Zhou Qi: China has no intention of reshaping the world order

Editor's note:

Jointly promote global development and build a common future. From November 18 to 19, 2023, the first "Tongzhou Global Development Forum" hosted by Chinese Renmin University and co-organized by Chinese Renmin University and Tongzhou District People's Government was successfully held. Zhou Qi, Dean of the Institute of Global Governance and Development of Renmin University of Chinese, attended the conference and delivered a speech entitled "Achieving Win-Win Cooperation" in the session of "Sub-forum 4: Win-Win Cooperation: Finding New Increments of Global Development".

▲Zhou Qi, Dean of the Institute of Global Governance and Development, Renmin University of Chinese

Good afternoon, everyone, I am very honored to be invited to participate in this forum. The theme of my presentation is "Achieving Win-Win Cooperation".

Many years ago, the theme of the whole world was that the development of each country is affected by the development of the world situation as a whole, and in this regard, in the 80s, the Chinese leadership made a very important decision, that is, to take the path of peace and development. These two themes are also the two major themes of the current world. Focusing on these two themes, China's diplomacy has also continued to write a new chapter.

China hopes to focus more on economic development, to carry out domestic reforms, to open up to the world, and to actively integrate into the international community. Under the existing international order, China has also achieved unprecedented economic development, and at this stage, it has made a well-known contribution to the economic development of the world.

In the first decade of the twenty-first century, we can say with great confidence that this is a period of continuous globalized economic development and that humanity is also facing common challenges, including the rise of terrorism, which can be solved through the cooperation of all nations. Therefore, the future of the destiny of humanity looks clear and optimistic.

However, after a decade of international cooperation, after international cooperation around the world to combat terrorism, there are many politicians who have gradually begun to push the world into an era of great power competition. In addition, since the Trump administration took office, a series of U.S. foreign and defense documents have mentioned China as a serious competitor of the United States. Since the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, Sino-US relations have also experienced many twists and turns, and the United States' suspicion of China has never disappeared.

The U.S. policy toward China has always oscillated between containment and engagement, but China has also played such a role and has tried to maintain good relations with the United States. Before China achieves the four modernization goals and the centennial goals of the new century, it still needs to devote all its resources and energy to economic, scientific, technological, and technological development and investment.

In 2010, China's economy surpassed Japan to become the world's second-largest economy. At that time, China's GDP was basically close to that of the United States, so there was a consensus among American politicians that the world's fight against terrorism had caused the United States to lose the opportunity to contain China's development, and that such an opportunity would not arise again.

President Trump has also had a very important impact on the international relations of the United States, and the relationship between China and the United States has fallen to the lowest point since the Cold War.

So, so far, both China and the United States will feel that this environment, this atmosphere, may be difficult to change. For Trump, he sees the world today as an era of great power competition, and China, as the most important strategic rival of the United States, has become an obstacle in challenging some of America's major power interests and the road to security and prosperity.

A previous U.S. scholar was also quick to echo this view of China, noting that the Trump administration's document ignores China's potential as a contributor to regional and global stability and prosperity, as well as a partner in achieving common goals and regional security.

Washington and its allies have destroyed some of their cooperation with China overnight over the past few decades. The U.S. strategy and Trump's strategy of restarting the Indo-Pacific have actually adjusted the world's normalcy, especially the interests of China and other developing countries. Moreover, other democracies have begun to play a "zero-sum game" with China, and have repeatedly accused the Chinese government of seeking to disrupt the world landscape.

In fact, this absurd concept has been proven wrong by history. The World Bank believes that since the 2010 economic crisis, China has been an important contributor to the world's development. An April 2022 report continued to criticize China, using the same language as the Trump administration. The People's Republic of China (PRC) is seen as its sole economic, political, and technological competitor to reshape the world order, but it has no intention of reshaping the world order.

On November 15 in San Francisco, President Xi Jinping said that we want to continue to uphold the international order dominated by the United Nations, and work on the basis of the principles of the UN Charter in accordance with international law and basic rules governing international relations.

This question is actually about the current reference to great power competition, and China's answer is no, because the current theme of peace and development in the world has not changed, and it is still applicable at present, and the current theme is how China and the United States will solve the problem of their relationship with each other.

Because for the most part, the United States and China are two very important countries that play a vital role in shaping the new themes of the world today. In the current changes in international issues, such as the Russia-Ukraine war, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, climate change, artificial intelligence, and other international world challenges, these are inextricably linked to the current US-China cooperation.

China is also committed to win-win cooperation. As a new theme for the world, China firmly believes that on the eve of change and challenges, the world needs cooperation between China and the United States, the world's two largest developed and developing countries, to face a better future. And we need to have a common vision, shoulder our mission, find common ground, and exercise our responsibilities as a great power.

After the "balloon incident" between China and the United States in February 2023, five senior U.S. officials visited China before and after, including Secretary of State Blinken, Sullivan, Yellen, Kerry, and Raymond of the Department of Commerce, all of which can show that the U.S.-China relationship is also the most important relationship between the two countries in history. President Biden and President Xi Jinping have also expressed that the two countries do not seek to decouple from each other, and they [the United States] have also expressed their desire not to hinder China's development.

At the same time, President Xi Jinping also stated that we will not compromise or give up our determination to safeguard our national sovereignty and security. In this way, both China and the United States in San Francisco have expressed their desire to maintain bilateral relations, and both sides also want to manage competing relations with each other, to avoid conflicts, to maintain open channels of communication, to cooperate in channels of common interests, to abide by the UN Charter, and to respect each other's path of coexistence. In San Francisco, China has also made its own commitment to continue dialogue rather than confrontation, cooperation rather than alliances, and an open and win-win approach to development.

Now that there is a "San Francisco Vision" between China and the United States, we hope that this vision will become a reality, because the relationship between China and the United States also affects the world, and the relationship between China and the United States is regarded by the world as the most important bilateral relationship, and this relationship will also determine the direction of the development of the world.

In addition, the confrontation between China and the United States will not only affect the interests of the two countries, but also bring disaster to the whole world. Therefore, China and the United States should achieve peaceful coexistence, said US National Security Secretary Sullivan, who should make win-win cooperation a new theme in the world.

(This article is based on shorthand and has not been reviewed by the author.) ）

Chongyang, the National People's Congress

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Established on January 19, 2013, Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies of Chinese University of China (Renmin University Chongyang) is the main funding project donated by Chongyang Investment to Chinese University and set up an education fund for operation.

As a new type of think tank with Chinese characteristics, Chongyang has hired dozens of former politicians, bankers, and well-known scholars from around the world as senior researchers, aiming to pay attention to reality, advise the country, and serve the people. At present, the Chongyang National People's Congress has 7 departments and 4 operation and management centers (the Center for Ecological Finance, the Center for Global Governance, the Center for China-US People-to-People Exchange, and the China-Russia Center for People-to-People Exchange). In recent years, the Chongyang National People's Congress has been highly recognized at home and abroad in the fields of financial development, global governance, major-country relations, and macroeconomic policy.

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