Asia is embracing China’s vision of a peaceful, secure and prosperous future

On top of offering peaceful development, fairer international relations and true multilateralism, China’s vision chimes with the essence of Asian values

Zhu Jing

Published: 9:30am, 17 Feb 2024

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When Chinese President Xi Jinping and Vietnam’s Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong exchanged Spring Festival greetings earlier this month, they recalled Xi’s visit to Vietnam last December, when they agreed to build a China-Vietnam community with a shared future.

Asean member Vietnam is one of seven in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to join China in building a community with a shared future for mankind. Why is this vision so popular?

First, because it follows a peaceful development path. The pursuit of peace, amity and harmony is deeply rooted in Chinese culture. For a long time in the past, China was one of the world’s most powerful countries. It has never colonised another state or shown overt aggression. After the Opium War broke out in 1840, China suffered through almost 100 years of turmoil and wars. Today, every Chinese person holds peace dear.

Without peace, people suffer and development is delayed, even destroyed. China’s vision of a world of lasting peace naturally attracts peace lovers.

Second, China’s vision offers a new type of international relations. Under the guidance of the UN Charter, no world war has been seen for almost 80 years.

That conflict and wars continue to flare up, and hunger and poverty threaten hundreds of millions of people worldwide, is a reminder that the wanton use of force, enforcement of hegemony and expansionism offer no way out. The Cold War mentality and zero-sum game are outdated. And a world where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer is simply unsustainable.

In building a community with a shared future, China promotes a new type of international relations based on mutual respect, equity and justice, as well as mutually beneficial cooperation. No matter the size, strength, ideology, religion or political system, all countries can be equal partners. In a global governance that features extensive consultations, joint contributions and shared benefits, there is no need to worry about strings attached.

Last, but not least, China’s vision translates into true multilateralism. This is about having international affairs addressed through consultation, and the world’s future decided by everyone working together. In the face of global crises, including the arms race, threat of nuclear war, development gap, poverty, pandemics and climate change, true multilateralism is the solution.

This means an international system with the United Nations at its core, an international order based on international law, and basic norms governing international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.

In true multilateralism, all partners can discuss global affairs of concern, build governance systems together and benefit from them. No country shall have to worry about being rejected by small circles, or be threatened or intimidated for not following the so-called rules-based international order.

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For Asean members and others in the wider Asian community, there are further reasons for joining China’s vision. We share a common home, we understand and trust each other: Asian minds think alike.

Seventy years ago, China, India and Burma – now Myanmar – jointly initiated the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, which became adopted in other parts of Asia and the world. The values of consensus, harmony, unity and community were championed by the likes of Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s founding prime minister, and Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia’s former prime minister, often as part of Asian values.

Indeed, these are the values commonly recognised as the essence of Asian culture and identity. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who announced last year the building of a China-Malaysia community with a shared future, is pushing a Malaysia Madani vision that envisages “sustainability, care and compassion, respect, innovation, prosperity and trust” – values highly aligned with China’s vision.

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As the Central Conference on Work Relating to Foreign Affairs pointed out last December, the vision’s goal is to build an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world of lasting peace, universal security and shared prosperity.

It aims to promote global governance that features extensive consultations and joint contributions for shared benefits, guided by the common values of humanity to build a new type of international relations. This means the implementation of the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilisation Initiative, with the Belt and Road Initiative the platform for high-quality cooperation.

On this basis, China is ready to work with partners in Asia and the rest of the world to meet common challenges and achieve prosperity for all, ushering in a shared future of peace, security, prosperity and progress.

Zhu Jing is charge d’affaires ad interim of the Chinese Embassy in Singapore