Hope floats

The voice of China at the Munich Security Conference has increased confidence about restoration of peace in an otherwise hostile world

The Chinese delegation participated in the 59th Munich Security Conference in February, bringing feasible ideas to the conference filled with empty talk.

Apart from China, not many non-Western countries could add new thinking at the conference. China's participation restored confidence about peace in the world.

The Chinese delegation led by Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, called for peace, stability and development in the international community amid conflicts and confrontation incited by the United States. China's participation shows that it is a strong force for guarding peace in the world and there are alternatives beyond military confrontation and geopolitical competition.

While the US and other Western countries have been containing China, China does not choose eye for an eye or tooth for a tooth or refuse to interact with the West. Despite the US instigating military confrontation, China's sincerity for peace and dialogues with the West shows its pursuit of peace and increases global confidence in peace.

China's participation can be partly attributed to the support of Germany and the Munich Security Conference. The German media even named China as a participant it had most expectations from at the conference. The trust between China and Europe makes China's participation in promoting international peace significant.

China's participation also shows its willingness as a major country to take the initiative to uphold peace. The Chinese delegation proposed resolving the Russia-Ukraine conflict both inside and outside the Munich Security Conference venue — during its visits to France, Italy and Hungary before attending the conference, and in talks with leaders of other countries and the keynote speech at the conference. China wants to settle international disputes through peaceful means as the UN Charter advocates.

The Chinese delegation urged Western countries not to further incite conflicts, and pledged that China will focus on promoting peace talks to restore regional peace. While the European countries have seen chaos, China has firmly assumed its responsibilities as a major power in the international community.

Promoting peace talks means warning against the use of nuclear weapons and the launch of nuclear wars, which shows great concern that the current military conflict may escalate into a nuclear war. China's insistence on promoting peace talks is a stern warning to the international community.

China is playing a leading role in peaceful international development. The Chinese delegation proposed that all countries uphold the United Nations Charter and principles, respect sovereignty and abandon the Cold War mentality. Some Western countries, such as the US, keep proposing decoupling from "authoritarian countries", advocate geopolitical competition and confrontation, and seek to build blocs of confrontation. In the future, international order could either veer toward a Cold War confrontation or cooperation under the UN system.

Cold War confrontation will force many small and medium-sized developing countries to get involved in confrontation incited by the US and other Western countries. The international community will see increasing confrontation and instability. The West dreams about gaining the upper hand in the global economy and security through confrontation. But cooperation based on respect for sovereignty could promote economic globalization and address bilateral and multilateral issues based on mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, driving the building of a community with a shared future for humanity.

In view of the history, culture, philosophy and practices of China, reconciliation and win-win cooperation have always been the only sound path to peace and the development of human society. A life-or-death confrontation will only lead to mutual destruction. Wang's commitment to dialogue, win-win cooperation and opening-up at the Munich Security Conference has provided the international community with a more practical and promising alternative to achieve peace and development of mankind beyond confrontation and conflicts.

It is wise of the conference organizers to invite the Chinese representatives to the conference this year, meaning that it has not become an exclusive conference of the West, and that Europeans still expect to shake off the shackles of US hegemony. China's voice, solutions and wisdom will once again reach the world through the multilateral platform, and will be understood by minds thinking alike in the West.

The Chinese government released the Global Security Initiative Concept Paper on Feb 21, which is the latest effort at continuing China's determination for peaceful development and making contribution to global security, stability and prosperity. On the first anniversary of the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, China issued China's Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis calling for the peaceful resolution of the conflict. In the future, China will become more open and stronger as it makes efforts to pursue, promote and uphold international peace, gain greater understanding and support from the international community, and make greater contributions to peace and the development of the international community.

The author is the deputy director and an associate professor of the Center for China-Europe Relations at the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University. The author contributed this article to China Watch, a think tank powered by China Daily.