandemic.

The idea is to take the new vision on security as the guiding concept, mutual respect as the fundamental requirement, indivisible security as the important principle, and building a security community as the long-term goal, in order to foster a new type of security that replaces confrontation, alliance and a zero-sum approach with dialogue, partnership and win-win results.

The GSI upholds true multilateralism. It is open to the world and welcomes the participation of all countries. African countries are important members of the global family. A peaceful, stable and prosperous Africa will contribute more to human progress. We are ready to work with our African friends to jointly implement the GSI.

Among the nine programmes under the first three-year plan of the China-Africa Cooperation Vision 2035 that President Xi announced at the opening ceremony of the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) last November, peace and security plays an important role.

China will undertake 10 peace and security projects for Africa, continue to deliver military assistance to the AU, support African countries’ efforts to independently maintain regional security and fight terrorism, and conduct joint exercises and on-site training between Chinese and African peacekeeping troops and cooperation on small arms and light weapons control.

Interference

At the beginning of this year, Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi put forward the Outlook on Peace and Development in the Horn of Africa during his official visit to Kenya. This Outlook is to support regional countries including Kenya in addressing the triple challenges of security, development and governance, opposing interference by countries outside the region and achieving regional peace, prosperity and long-term stability.

The Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Affairs of the Foreign Ministry Xue Bing paid a successful visit to Horn countries in March and called for a peace conference for the Horn, which was well received by regional countries.

China is ready to seek cooperative opportunities with our Kenyan friends in both bilateral and multilateral areas, to jointly implement the Global Security Initiative and the Outlook on Peace and Development in the Horn of Africa, settling disputes through dialogue and negotiation, reaching political consensus, coordinating common actions and ensuring the long-term peace and stability nationally, regionally and continentally.

Zhou Pingjian is the Chinese ambassador to Kenya