In his video speech to the opening ceremony of the 2023 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that "building a community with a shared future in cyberspace is not only an inevitable choice to answer the issues of the times, but also the common voice of the international community." We need to deepen exchanges and practical cooperation, and jointly push forward the building of a community with a shared future in cyberspace to a new stage." This important exposition enriches and develops the concept of building a community with a shared future in cyberspace, and provides a fundamental basis for accelerating the construction of the Internet into a new driving force for development, a new frontier for maintaining security, and a new platform for mutual learning among civilizations, so that digital civilization can benefit the people of all countries.
Build a community with a shared future in cyberspace
It is important to promote the prosperity and progress of the world's cyberspace
It is of great significance
Building a community with a shared future in cyberspace is an inevitable choice to answer the issues of the times. The Internet is one of the greatest inventions of mankind in the 20th century, and it is also the most imaginative and innovative field in the digital age, which has brought unprecedented profound changes to human society and represents a new quality of productivity and a new direction of development. At present, problems such as unbalanced development, imperfect rules, unreasonable order, and insufficient sharing in the Internet field are becoming increasingly prominent. Some Western countries have relied on their superiority in cyber technology to pursue hegemony in cyberspace for a long time. The United States has first-mover advantage over 10 of the world's 13 root servers and has absolute control over the global Internet domain name system and IP address allocation. In addition, cyber crimes such as infringement of intellectual property rights, racism, and cyber terrorism are rampant. It can be seen that strengthening cyberspace governance is an inevitable choice for the healthy, safe and sustainable development of the global Internet.
Building a community with a shared future in cyberspace is highly in line with the value appeal of promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. Building a diverse, open, healthy, fair and just cyberspace, safeguarding the interests of most countries, especially developing countries, is in line with the value of a community with a shared future for mankind and the common expectations of the international community. The development of the Internet requires everyone's participation, and the fruits of development should be shared by everyone. At present, the number of Internet users in the world has exceeded 5 billion, accounting for 64.5% of the global population, and how to develop, use and govern the Internet well and build a more fair, reasonable, open, inclusive, secure, stable and vibrant cyberspace has become an important issue faced by all countries in the world.
Building a community with a shared future in cyberspace has contributed China's ideas to the global governance of cyberspace. As China becomes more connected with the world and the integration of the Internet and the economy and society is increasing, China needs the Internet, and the Internet also needs China. In November 2014, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out in his congratulatory speech to the first World Internet Conference: "The Internet has truly turned the world into a global village, and the international community has increasingly become a community with a shared future between you and me." In December 2015, General Secretary Xi Jinping creatively put forward the "four principles" and "five-point proposition" of global Internet development and governance at the opening ceremony of the second World Internet Conference, advocating respect for cyber sovereignty and jointly building a community with a shared future in cyberspace. The concept of building a community with a shared future in cyberspace involves Internet development, security, governance, inclusiveness and other aspects, and contributes China's plan to a better future where countries around the world work together to protect their cyber homeland and share the dividends of cyber development, and is the common wealth of all mankind.
Build a community with a shared future in cyberspace
Facing new opportunities and challenges
With the vigorous development of Internet technology, exchanges and cooperation in the real world and collision games in the real world are extending to the digital world, various interests are intertwined, global Internet governance is facing greater difficulties and bottlenecks, and building a community with a shared future in cyberspace is facing new challenges and opportunities.
The Internet has increasingly become a new driving force for development. In the 21st century, the Internet-based technological revolution and industrial transformation have profoundly affected human cognition, thinking and governance. Cloud computing has rewritten the traditional IT architecture and changed the traditional industrial thinking and model, the metaverse has brought huge industrial and ecological changes, and generative AI has triggered a big discussion about whether it is a "virtual fire" or a disruptive technological revolution. In China, breakthroughs have been made in the development of the Internet in technological innovation, digital economy, and convenience for enterprises and the people. In 2022, the scale of the mainland's digital economy has reached 50.2 trillion yuan, accounting for 41.5% of GDP. With the acceleration of the Internet and industrial integration, the digital economy has become a new engine for the high-quality development of the mainland. At the same time, China has helped to improve the level of digital public services, made full use of network information technology, built a "cloud model area" for international cooperation in education, actively carried out international cooperation on online poverty alleviation, and promoted and shared digital poverty alleviation experience and proposed solutions through platforms such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).
The Internet is increasingly becoming a new frontier for maintaining security. In the digital age, cyberspace has been deeply integrated with the real space of human activities, becoming the fifth frontier after sea, land, air and space, and as a natural extension of a country's national sovereignty in cyberspace, "cyber sovereignty" came into being. As one of the world's major powers and economies, China has taken the lead in proposing the concept of cyber sovereignty and has vigorously promoted it internationally, making the principle of cyber sovereignty a basic norm for international rule-making in cyberspace under the framework of the United Nations. In fact, since the birth of the Internet, the international community has never stopped playing the game of cyber sovereignty, and some developed countries in the West have peddled their values under the guise of freedom and democracy and wantonly infringed on the cyber sovereignty of other countries. In addition, cybersecurity has become an important area of the great power game. With the acceleration of informatization, digitization, networking, and intelligence, the cybersecurity situation is becoming increasingly severe, complex and changeable, cyber surveillance, cyber attacks, and cyber terrorism activities have become global public hazards, and the cross-border flow of data has brought severe challenges to national security and personal privacy protection.
The Internet has increasingly become a new platform for mutual learning among civilizations. Building a community with a shared future in cyberspace is neither the pursuit of "being alone" nor the pursuit of "prioritizing national interests", but a cause that benefits all mankind, and in the final analysis, it is for the benefit of human society. China has always attached great importance to the role of the Internet in promoting mutual learning among civilizations, adhered to the principle of people-oriented and science and technology for good, actively responded to the needs of the international community, worked together to promote the implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and worked together to bridge the digital divide, promote online cultural exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, and promote the benefits of Internet development to people in different countries and regions. More than 1,800 guests from 126 countries and regions around the world participated in the Wuzhen Summit online and offline, which not only reflects China's practical actions to actively connect with the world and promote people around the world to share the dividends of Internet development, but also demonstrates that the Internet has increasingly become a platform for exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations.
Let the digital world
Better enhance the common well-being of mankind
Standing at the strategic height of promoting the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind, General Secretary Xi Jinping scientifically analyzed the new situation and new requirements faced by global Internet development and governance, and put forward "advocating development first, building a more inclusive and prosperous cyberspace", "advocating security and danger, building a more peaceful and secure cyberspace", "advocating mutual learning among civilizations, and building a more equal and inclusive cyberspace". These "three initiatives" have their own focus and are interconnected, reflecting a profound grasp of the law of development of human society in the digital era, reflecting the deepening of the concept of building a community with a shared future in cyberspace and the continuous consolidation of actions, and providing an action guide for the development and governance of global cyberspace at a new historical starting point.
Build a more inclusive and prosperous cyberspace. The fundamental purpose of building a community with a shared future in cyberspace is to make the Internet better serve the social and economic development of mankind and the overall interests of human society, so that more countries and people can take the express train of the digital era and have a greater sense of gain, happiness and security in sharing the fruits of Internet development. This requires abandoning the old thinking of zero-sum games, insisting on win-win cooperation, and making inclusive prosperity the main theme of cyberspace. On the one hand, we need to build an equitable, inclusive and resilient digital world. We will further deepen international exchanges and cooperation in the digital field, adhere to multilateral participation and multi-party cooperation, give full play to the enthusiasm and creativity of all parties, promote the transformation of network scientific and technological achievements with multi-dimensional innovation in technology, capital, talents, business models, etc., promote the two-way development of network technology and industrial applications, and accelerate the deep integration of new technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence, and blockchain with economic and social development. On the other hand, it is necessary to bridge the digital divide and achieve inclusive development of the digital economy. We should make simultaneous efforts in the construction of information infrastructure and the ability to use information technology to further eliminate technical barriers and break down data silos. The construction of information infrastructure is the carrier and premise of digital information, and attention should be paid to the balanced development of information infrastructure construction around the world, and actively build a network cooperation platform to continuously increase the convergence of interests and the growth of cooperation; the ability to use information technology is the basis and condition for optimizing the quality of life, improving the quality of public services, and promoting the innovative development of the digital economy with digital resources, and the digital capacity of developing countries should be effectively improved, so that more countries and people can share the fruits of Internet development.
Build a more peaceful and secure cyberspace. Cyber security is the cornerstone of building a community with a shared future in cyberspace, and a safe and stable cyberspace is a prerequisite for inclusive prosperity. First, we should replace confrontation with dialogue and resolve disputes in cyberspace through peaceful means. Implement the concept of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, persist in resolving disputes and resolving differences through consultation, and respond to various cyber risks in a flexible and inclusive manner. Second, we should oppose hegemony with sovereignty and lay a solid foundation for order in a clean cyberspace. Respecting cyber sovereignty means respecting the independent development path of cyberspace by all countries, abiding by international rules in cyberspace, and refraining from cyber hegemony; Third, we should ensure security through cooperation and form a joint force for network security governance. Cyberspace is characterized by integrity, dynamics, and openness, which inevitably leads to the "risk embedding" of global cybersecurity. On the basis of mutual respect and trust, all countries should deepen practical cooperation on cybersecurity, jointly crack down on transnational and cross-regional cyber crimes, strengthen data security and personal information protection, and form a joint governance force in effectively addressing the technical and ethical risks and challenges brought about by new technologies such as big data and AI, so as to build a safe, credible, rich and diverse digital world for global netizens.
Build a more equitable and inclusive cyberspace. Civilizations exchange because of diversity, learn from each other because of exchanges, and develop because of mutual learning. A community with a shared future in cyberspace is an extension of a community with a shared future for mankind in cyberspace, and it contains deep feelings of civilization behind it. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "We should promote mutual respect and harmonious coexistence among different civilizations, and let exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations become a bridge to enhance friendship among peoples of all countries, a driving force for the progress of human society, and a bond for safeguarding world peace." "Cyberspace is a common space for human activities, and building a community with a shared future in cyberspace should uphold the concept of equality and openness, and promote the inclusive, inclusive and symbiosis of different countries, different nationalities and different civilizations in cyberspace. On the one hand, we should strengthen people-to-people exchanges on the Internet, eliminate estrangements and misunderstandings, promote people-to-people understanding, promote inclusive coexistence among different civilizations, and better promote the common values of all mankind through exchanges and dialogues. On the other hand, it is necessary to strengthen the construction of cyber civilization, promote the production and dissemination of high-quality cyber cultural products, promote the inheritance and development of high-quality cyber culture, and inject deep and lasting cultural genes into the construction of a community with a shared future in cyberspace.
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Source: Guangming Daily (2024-01-04 06 edition)
Author: Zhai Yun is a researcher at the Xi Jinping Research Center for Socialist Thought with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era at the Central Party School [National Academy of Administration].
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