China’s plan to meet challenges in international security

On April 21, Chinese President Xi Jinping first proposed the Global Security Initiative during the 2022 Annual Conference of the Boao Forum for Asia. This initiative is another international public good provided by China to the world after the Belt and Road and the Global Development Initiative. In addition, it is a vivid practice of the concept of the community with a shared future of mankind, and undoubtedly provides a Chinese solution to international security challenges.

The proposal of this initiative stands out for its practical meaning. At present, while humanity has not yet emerged from the haze of Covid-19, the crisis in Ukraine has been provoked, which has represented the intertwining of various traditional and non-traditional security threats. Thus, some countries still cling to the archaic thinking of the Cold War, immersed in the establishment of exclusive “small circles”, practicing unilateralism in the name of multilateralism, “double standards” in the name of rules and hegemony in the name of democracy, all with the aim of undermining the international security order and exacerbating the global security governance deficit. They also exacerbate the concept of national security to suppress the economic and technological development of other countries, aggravating the livelihood difficulties of the whole world, especially developing countries. In short, the initiative for global security responds to the urgent need of the international community to maintain world peace and prevent conflicts and wars, to the common quest to defend multilateralism and maintain international solidarity, as well as to respond to the universal desire to overcome difficulties and create a better future in the post-Covid-19 era.

Therefore, the initiative for global security takes six persistences as its core:

one) Persist in the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative, sustainable security, and work together to uphold world peace and security;

two) Persist in respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, not intervening in the internal affairs of other nations, and respecting the development path and social system independently chosen by the people of each country;

3) Persist in abiding by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, abandon the Cold War mentality, oppose unilateralism, and reject group politics and inter-bloc confrontation;

4) Persist in taking seriously the reasonable security concerns of all countries, abide by the principle of indivisibility of security, build a balanced, effective and sustainable security architecture, and reject seeking self-security at the expense of other countries;

5) Persist in resolving discrepancies and disputes between countries in a peaceful manner through dialogue and consultation, support all efforts in favor of the peaceful solution of crises, reject double standards and repudiate the abuse of unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction, and

6) Persist in upholding security in both traditional and non-traditional areas, jointly responding to regional disputes and global issues such as terrorism, climate change, cybersecurity, and biosecurity.

In short, the six persistences form a complete system of rich connotations that materialize an overcoming of the Western geopolitical security theory.

It should be noted that, for thousands of years, peace has been engraved in the genes of the Chinese people. China, as a responsible country, has always upheld the banner of peace, development, cooperation and mutual benefit, and made positive contributions to maintaining world peace and security. No matter how strong it is, China will never seek hegemony, expansion and sphere of influence, or participate in the arms race, and will always be the backbone for safeguarding peace and stability of mankind. Mexico is also a country that advocates for peace. China is willing to work with the international community, including Mexico, to promote the implementation of the Global Security Initiative and contribute to political solutions to various complex international and regional issues in order to preserve world peace and stability.