Last week’s 90-minute press conference by veteran Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the “two sessions” in Beijing was a master class about foreign policy in general and China’s in particular.
Wang, a former Chinese ambassador to Japan who began his diplomatic career back in 1982 and current Member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee is one of the world’s most experienced foreign ministers. He is also one of the most outspoken and articulate.
Thursday’s international press conference at the Media Centre of the 14th National People’s Congress (NPC) abounded with thought-provoking remarks and bon mots. The 70-year-old fluent Japanese- and English-speaker is not only an eloquent communicator but also a bundle of energy that belies his age.
Community with a shared future for mankind
In the presser (journalists’ jargon for a press conference), Wang repeatedly reaffirmed Beijing’s stance that “China will remain a staunch force for peace, stability and progress of the world”, based on President Xi Jinping’s vision of a global community with a shared future for mankind.
Wang also underlined China ongoing external policy goal of promoting international solidarity and cooperation. He also noted that in his report to the 20th National Congress of the Party, General Secretary Xi “pointed out that although this is an era fraught with challenges, it is also an era brimming with hope.”
Based on Xi’s vision of building a community with a share future for mankind, which has been enshrined in the Preamble of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) since 2018, China “will remain firm in pursuing its independent policy of peace, and resolutely safeguard China’s sovereignty and dignity”, Wang told the dozens of journalists from all over the world at the press conference.
Chinese wisdom
Wang also pledged that China will continue to promote win-win cooperation and “offer more solutions with Chinese wisdom to regional hotspots and global issues, and provide more public goods in the interest of world peace and development.”
With more than four millennia of recorded history, China is the world’s oldest continuous civilisation that has been able to collect a treasure trove of wisdom.
According to the Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, wisdom is the daughter of experience. China has certainly to offer the world, much younger nations in particular, lots of wisdom as far as foreign relations are concerned.
“Building a community with a shared future for mankind is the core tenet of Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy; is China’s solution to the question of what kind of world to build and how to build it,” Wang said. He also pointed out that Xi “has stressed many times that humanity lives in the same global village and travels in the same boat,” because of which countries should “work together to protect the Earth, the only inhabitable plant for us all, and make it a better place.”
Wang emphasised that the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind “goes beyond the obsolete zero-sum game mentality” and “points the right direction for humanity at a historical inflection point where accelerated transformation unseen in a century is unfolding across the world.”
Zero-sum thinking in the political arena is the misguided belief that one side’s gains can only be obtained at the expense of another side’s losses. Much to the detriment of progress in international relations, the misconception continues to rear its ugly head here and there again and again.
According to Wang, “the future of humanity should be decided by all countries together. Expressing both realism and optimism, Wang added that “the road ahead may be tortuous, but the future is bright.”
China-US ties
Wang reaffirmed the critical importance of China-US relations to our troubled planet: “The China-US relationship is critical to the well-being of the two peoples, and to the future of humanity and the world.” He reiterated Xi’s three principles – mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation – needed to put China-US ties back on an even keel.
For the China-US relationship to work well, “mutual respect is the precondition, because interaction can be sustained only when differences in social and political systems are respected and acknowledged,” while peaceful coexistence “is the baseline” and win-win cooperation “is the goal” in this regard, Wang said.
For the benefit of all mankind, I do hope that the “San Francisco Spirit” emanating from the historic Xi-Biden meeting in The Golden City last November will result in concrete action for a prolonged period of time.
The China-US relationship needs to be developed in a particularly wise manner, based on experience since the mid-19th century. Both signed their first bilateral treaty in Macau of all places in 1844.
Wang lamented that “US misperception towards China continues”, and he didn’t mince his words when he said that “the US has been devising various tactics to suppress China and kept lengthening its unilateral sanctions list, reaching bewildering levels of unfathomable absurdity.”
He also said that “the challenge for the US comes from itself, not from China; if the US is obsessed with suppressing China, it will harm itself.” Quite right!
Table or menu
Wang also insisted that “an equal multipolar world means equal rights, equal opportunities, and equal rules for every nation”, because of which countries “with the bigger fist should not have the final say.” And he was quick to add that “it is definitely unacceptable that certain countries must be at the table while some others can only be on the menu,” a direct reference to remarks by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the recent Munich Security Conference in Germany that “if you are not at the table in the international system, you are going to be on the menu.”
News analysts described Blinken’s remarks as expressing a worrisome zero-sum mentality. While some said that he targeted China, others said that the US allies in Europe were his target. Perhaps he targeted both.
Aiming for inclusive globalisation
Multipolarity with the UN framework is, of course, what Beijing promotes, and Wang was adamant that “multipolarity doesn’t mean multiple blocs, or fragmentation, or disarray.
What China wants, Wang insisted, is “cooperation under global governance with the UN-centred international system”. And he reaffirmed that “universally beneficial globalisation means growing the economic pie and sharing it more fairly,” adding that “inclusive globalisation means supporting countries in pursuing a development path suited to their own national conditions.” He also warned that “no-one should impose one single development model onto the whole world”.
Well, that’s what the West tried during hundreds of years of colonialism in what is nowadays known as the Global South. It turned out to be an utter failure and damaged or even destroyed a multitude of local economies and cultures.
Disgrace for civilisation
Asked about the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict in the Gaza Strip, Wang said that the “failure to end this humanitarian disaster today in the 21st century is a tragedy for humanity and a disgrace for civilisation.” He called for an immediate ceasefire and the release of all detainees.
Wang also said that “the calamity in Gaza is another wake-up call for the whole world that the long occupation of the Palestinian territories is a fact that should not be ignored anymore”. He called for the full implementation of the two-State solution as it “is the only way to break the vicious cycle of Palestinian-Israeli conflicts, to eliminate the breeding ground of extremist ideologies, and to realise enduring peace in the Middle East.”
Wang also said that China supports Palestine’s full membership of the UN.
The normalisation of Israeli-Arab relations would be a godsend not just for the Middle East (the Near East for Europeans) but the whole world. In a best-case scenario, Israel’s cornucopia of scientific and technological expertise, business acumen and industriousness would benefit the whole region.
Considering China’s successful mediation resulting in the resumption of diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran shows that Beijing is very well capable of solving complex conflict situations on the international stage.
Wang said that “constructive engagement in settling international hotspot issues is a due responsibility for China as a permanent member of the UN Security Council; we learn from international practices and draw wisdom from Chinese culture, and we have found the Chinese way to address hotspot issues.”
He listed four points required for constructive engagement in settling international hotspot issues: First, a commitment to non-interference in internal affairs; Second, a commitment to political settlement; Third, a commitment to objectivity and impartiality; Fourth, a commitment to addressing both symptoms and root causes.”
Unwise ‘band-aid solutions’
Concerning the four points, Wang stressed, among other things, that “all peoples in the world have a sense of justice in their hearts” and that “band-aid solutions are not advisable, nor are short-sighted, utilitarian, or finger-pointing tactics.”
China-EU ties
Regarding China-EU relations, Wang pointed out that “a few years back, an EU policy paper labelled China as a partner, competitor and system rival as the same time.” He said that “facts have shown that this characterisation is neither consistent with reality nor viable…; it’s like driving to a crossing and finding the red, yellow and green lights all on at the same time, how can you drive on?”.
Wang stressed that “China and Europe do not have clashing fundamental interests between them and that a strong Europe is in the long-term interests of China; likewise, a strong China is also in the fundamental interests of Europe.”
Concerning Taiwan, Wang said he believed “that someday, there will be a family photo of the whole international community in which all members uphold the one-China principle; it is only a matter of time.”
A mere 11 countries (including the Vatican) still maintain “diplomatic relations” with Taipei. The UN has 193 member states.
Wang underlined that this year marks the 70th anniversary of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. He said that the principles are a contribution by the East to the whole world and that “they are even more relevant and vibrant than ever.”
The five principles, as enshrined in the Sino-Indian Agreement of 1954, are mutual respect for each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty; mutual non-aggression; mutual non-interference in each other’s internal affairs; equality and cooperation for mutual benefit; and peaceful co-existence.
Concerning the development of artificial intelligence (AI), Wang said there should be equal emphasis on development and security, adding that the Global AI Governance Initiative put forward by Xi last October “has clearly laid out China’s position and proposals”. He also said that China’s focus is to ensure that three principles are met: First, ensuring that AI is a force of good; Second, ensuring safety, i.e., AI should always be placed under human control; Third, ensuring fairness, i.e., an international AI governance institution should be set up under the UN framework.
‘Small yard, high fence’
He also said that attempts to create a “small yard, high fence” in AI development “would result in mistakes with historic consequences.”
According to US newswires, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in 2022 that the Biden administration was responding to China’s advances in critical technology by setting up a “small yard with a high fence” by trying to set up a small plot of the tech landscape that the US would try to wall off from China.
“In the field of AI, cooperation between major countries is vital, so is capacity-building for developing countries,” Wang said.
Wang also reiterated China’s involvement in the development of the Global South concept, which includes the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the growing BRICS community, its solid links with Africa and its historic connection with the United Nations, considering that it was the first country to have signed on to the UN Charter.
Nearing the end of the press conference, Wang said: “My message is this: China carries out diplomacy for its people. Serving the people and meeting our compatriots’ expectations is our abiding mission”.
My conclusion? An apt message by one of the world’s most seasoned diplomats wrapping up a press conference that offered a great deal of invaluable information and ideas about China’s foreign policy as well as the current state of international relations and global governance.
– Harald Brüning
