Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, January 13 (Xinhua) -- Special Article: Crossing the Wind and Waves and Moving Forward Together -- Outlook on the Situation in the Asia-Pacific Region in 2022
Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Zan
At the beginning of the new year, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) came into effect, becoming a new milestone in Asia-Pacific openness and cooperation. This year, China will host the BRICS Leaders' Meeting, the APEC Economic Leaders' Informal Meeting, the G20 Summit and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit will also be held in Asian countries, and global governance will usher in "Asian time". This year is also the 50th anniversary of the normalization of Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations and the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the ROK, and china's relations with neighboring Asia-Pacific countries stand at a new starting point for carrying forward the past and opening up the future.
At the same time, the Asia-Pacific region is also facing many challenges: the continuous spread of the mutated new coronavirus Olmikron strain, the United States plays up "great power competition" to engage in "small circle" diplomacy, multinational elections affect the direction of regional hotspot issues, and Afghanistan is deeply involved in a humanitarian crisis...
On October 5, 2021, workers packed the locally filled COVID-19 vaccine produced by China Kexing at the Fa Ma Company bottling plant on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (Photo by Zhu Wei, Xinhua News Agency)
In the face of the theme of the times of peace and development, 2022 will be a key year for the Asia-Pacific region to ride through the storms and move forward together.
Four variables are interesting
At the beginning of the year and the beginning of the year, the menacing Olmikron strain caused a sharp rebound in the epidemic in too many Asian countries, and the economic recovery and supply chain recovery momentum are in danger of interruption. How to maintain a balance between epidemic prevention and control and economic recovery will continue to be a severe test for countries in the Asia-Pacific region in 2022.
Afghanistan, after the Taliban came to power, is facing a serious humanitarian crisis, and unilateral U.S. sanctions and funding freezes have made the war-torn Afghan economy worse. If the humanitarian crisis is not alleviated, Afghanistan risks falling into instability and chaos, giving extremist terrorist groups an opportunity to endanger regional security and stability.
South Korea's proposed presidential elections in March add to the complex and sensitive situation on the Korean Peninsula. Lee Jae-ming, the presidential candidate of the ruling Party's Common Democratic Party, advocates that the conditional relaxation of sanctions against the DPRK will be carried out at the same time as the DPRK's phased abandonment of nuclear weapons, while the presidential candidate of the opposition National Power Party, Yoon Seok-yue, advocates "denuclearization first, then security guarantees" and adopts a policy of maximum pressure on the DPRK. The outcome of this election will affect the direction of the North Korean nuclear issue and even the situation in North-East Asia.
In Southeast Asia, the Philippines is scheduled to hold national and local elections in May. In the past few years, current President Duterte has pursued pragmatic diplomacy and resolved the South China Sea issue through consultation. Whether the new president will continue his pragmatic policy after taking office is related to the stability of the situation in the South China Sea.
The U.S. turmoil undermines stability
After the US Biden administration took office, it implemented the "Indo-Pacific strategy" and hyped up the so-called "great power competition". All kinds of behaviors have fully exposed the true face of the United States as a spoiler of regional peace and stability and a spoiler of unity and cooperation.
On August 30, 2021, all U.S. troops withdrew from Afghanistan, and the 20-year war in Afghanistan launched by the United States ended in failure. It was August 16, 2021, and a large number of people gathered at the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, trying to leave Afghanistan. (Xinhua News Agency)
Whether it is strengthening the "four-country mechanism" of the United States, Japan, India and Australia, or forming a trilateral security partnership "Australia-Britain-US Alliance", the United States is full of Cold War confrontation. Senior US officials have also visited Southeast Asia many times with the intention of co-opting regional countries to take sides, but few of them should respond.
Militarily, the United States has sent ships and planes to carry out so-called "free navigation" operations, united allies to hold military exercises in the South China Sea and surrounding waters, and frequently "showed muscle" and provoked incidents in the Asia-Pacific region. The nuclear submarine cooperation promoted by the United States, Britain, and Australia in defiance of international rules has put the region at risk of an arms race and nuclear proliferation.
Countries look forward to development cooperation
Despite the challenges, solidarity, cooperation and common development are still the consensus of all countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
In the face of the US attempt to form gangs and create separatist confrontation in the region, many countries have openly demonstrated their strong willingness to maintain independent and balanced diplomacy and maintain regional peace and stability. Malaysia's Deputy Foreign Minister Kamarrudin Ghafar said that Malaysia maintains a neutral stance and will not choose sides between China and the United States. Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Thi Chou Reiterated that Vietnam will not join hands with other countries against other countries.
In response to the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, the international community has acted. China, Russia, Iran, Pakistan and other countries have provided food, medicine, wintering materials and other assistance to Afghanistan. International and regional organizations such as the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation have also taken steps to provide support for assistance to Afghanistan. The UN Security Council adopted a resolution making it clear that humanitarian assistance and other activities in support of basic humanitarian needs to Afghanistan do not violate the Security Council's sanctions resolution.
On January 6, the China-Laos Railway (Huaihua-Vientiane) international freight train to Vientiane, Laos, was ready to depart at the Huaihua International Dry Port in Hunan Province. (Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Sihan)
In the face of repeated outbreaks, countries are further strengthening public health cooperation such as COVID-19 vaccines. China has actively fulfilled its commitment to making vaccines a global public good, not only providing a large number of vaccines to developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region, but also cooperating with Malaysia, Pakistan and other countries in the localization of vaccine production, so as to inject solidarity into the regional fight against the epidemic.
From a worldwide perspective, the Asia-Pacific region is a region with relatively good epidemic control. The RCEP came into effect as scheduled and the world's largest free trade area officially launched, which will further promote the economic integration of the Asia-Pacific region and inject strong impetus into the post-epidemic economic recovery. A series of new measures announced by the Chinese government to expand opening up will also be implemented one after another, boosting the formation of a new trend of closer and more pragmatic trade cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.
Zhong Feiteng, director of the Research Office of Major Country Relations of the Asia-Pacific and Global Strategic Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believes that a number of favorable factors will enable the Asia-Pacific region to continue to lead global economic growth in 2022, and the world's center of gravity will further shift eastward. In the new year, it is believed that The Asia-Pacific countries will persist in resolving differences and disputes through dialogue and consultation, persistently regard development cooperation as an important direction for their foreign work, work together to overcome difficulties, and create good conditions for their respective development and revitalization.