The way China excels
FOR both the world and China, the year 2022 remained critical in bridging the past and the future.
As the world is undergoing historic changes of profound and far-reaching impact, Pakistan needs more than ever a vision to guide its way forward, a viable way to address its challenges, and greater strength to build consensus.
To interact with entire world China moves ahead following its consistent multidimensional foreign policy.
This way China has explored new, political, diplomatic and economic horizons during last two decades.
In the new global context, any attempt of conflict, confrontation, containment and decoupling runs against the prevailing trend and is doomed to fail; peace, development, cooperation and win-win represent the popular will of the people and are international trends.
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) with President Xi Jinping at its core has united the whole Party and the Chinese people of all ethnic groups and led the nation in rising to challenges of high winds and choppy waters in the global environment pressing ahead with formidable tasks in advancing reform, promoting development and maintaining stability at home.
Under the personal guidance of President Xi Jinping and the effective planning of the CPC Central Committee, China’s head-of-state diplomacy has played a guiding role.
Chinese diplomatic work has focused on ensuring the success of the 20th CPC National Congress as top priority and on building a community with a shared future for mankind.
China has adapted to changes, addressed adversities and broken new ground.
The leadership has conducted major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics in an all-round way, making new contribution to upholding world peace and promoting development of the masses.
The home-ground event is the Beijing Olympic and Paralympics Winter Games.
With the concerted efforts of China and the international community, the games were a resounding success.
The opening ceremony brought together 31 heads of state, government and international organizations from five continents who joined China in the celebration of the games.
The international community has experienced a China more confident, striving, open and inclusive.
The Beijing rendezvous on ice and snow marked a new milestone in the endeavour of the peoples across the world to embrace new hopes and pursue a shared future together.
The two major initiatives are the Global Development Initiative (GDI) and the Global Security Initiative (GSI).
In April 2022, President Xi Jinping unveiled the (GSI) at the Bao Forum for Asia, offering a Chinese proposal for addressing global security challenges and achieving durable peace and security in the world.
The international community has responded to the (GSI) favourably. In the matter of six months, as many as 70 countries have expressed endorsement and support for the initiative.
As the Chair of the first high-level Dialogue on Global Development held in June on the margins of a BRICS Summit, President Xi Jinping announced 32 major measures China would take to implement the (GDI); an open-ended pool of (GDI) projects and the Global Development Promotion Centre were created.
To date, more than 100 countries and a number of international organizations, including the UN, have committed support to the (GDI); 70 countries have joined the Group of Friends of the (GDI).
The three major visits refer to those made by President Xi Jinping from September to December 2022, since the pandemic outbreak.
They include the Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Samarkand, the G20 Summit in Bali and the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Bangkok, the first China-Arab States Summit (CASS) and the China-Gulf Cooperation Council (CGCCS) Summit in Riyadh.
In the period before and after the 20th (CPC) National Congress, President Xi Jinping attended five multilateral summits and held meetings with leaders of more than 40 countries, creating three peaks for head-of-state diplomacy in 2022 and making a good start to the work of the (CPC’s) new collective central leadership in China’s foreign affairs.
China has firmly rejected the US’ erroneous China policy and has been exploring the right way for the two countries to get along with each other.
President Xi Jinping has had two phone calls with President Joe Biden at the request of the latter.
The two presidents also had a face-to-face meeting in Bali, the first of its kind in three years.
President Xi Jinping analyzed the essence of China-US relations and drew China’s bottom line and red line.
Xi, stressed the need to abandon the zero-sum mentality where one’s gain and rise mean the other’s loss and decline, to define China-US interactions by dialogue and win-win cooperation, not confrontation and zero-sum competition, and to bring China-US relations back on the right track of healthy and stable development under the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation.
The US President Biden reaffirmed his statement, and further indicated that the US does not support “two Chinas” or “one China, one Taiwan”, does not seek to use the Taiwan question as a tool to contain China, and has no intention to seek “decoupling” from China.
Under new circumstances, the common interests between China and the US have increased, not decreased which is a great success.
Firstly, China will better serve head-of-state diplomacy and central tasks. Secondly, it will expand all-round diplomacy in a coordinated manner.
Thirdly, it will continue to look for the widest possible convergence of interests in global governance.
Fourthly, it will actively serve high-quality development and opening-up. Fifthly, it will build a stronger line of defence to protect its national interests.
Lastly, it will focus on strengthening its international communication capacity and make its voice heard, loud and clear.
—The writer is editor, book ambassador political analyst and author of several books based in Islamabad.
