China contributes solutions to security challenges facing mankind at 2022 BFA annual conference

On April 21, Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a keynote speech via video at the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference 2022 in Boao, south China’s Hainan province.

In his speech, Xi profoundly analyzed the security challenges confronting today’s world and solemnly proposed the Global Security Initiative out of a strong sense of responsibility for the future of humanity.

The initiative is another important global public good offered by China following the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Global Development Initiative (GDI). It represents vivid practice of the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind in the security field, and contributes China’s solutions to problems haunting global security governance.

“It has been proven time and again that the Cold War mentality would only wreck the global peace framework, that hegemonism and power politics would only endanger world peace, and that bloc confrontation would only exacerbate security challenges in the 21st century,” Xi said in his keynote speech.

Building a world that enjoys universal security is a shared aspiration of people in all countries. Humanity is living in an indivisible security community, and countries must explore a path that ensures security for all, by all and of all.

In order to maintain peace and stability in the world, countries must adhere to the correct security vision. The Global Security Initiative proposed by Xi stressed that it is important that all countries stay committed to the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, and work together to maintain world peace and security.

The security vision, which has rich connotations, lays emphasis on respecting and ensuring the security of each and every country, upholding security in both traditional and non-traditional fields, promoting the security of both individual countries and broader regions through dialogue and cooperation, and focusing on development and security so that security would be durable. It represents the core concept and laid a basic foundation for building a world that enjoys universal security.

Countries must abandon the outdated Cold War mentality if they want to maintain world peace and stability. Quite a number of the security issues today have been caused by certain countries’ pursuit of hegemonism and power politics.

The Global Security Initiative proposed by Xi calls on countries to stay committed to respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, uphold non-interference in internal affairs, and respect the independent choices of development paths and social systems made by people in different countries; stay committed to abiding by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, reject the Cold War mentality, oppose unilateralism, and say no to group politics and bloc confrontation; and stay committed to taking the legitimate security concerns of all countries seriously, uphold the principle of indivisible security, build a balanced, effective and sustainable security architecture, and oppose the pursuit of one’s own security at the cost of others’ security.

Conforming to the historical trend toward economic globalization, multi-polarity in the world and democracy in international relations, the Global Security Initiative emphasizes that security is universal, equal, inclusive, and should be based on mutual respect between countries and the premise that all countries jointly uphold the international system with the UN at its core and the international order underpinned by international law, which sets forth specific principles at bilateral and multilateral levels for building a world that enjoys universal security.

Responsible actions must be taken so as to maintain peace and stability in the world. In today’s world, security means much more than before and its implications go well beyond a single region or time frame. All sorts of factors could have a bearing on a country’s security.

The ways countries resolve differences and disputes and respond to various security threats determine the direction in which the international security situation develops.

The Global Security Initiative encourages countries to stay committed to peacefully resolving differences and disputes between them through dialogue and consultation, support all efforts conducive to the peaceful settlement of crises, reject double standards, and oppose the wanton use of unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction; and stay committed to maintaining security in both traditional and non-traditional domains, and work together on regional disputes and global challenges such as terrorism, climate change, cybersecurity and biosecurity.

By stressing the importance of promoting security through dialogue and cooperation, taking a multi-pronged and holistic approach, and basing actions on the present situation while adopting a long-term perspective, the initiative offers feasible ideas for achieving long-term peace, stability and security in the world.