In a fractured world, how can international actors effectively address global issues? When should established and rising powers choose accommodation and cooperation to prevent war and safeguard global peace? What roles can middle powers and other regional countries play in preserving the positive regional trends of long peace and rapid growth?
These pressing questions are awaiting answers in today’s chaotic world and they were the central topics of discussion during the three-day World Peace Forum (WPF), hosted by Tsinghua University and the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs in Beijing from July 5 to 7. The forum was themed Improving Global Security Governance: Justice, Unity and Cooperation.
The current international situation is turbulent, and the international system is facing increasing risks and challenges, Li Luming, President of Tsinghua University and Chairman of the WPF, said at the forum’s opening ceremony.
“We firmly believe that the more turbulent and divided the world is, the greater the need for solidarity and coordination. The more tense and confrontational relations between countries are, the greater the need for dialogue and exchange,” Li said.
Whither the China-U.S. relationship?
As the world undergoes turbulent change, actions by major countries inevitably elicit mixed reactions. According to Li Junru, former Vice President of the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, who attended the forum, the international community must address two critical questions: How should major countries interact, and how can they build strategic trust? Failing to answer these questions risks inviting chaos and instability, whereas addressing them can foster peace and security.
Chinese President Xi Jinping highlighted the improved stability in China-U.S. relations during an April 2 phone call with his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden, attributing it to the implementation of the consensus reached during their meeting in San Francisco, California, last November.
Wu Xinbo, Dean of the Institute of International Studies at Shanghai-based Fudan University, noted that China-U.S. relations are slightly less tense than they were a year ago, despite ongoing uncertainties. He highlighted the continued high-level and working group communications, with senior officials from both countries visiting one another, making the relationship more manageable.
Susan Thornton, former U.S. Acting Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, concurred with Wu. She observed that the bilateral relationship has stabilized since the San Francisco meeting and emphasized the need to focus on improving relations and highlighting the positive aspects, rather than hyping up the perceived “threat” from each other.
It’s impossible in the current globalized world for the U.S. to contain China or slow its development, and both sides should be clear on the continuation of trade and work on negotiating that issue rather than seeking decoupling, Thornton said. “I’m very optimistic about U.S.-China relations in the long run.”
Da Wei, Director of the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University, also contended that the summit between the heads of both countries was followed by several positive signs for the bilateral relationship, but the process of stabilizing bilateral relations was slowing down. “We have probably picked the low-hanging fruit already,” he said.
“Managing the relationship is not only about avoiding conflict. I think Americans are always emphasizing the need to avoid conflict. I totally agree, but that’s not enough,” Da noted.
“We need to pick up our own policies and remove those policies that we don’t think are consistent with our main goal,” he said, adding that the U.S. needs to take actions that demonstrate it is not containing China instead of just claiming to have no such intention.
According to Wu, the China-U.S. relationship still “lacks reciprocity and is uneven.” He continued to elaborate that “China has tried to accommodate U.S. concerns on artificial intelligence dialogue, military-to-military relations, fentanyl and so on. But the Biden administration has been very reluctant to address China’s concerns.”
“The Taiwan question, or sanctions or tariffs, all these kinds of things, there has not been much progress,” Wu said.
Da shared a similar concern, warning of “negative development” in bilateral ties, particularly regarding the Taiwan region, and technological and economic issues. He noted that recent remarks from senior officials on either side had been marked by impatience, frustration, anxiety and disappointment.
“This tendency is not good,” he stressed, cautioning another crisis or some kind of confrontation could not be ruled out if the present trajectory were to continued.
Da also mentioned the recent U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods, suggesting that this issue is not actually about China-U.S. bilateral relations but rather a spillover of domestic political issues in the United States. This also makes the U.S. claim that it does not seek to suppress or contain China’s development less credible.
In May, the Biden administration announced tariffs on $18 billion worth of Chinese imports. Among these, the tariff on Chinese electric vehicles was quadrupled from 25 percent to 100 percent.
Former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr told Beijing Review during a press conference at the forum on July 7 that if the next U.S. administration continues to impose tariffs on imports, and more on those from China, “the world economy will suffer a huge recession.”
Safeguarding peace
While the bilateral relationship between China and the United States was a key focus, the forum also emphasized the responsibility of all nations, including major countries and Global South nations, for improving global security governance. The Global South refers to the nations of the world that are considered to have a relatively low level of economic and industrial development and are typically located to the south of more industrialized nations.
Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, speaking at the forum’s opening ceremony on July 6, called for collective efforts to enhance global security governance, uphold fairness and justice, and promote international security cooperation.
He noted that the world is experiencing profound changes unseen in a century and emphasized that China, as a permanent member of the United Nations (UN) Security Council and one of the largest members of the Global South, will continue to steer the right course amid these changes.
During a panel discussion held during the forum, Barry Buzan, Emeritus Professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science, called for a broader consensus on so-called common threats. He pointed out that many issues have been politicized, such as the competition between China and the United States, making it more complex to maintain world peace. He emphasized the importance of realizing the vision for a humanity with a shared future.
Li Junru told a plenary session of the forum that “most importantly, major powers should think more for the Earth as it is the shared home of over 8 billion people.” Human beings have to work together, to use human wisdom rather than the power of any one party or faction to manage international relations and to safeguard the right to survival, development, and global peace and security, he said.
The WPF took place one week after China commemorated the 70th anniversary of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, and many speakers at the forum referenced the principles in their remarks.
In the 1950s, the Chinese leadership specified the Five Principles in their entirety for the first time—mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, mutual non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence.
Former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said the fragmentation of the world is linked to the deregulation of force, the acceleration of crisis and the polarization of the international system.
The world needs diplomatic initiatives to curb the risk of war escalation and expansion, and reduce the consequences of war for all, he added.
Countries must rely on the principles of the UN and reaffirm international rules such as the Five Principles, de Villepin said. “They can serve as a basis for resolving major international crises. They also demonstrate the possible unity by the international community beyond cultural, historical and political differences.” –The Daily Mail-Beijing Review news exchange item
