The Essence of CPC’s Thoughts on Diplomacy During Its 100-year Journey
Ma Xinmin
Chinese Ambassador to Sudan
On July 1 this year, the Communist Party of China (CPC) celebrated its founding centenary. In retrospect, under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee headed by Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao, and Xi Jinping in succession, the CPC has identified, step by step, a set of thoughts and ideas on China’s distinctive major-country diplomacy, whereby China’s diplomatic work has broken the waves and scored splendid achievements.
Adhering to independence. Independence serves as the cornerstone of the CPC’s thought on diplomacy. Since its inception, the CPC has taken as its mission to fight for national independence and liberation of the people and struggled against imperialism to realize the independence of the Chinese nation. After the People’s Republic of China was founded, the CPC, as the ruling party, has devoted itself to establishing diplomatic relations based on sovereign equality. To do away with the old China’s diplomacy, the newborn country then adopted the principles of “starting anew” and “putting the house in order before inviting guests”, and abolished the unequal treaties imposed by western powers on China and their privileges in the country. This put an end to the over a century of humiliating diplomacy of old China and laid the foundations for the independent foreign policy adopted by China thereafter.
The CPC always follows an independent foreign policy and the principles of sovereign equality and non-interference in internal affairs. It makes the task of maintaining national independence, sovereignty, security, and dignity its top priority, and combats imperialism, colonialism, hegemonism, power politics, and illegal interference. It won the great victory in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and innovatively proposed the concept of “One Country, Two Systems” in resuming the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong and Macao. In response to any attempt of external forces to interfere in China’s internal affairs or infringe upon China’s interests by the use of issues of core interest related to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Tibet, sea, or human rights, the CPC is resolved to fight back with countermeasures to defend national sovereignty and security and the country’s development interests, and will never compromise on these issues.
In international relations, the CPC advocates mutual respect for and attention to each other’s core interests and major concerns, and respects every country’s right to select its development path and social systems independently. In handling international affairs, the CPC always acts in the interests of the people of China and the rest of the world, determines its position and policies on the merits of each matter, and never yields to any pressure from outside.
Pursuing peaceful development. Peaceful development is what China’s diplomacy is oriented toward. Under the leadership of the CPC, the Chinese people have embarked on a new path of peaceful development that is intended for prosperity and strength rather than for hegemony. China neither follows in the footsteps of old powers to seek development through hegemonic expansion nor accepts the law that emerging powers are destined to seek hegemony. Instead, China has been playing its part in maintaining global peace. After the outbreak of the War Against Japanese Aggression, the CPC led the Chinese people in winning a great victory after 14 years of strenuous struggle and tremendous sacrifice, which is a significant contribution to safeguarding world peace. Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the CPC has been expressly advocating and upholding the five principles of peaceful coexistence, and following the foreign policy of peace, it established. Such principles and policy have been enshrined in the Constitution of the CPC and the Constitution of the nation.
The CPC firmly believes that all countries are equal, regardless of their size, strength, and wealth. It opposes ideological lines and upholds peaceful coexistence with other countries and their political parties. Based on the dialogue, non-confrontation, and non-alliance, the CPC has established relations with over 600 political parties and organizations in more than 160 countries and regions and strives to forge partnerships worldwide. With the belief that disputes over territorial and maritime rights and interests with neighboring countries must be settled through negotiation and consultation, China has resolved border issues by peaceful means with 12 countries among all 14 ones bordering China.
The CPC implements a defensive defense policy. In its 72 years in power, it has neither provoked a war or conflict nor joined in any arms force or military bloc. It never seeks hegemony, expansion, coercion, or a sphere of influence, and remains a key force in maintaining world peace.
The CPC is always a builder of world peace. China proactively participates in the resolution of major international and regional hotspot issues and promotes peace talks between the relevant parties involved in disputes. Bearing in mind that international disputes should be settled peacefully, it calls for the resolution of disputes through dialogue, negotiation, consultation, and other political means, and stands against any unfounded threat or use of force or the willful use of unilateral sanctions. It supports the role of the United Nations in leading efforts to maintain global peace and international security in accordance with the UN Charter.
China firmly supports and vigorously participates in UN peacekeeping missions. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China has so far sent over 50,000 peacekeepers to 30 UN peacekeeping operations. It is the largest troop-contributing country among the permanent members of the UN Security Council and the second-largest contributor to peacekeeping assessment, playing a constructive role in maintaining international and regional peace and stability.
Advocating win-win cooperation. Promoting a new type of international relations that features win-win cooperation is the basic principle for China’s diplomacy in the new era. Transcending the western theory on international relations that focuses on the zero-sum game, this principle stresses efforts to replace confrontation with cooperation and monopoly with shared benefits, aiming to achieve common interests and goals among countries and providing a new model for state-to-state relations.
The CPC adheres to the win-win strategy of opening up. It synergizes domestic development with opening up, associates China’s development with world development, and has the interests of Chinese people tied with the common interests of people around the world, thus propelling the shared progress of all countries. Advocating joint contribution to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China has been working hard to promote policy, infrastructure, trade, financial and people-to-people connectivity between the countries and share development opportunities with those countries along the route. It proposes and follows the neighborhood diplomacy guideline that advocates amity, sincerity, mutual benefit, and inclusiveness, and the principles of sincerity, real results, amity, and good faith that guide China’s Africa policy, which will help promote the shared prosperity of neighboring countries and African countries through development. China is the first country in human history that strives for national rejuvenation by means other than aggression, predatory quests for resources, or the superiority of its civilization. This is a way of building a strong country different from the one followed by western powers.
Upholding fairness and justice. Fairness and justice reflect the value of China’s diplomacy. The CPC is committed to equity and justice in international relations. With the foreign relations policy centered on stronger unity and cooperation with other developing countries, the CPC supports their just cause of fighting for and safeguarding national independence, backs their participation in international affairs on an equal footing, works to safeguard their legitimate rights and interests, and stands by their side as their reliable friends and good partners.
Committed to the establishment of a fairer and more equitable international political and economic order, the CPC works with other countries to make international relations more rational, democratic, and law-based. It champions the vision for global governance featuring extensive consultation, joint contributions, and shared benefits, stays actively engaged in reforming and developing the global governance system, and calls on the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to increase the representation of emerging markets and developing countries and give them a bigger say.
The CPC always acts as the upholder of the international order. Advocating multilateralism, the CPC firmly supports the core role of the UN in international affairs, firmly upholds the UN-centered international system, and firmly preserves the international law and international order underpinned by the UN Charter. It is resolved to defend economic globalization and safeguard the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization as the cornerstone, and is utterly opposed to unilateralism, protectionism, and “long-arm jurisdiction”. The CPC advocates openness, mutual accommodation, and mutual learning among civilizations, and adheres to the correct concept of justice and interests which puts righteousness first while pursuing shared interests.
Building a community with a shared future for mankind. Advancing the building of a community with a shared future for mankind is the overall goal of China’s diplomatic work in the new era. Considering the liberation of mankind as a mission, the CPC has been working hard to contribute more to humanity. Since its inception, the CPC has regarded taking part in world affairs as its duty. Comrade Mao Zedong once said during the socialist revolution that China should make a considerable contribution to mankind. In the period of socialist construction, China provided sincere assistance without hesitation to Third World nations, despite its unfavorable economic conditions.
The CPC interconnects the national revival with the progress of humanity and pushes for a shared future with the rest of the world. In the face of global challenges and difficulties, the CPC leaders proposed the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind that conforms to the common interests of all human beings and the overall interests of the global community, calling for efforts to build an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world that enjoys lasting peace, universal security, and common prosperity. This vision is oriented toward the overall interests of the international community and the shared interests of mankind to safeguard peace and safety, sustain development and preserve civilizations and the environment. This will guarantee not only the interests of people living in the world today but also the benefits of our offspring. The vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind transcends the traditional approach to the interests of countries that aims to ensure the reciprocity of interests between countries. It also enriches the outlook on shared interests of the global community established by the UN Charter that is centered on safeguarding international peace and safety. With this vision, China takes the moral high ground by focusing on the progress and fate of humanity in its diplomatic work, charting a course for the progress and future of human society.
Facing the global threat to public health security caused by COVID-19, the CPC upholds the vision of building a global community of health for all and works in solidarity with other countries to combat COVID-19. It has fulfilled its commitment to making its vaccines a global public good through concrete actions including providing vaccine aid to 88 countries including Sudan as well as four international organizations and exporting vaccines to 43 countries. It supports the proposal to waive the intellectual property rights on coronavirus vaccines and promotes fair and equitable distribution of vaccines and anti-epidemic medical supplies across the globe. All these are concrete actions for the good of the world. In the face of global challenges imposed by climate change, the CPC advocates harmony between humanity and nature and remains committed to people-oriented and green development. It has made a solemn commitment to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieves carbon neutrality before 2060.
As the ancient Chinese philosopher, Mencius said, “ensuring the right conduct and upholding justice should be the way to follow across the land.” The CPC consistently acts in conformity with the shared interests of the Chinese people and the peoples of other countries. While safeguarding the interests of China, it keeps in mind the interests of other countries, the common interests of the global community, and the interests of humanity. It works determinedly to promote world peace, contribute to global development, maintain the international order, boost the diversity of civilizations, and pursue win-win cooperation. The CPC’s thoughts and ideas on diplomacy are bound to win wider understanding and support from the global community, as it meets the trend of the times. It will remain a strong call for unity and cooperation, forge extraordinary synergy in building a community with a shared future for mankind, and contribute to a brighter tomorrow for humanity.
