The Evolving International Pattern and China’s Diplomacy

Yang Jiechi

The Evolving International Pattern and China’s Diplomacy

Yang Jiechi

The global financial crisis has led to profound evolution of the international pattern. The momentum toward a multipolar world and economic globalization is strong and the trend toward greater balance of global powers and a more reasonable international order is deepening. The world is entering a period of deep reflection, with many new thoughts in the making. However, the North will remain stronger than the South for a long time to come, and the road toward a multipolar world will be long and tortuous. China’s dynamic diplomacy in the 11th Five-Year Plan period has moved us to a prominent place on the world stage. The next Five-Year Plan period coincides with the post-crisis era of the world economy. In this period, China will face both historic opportunities and severe challenges, but the former will outweigh the latter. Serving China’s development will remain the priority task of our diplomacy. We will work to create positive external conditions for long-term, steady and fast economic and social development at home, and make new progress and breakthroughs in the new era.

I. The evolving international pattern in the post-crisis era

Counting from the fall of the Lehman Brothers in September 2008,the world has been gripped by the financial crisis for over two years now, but its impact is still deepening. It is not only an economic and financial crisis, but also a crisis of systems, institutions and ideas. It is exerting complex and far-reaching impact on the international political, economic and security patterns and in the ideological and cultural realms as well.

First, the international political pattern is becoming more balanced. As a result of the crisis, the power gap between developed and developing countries has further narrowed, and international power configuration is moving toward relative balance in favor of multipolarity. The Western powers, confronted with growing challenges and problems, have seen their soft and hard power decrease in relative terms. Meanwhile, a group of emerging economies are rising rapidly one after another, and showing strong momentum of growth as a group. Developing countries are gaining equal status in the G20 and other global economic governance mechanisms, with significantly increased representation and voice. At the same time, major developing countries have enhanced cooperation among themselves, and BRIC, BASIC and other cooperation mechanisms have moved into a new stage of development. BRIC countries, in particular, have shown great promise. Their combined GDP makes up nearly one sixth of the world’s total, and they are expected to enjoy faster growth than developed countries in the medium and long term. The above-mentioned mechanisms carry not only considerable economic weight, but also increasing political influence. They are all important for developing countries in defending their right of development and of participation in international rule-making.

Second, the international economic pattern is moving from US and Western monopoly to more involvement of developing countries. The financial crisis has acutely exposed the deficiencies of the international economic system, and reform has unfolded around three priorities: First, the G20 has become the premier forum for international economic governance and is moving ahead in institution-building. Second, quota shift to emerging markets and developing countries in the IMF has made positive progress. Third, the World Bank voting power reform has taken a substantive step forward.

Adjustment to the international pattern is deepening in the post-crisis era.

The G20 summit mechanism was born amidst the global financial crisis. Its role and influence have drawn close attention from all parties. The fifth G20 summit in Seoul produced four major outcomes: First, the summit adopted the Seoul Declaration, in which the G20 leaders made the solemn commitment to strengthen the role of G20 and work together to promote strong, sustainable and balanced growth of the world economy, thus reinforcing global confidence in the economic recovery. Second, they made the commitment to further deepen the reform of international financial institutions and implement the shift of over 6% of IMF quotas to emerging markets, developing and underrepresented countries as soon as possible. Third, the summit adopted the Seoul Development Consensus for Shared Growth and the Multi-Year Action Plan on Development. The decision to make development a long-term item on the G20 summit agenda has heightened global awareness of the importance of this issue, and created enabling conditions for narrowing the North-South gap and addressing the root causes of global economic imbalance. Fourth, building on the outcomes of previous summits, the Seoul summit called for enhanced international financial supervision and regulation and opposition to trade protectionism, and agreed on a set of new measures and steps for bringing about long-term, sound and steady growth of the world economy.

In sum, the G20 is evolving from a crisis management mechanism to one focusing on long-term economic governance. China will continue to support its institution-building and development and at the same time, work with other parties in a spirit of equality, inclusiveness, solidarity and coordination for sustained and sound development of the G20 mechanism.

Third, the international security pattern now features more diverse interests and complex structures. A world war has become less likely and a peaceful environment is expected to continue. This is the general trend of the international security situation in the post-Cold War era. But it does not mean the world is a tranquil place. On the contrary, a major change in the international security situation is that security threats have become more complex and diverse and destabilizing factors and uncertainties are on the rise. The financial crisis has highlighted the importance of maintaining national economic and financial security. Economic issues have greater political implications while political issues have greater economic implications. Non-traditional security issues such as economic, food, energy and resources security and terrorism have become intertwined with traditional security issues such as regional hotspots, local conflicts as well as territorial disputes, making security threats more diverse and complex. Countries have come to realize that their interests are interlinked in an era of globalization and they will rise or fall together. No country can resolve all issues on its own and they must work in unity. Meanwhile, various parties have stepped up national defense and military building. Recently, various major countries have formulated new national security strategies to bolster defense and military capability and have a stronger say in shaping international security relations. The post-Cold War international security order has thus entered a new period of active development.

Fourth, competition in soft power is getting fiercer, and people-to-people and cultural exchanges have become more robust. The deficiencies of the capitalist development model in the US and Europe revealed in the international financial crisis have prompted deep rethinking on capitalism. In the meantime, the development models and approaches of China and other emerging economies, whose overall performance in dealing with the financial crisis is better than that of the Western countries, have attracted wide attention. It is worth mentioning that after China successfully hosted the Olympic Games and the World Expo and faced down the financial crisis, our development path has received attention and acclaim from more and more countries. Generally speaking, the world has entered a period of deep reflection and active debate. Personnel exchanges among countries have grown and cooperation in culture, tourism, education and youth affairs has further expanded in size and substance. The increasingly dynamic people-to-people and cultural exchanges around the world have played a unique and important role in promoting dialogue and exchanges among civilizations.

In sum, adjustment to the international configuration is deepening in the post-crisis era. The momentum toward a multi-polar world and globalization is growing, and there is a fair chance of positive progress toward greater balance in international power, more democracy in international relations and a more equitable international order. Yet, developing countries still face multiple difficulties and challenges, and have a long way to go before they can achieve real development. The power structure tipped to the North will persist for a long period to come, and the road toward a multi-polar world will remain long and tortuous.

II. Diplomacy in the 11th Five-Year Plan period and our overall planning for the 12th Five-Year Plan period

We are about to wrap up the 11th Five-Year Plan. The past five years have been crucial to China’s journey of peaceful development. It has been a period in which we have risen to challenges, broken new ground and made great achievements on the diplomatic front. Under the correct leadership of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, we have successfully hosted joyous events, managed thorny issues and accomplished major achievements, taking our diplomacy to a new level.

These five major endeavors moved China faster to a prominent position on the world stage.

We successfully hosted the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, the Beijing Olympic Games and the Shanghai World Expo, and we effectively dealt with the international financial crisis and constructively participated in the international efforts to address climate change. These five major endeavors moved China faster to a prominent position on the world stage. Over the five years, we gave full play to the guiding role of summit diplomacy, effectively safeguarded our national interests and demonstrated China’s image as a big, responsible country. We conducted active, all-dimensional diplomacy, steadily promoted dialogue and cooperation with major countries, our neighbors and other developing countries and played an important and constructive role on major international and regional issues. We actively participated in and steered the reform of the international system and increased China’s voice and representation in the international system. We pursued vigorous economic diplomacy to serve the domestic effort of maintaining stability, promoting development and transforming the economic development model. We vigorously pursued public diplomacy and cultural and people-to-people diplomacy, which have enhanced international understanding and friendship towards China and gained more public understanding and support for our diplomatic efforts. We made great efforts to advance security diplomacy, properly handled major emergencies and sensitive issues, firmly upheld China’s sovereign security and protected our overseas personnel and assets. What is noteworthy is that the past five years also saw new and significant achievements in building diplomatic theories with Chinese characteristics. In these five years, we gained a deeper understanding of the laws that govern the evolution of the international situation and the interactions between domestic and foreign policy, and developed a clear view of the relationship between diplomacy and development. We enriched and further improved our all-dimensional diplomatic posture, taken overall coordination as the fundamental approach of our diplomacy in the new era and enhanced our ability and level of conducting diplomacy in a scientific way.

At the recently concluded 5th plenum of the 17th Party Central Committee, the Proposal for Formulating the 12th Five-Year Plan for China’s Economic and Social Development was adopted. The proposal set out the guiding principles, basic requirements, development goals and major tasks and measures for China’s economic and social development in the coming five years. With both a domestic focus and international vision, the 12th Five-Year Plan will take into full account the external environment and conditions facing China’s economic and social development and set higher standards for our diplomatic work. It was pointed out at the plenum that China is still in an important period of strategic opportunities that present us with a large scope for development. This major conclusion is of strategic significance. It concerns the cause of the Party and the nation, defines the strategic position of China in today’s world, and sets the direction for China’s future development.

In the 12th Five-Year Plan period, we will face both valuable historic opportunities and numerous difficulties and challenges, predictable and unpredictable. Our opportunities will outweigh the challenges. The biggest opportunity will come from China’s own major development and progress. The continuous growth of China’s economy will boost our overall national strength and international standing. With the deepening of multi-polarity and globalization and the shift in the international balance of power in favor of world peace and development, China will continue to enjoy a generally peaceful and stable external environment. Further reform of the international economic system and changes in the global economic development pattern will enhance China’s say and influence in the world and present us with new, major opportunities for leapfrog development. In terms of challenges, the underlying impact of the financial crisis will continue to surface, traditional and nontraditional security threats will continue to be intertwined, hotspot issues still crop up from time to time, and major powers will engage in more intense strategic competition in the post-crisis era. As domestic issues increasingly have international ramifications and international issues increasingly affect domestic development, China’s diplomacy will face a more complicated situation.

In the 12th Five-Year Plan period, we will face both valuable historic opportunities and numerous difficulties and challenges.

To implement the 12th Five-Year Plan and make good use of the current period of important strategic opportunities, the most important thing on the diplomatic front is to be more farsighted, proactive and effective in our work and develop a greater ability to seize opportunities, defuse challenges and manage complex situations. We need to conduct diplomacy in an all-dimensional manner, deepen relations with major countries, our neighbors and other developing countries, better uphold our sovereignty, security and development interests and maintain the generally favorable external environment. Diplomacy is to serve our development interests. We will bear in mind both the domestic and international situations, focus on the key and difficult issues in China’s economic and social development, and work to create good external conditions for the accelerated transformation of our economic development pattern and long-term, steady and fast economic and social development at home. In this way, we will make new diplomatic accomplishments in the new era. Our priority tasks include the following six aspects:

First, serve our development interests. We will strive to foster and maintain a more favorable international environment to meet the need for scientific development and for accelerating the transformation of economic development pattern. We will vigorously carry out economic diplomacy, oppose protectionism and intensify efforts to support the “go global” and “bring in”business strategies so as to make concrete contribution to the effort of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects.

Second, develop relations with major countries. We will advance relations with major countries in a balanced manner, step up high-level engagements, enhance political mutual trust, deepen economic cooperation and trade, expand people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and intensify cooperation in international and regional affairs. We will work to maintain overall stability, relative balance and win-win cooperation in our relations with major countries.

Third, promote cooperation and mutual trust with neighboring countries. We will continue to unswervingly follow the policy of good-neighborliness and the principle of fostering amity and partnership with neighboring countries. We will increase dialogue and exchanges with them, strengthen our bond of common interests, consolidate public support for friendly relations and work with them to create a regional environment of peace, stability, equality, mutual trust and win-win cooperation.

Fourth, enhance solidarity and cooperation with other developing countries. We will uphold the principle of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit in our relations with them, deepen traditional friendship and consolidate the fundamental role of developing countries in our overall diplomatic picture. We will promote practical cooperation among the emerging economies.

Fifth, push forward reform of the international system. We will continue to take an active part in and steer cooperation at the G20 summit, and advance reform of the international economic system. We will continue to play a positive and constructive role in meeting the climate challenge.

Sixth, work for theoretical and institutional innovation. We will follow the guidance of the theory of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and continuously enhance innovation in diplomatic theories with Chinese characteristics and institutionbuilding, so as to strengthen the capability of “conducting diplomacy in a scientific manner”.

III. Some suggestions for the study of international issues

First, combine more closely the study of the international situation with diplomatic practice. Attention should be given to the study of major, strategic and trend-setting issues in the international situation. It is also important to enhance the study of major and thorny issues in our diplomatic work and propose timely and workable recommendations and general approaches.

Second, further enrich and develop diplomatic theories with Chinese characteristics. We have successfully hosted the Beijing Olympic Games and the Shanghai World Expo, actively addressed the international financial crisis, and accomplished a host of major, important and difficult tasks. All this speaks volumes for the advantage of China’s development path and the institutional advantage that allow us to mobilize resources to accomplish big undertakings. It has also enriched our diplomatic practice with Chinese characteristics. It is important to review the past experience in a systemic and earnest manner, elevate our diplomatic practices and innovations of recent years to the level of theories, and further enrich and develop the diplomatic theories with Chinese characteristics.

Third, give full play to the special role of experts and scholars in conducting active public diplomacy. China’s every move and action is now in the international spotlight, and people in China are also paying increasing attention to our diplomatic work. I hope that the experts and scholars will continue to play an active role, vigorously carry out international exchanges and tell a more lively “China story” so that the world can have a true and full picture of China.

We are about to enter the first year of the 12th Five-Year Plan period. It is a crucial period for China to build a moderately prosperous society in all respects, deepen reform and opening-up and accelerate the transformation of the economic development pattern. It is a period of great significance in China’s peaceful development, a period of building on past experiences and making new achievements. Those of us on the diplomatic front have the heavy responsibility and proud mission of preserving and making good use of this important period of strategic opportunities and creating a favorable external environment for building a moderately prosperous society at home. Following the spirit of the 5th plenum of the 17th CPC Central Committee and under the correct leadership of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, we will better coordinate domestic and international situations, rely on, serve and promote domestic development, and break new ground in our diplomatic endeavor.

H.E. Yang Jiechi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China.