President Xi Jinping has not missed a crucial moment, since the current once-in-a-century paradigm shift in global power balance began, to suggest a way for mankind’s future with the intelligent voice of China.
The year 2016 marked a turning point in the world order as it witnessed the Brexit referendum in the UK and swearing-in of Donald Trump as US president. It was also the moment when the international community realized the liberal world order was crumbling.
As many people around the world were asking “What happened to our world and what should we do about it”, President Xi offered his take on the subject on Jan 18, 2017, when he addressed the United Nations at its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. “Mankind is in an era of major development as well as profound transformation and change. Mankind is also in an era of numerous challenges and increasing risks”, said Xi. He stressed that we should “pass on the torch of peace from generation to generation, sustain development and make civilization flourish: This is what people of all countries long for; it is also the responsibility statesmen of our generation ought to shoulder. And China’s proposition is: build a community of shared future for mankind and achieve shared and win-win development”.
The day before he spoke at the UN in Geneva, Xi made a speech at the opening of the World Economic Forum annual gathering in Davos, Switzerland, expressing his view on economic globalization: “We should commit ourselves to growing an open global economy to share opportunities and interests through opening-up and achieve win-win outcomes. One should not just retreat to the harbor when encountering a storm, for this will never get us to the other shore of the ocean. We must redouble efforts to develop global connectivity to enable all countries to achieve inter-connected growth and share prosperity. We must remain committed to developing global free trade and investment, promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation through opening-up and say no to protectionism. Pursuing protectionism is like locking oneself in a dark room. While wind and rain may be kept outside, the dark room will also block light and air. No one will emerge as a winner in a trade war.”
The first step Hong Kong must take is to integrate its own development into the nation’s overall development strategy as quickly as possible.
These two important speeches by Xi were delivered a few days before Trump moved into the White House. A series of subsequent events proved that his warning against protectionist trade wars was right on and his analysis of the mentality and behavior of economic deglobalization is profound and visionary.
In the past four years the philosophy of a shared future for mankind advocated by China has won support from around the world; whereas Donald Trump went out of his way to upset the UN-based international order with unbridled unilateralism and bullying, including a new Cold War on China and abandoning several international organizations and agreements.
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the paradigm shift in global power balance. On January 20, 2021, as soon as Joe Biden was sworn in as the new US President, he signed a number of executive orders to reverse some of his predecessor’s worst decisions, such as leaving the World Health Organization and the Paris Agreement on climate change. The international community began speculating how the global situation would evolve after the new US president took office. At this critical juncture, President Xi delivered a clear message at the World Economic Forum’s Davos Agenda 2021 on January 25, emphasizing that “history is moving forward and the world will not go back to what it was in the past”, and that “we should stay committed to openness and inclusiveness instead of closedness and exclusion. Multilateralism is about having international affairs addressed through consultation, and the future of the world decided by everyone working together. To build small circles, or start a new Cold War; to reject, threaten, or intimidate others; to willfully impose decoupling, supply disruption, or sanctions; and to create isolation or estrangement, will only push the world into division and even confrontation. We cannot tackle common challenges in a divided world. Confrontation will lead us to a dead end. Humanity has learned lessons the hard way and that history is not long gone. We must not return to the path of the past.” In response to Biden’s intention to build an ideological chariot called “coalition of democracies” with US allies against China, Xi clearly stated that “international relations should be coordinated and regulated through proper institutions and rules. The strong should not bully the weak. Decisions should not be made by simply showing off strong muscles or waving a big fist. Multilateralism should not be used as a pretext for acts of unilateralism. The principles should be preserved and rules, once made, should be followed by all. Selective multilateralism should not be our option.”
Over the past four years, all sectors of Hong Kong society have come to the realization that as a special administrative region of China, Hong Kong must join its motherland in pursuing a shared future for mankind. The first step Hong Kong must take is to integrate its own development into the nation’s overall development strategy as quickly as possible, so as to join hands with the mainland in pursuing a shared future for the Chinese nation as well.
However, Hong Kong’s anti-China and anti-communist political forces deliberately misinterpret the “one country, two systems” principle in an attempt to tie Hong Kong to the anti-China bandwagon driven by the US and UK. Some Hong Kong residents still hold the illusion that Hong Kong will remain “neutral” while Washington is making an all-out effort to contain China. On the other hand, the defeat of the “black revolution” marks the end of another anti-China campaign by local cronies of Sinophobic Western powers. The sanctions imposed on Hong Kong by the US, and the UK immigration “shortcut” for BNO passport holders in Hong Kong should wake up at least some Hong Kong residents to the reality that the crusade against China and the SAR is far from over. The SAR government, while adhering to existing political principles, should keep all sectors of Hong Kong society on the same page that it is in their best interest to remain open to countries friendly with China.
The author is a senior research fellow of China Everbright Holdings.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
