Constructive endeavors

By seeking to build trust and peace around the world, China is emerging as a global peace-maker and stability-creator

For a long time, the United States-led West has been struggling to find out what kind of global power China is. Is China a destructive or constructive power for the current US-led international order? Is China a status-quo or a revisionist power, a force for continuity or a force for change? Will China use its military and economic weight to advance its own interest at the cost of abandoning the defined international rules? How to interpret the impact of China's rise not only in terms of its hard power, such as economy, technology, trade, and finance, etc., but also in terms of its soft power, such as ideas, norms, culture, thought, value system, and scholarship, etc.? How can the West understand the kind of international leadership role that China is playing, and how can the West better comprehend the historical and cultural fabrics that underpin Chinese foreign policies and behaviors?

Today, Washington firmly believes that: "the PRC is the only competitor with both the intent to reshape the international order and, increasingly, the economic, diplomatic, military, and technological power to do it." According to its newly published National Security Strategy, "Beijing has ambitions to create an enhanced sphere of influence in the Indo-Pacific and to become the world's leading power. It is using its technological capacity and increasing influence over international institutions to create more permissive conditions for its own authoritarian model, and to mold global technology use and norms to privilege its interests and values."

Therefore, China is portrayed as a "systemic rival" to the US-defined rule-based international order both in terms of turning the country into a global economic and technological competitor as well as a global security challenger, and in terms of translating its economic success into a political and ideational contending force, promoting alternative models of development and governance. Chinese cultural influence, ideational impact and the diffusion of Chinese ideas and norms that have been unleashed by its economic rise are increasingly carrying weight in international relations and politics.

However, the image of China as a global security threat imposed by Western mainstream media cannot convince the world, especially the Global South. On the contrary, the latest events concerning global peace and security have largely advanced recognition of China as a global broker in the two of the most pressing armed conflicts: between Hamas and Israel and between Russia and Ukraine. In recent weeks, there has an immense Chinese diplomatic push to bring together the different Palestine factions, namely Hamas and Fatah, to create the conditions to progress the recognition of the Palestine State, and therefore to advance the two-state solution. China has always advocated the two-state solution to end the conflict and bring peace to the region. Furthermore, we are also observing China's persistent efforts to build bridges with Ukraine and Russia. These diplomatic endeavors in promoting dialogue and stability are seen as China's major diplomatic achievement and a sign of China's growing influence in global affairs.

Last year, China played a significant role in brokering a historic agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia, leading to the two countries agreeing to re-establish diplomatic relations and reopen their respective embassies. This agreement marked a significant step toward reducing tensions in the Persian Gulf and potentially paving the way for resolving conflicts in the region, such as the ongoing war in Yemen.

How to understand these diplomatic successes that China has achieved? What are Beijing's peacemaking principles in the capacity of being an honest broker? Why are these principles agreeable to international contending forces and national fractions?

First, China has been putting forward the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, and those principles are not only part of the diplomatic rhetoric, but also are gaining status as a foundation stone in the context of the international order. More and more, China's international engagement is being perceived as a constructive power, one that sees the world in a different manner, and therefore advances its branding images as a force for change in a positive way. Therefore, it is important to notice China's specific historical and cultural characteristics as a constructive civilizational power, understanding the necessary room for different political cultures and histories and trajectories.

Second, China has moved from the usual diplomatic chatter to be an active and equidistant partner, capable of being heard and diffusing tense situations. Quite opposite to other major powers that are fueling conflicts, China has made a clear commitment to peace and development. China has been waiting for the right moment to take decisive diplomatic action, while advocating peaceful development. Indeed, instead of being a "systemic rival", China's international engagement is characterized by innovative ways to deal with conflicts, adopting the constructive model of inclusive advancement, to gather overlapping interests. Perhaps, rather than being a "systemic rival", China is acting as a global player outside of the Western box.

Third, China does not adopt the conventional style of other great powers, which take sides in line with their interests or values, without considering the root cause of the conflicts and the intertwined network of interests involved. China's diplomatic position is one of balance and respect for both sides, which reflects its own political culture, and it aims to contribute to defusing tensions, creating new peaceful pathways, and setting the course for development. Again, perhaps, instead of a "competitor with both the intent to reshape the international order", China is taking steps to adapt the world to the new conditions, with the intent of being a decisive cooperative contributor, of creating new governance conditions for the international system, and of bringing about peaceful and stable conditions for all.

To answer the many questions raised at the beginning of this article, the recent diplomatic engagements of China since last year have taught the world an important lesson: That Chinese diplomacy has an important (perhaps different from the usual) role to play, in the context of an emerging international order, as a cooperative global contributor.

Li Xing is Yunshan leading scholar and professor at Guangdong Institute for International Strategies at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies and adjunct professor of international relations at Aalborg University, Denmark. Francisco Leandro is an associate professor at Faculty of Social Sciences and vice-director of the Institute of Global and Public Affairs at University of Macau (China). The authors contributed this article to China Watch, a think tank powered by China Daily.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

Contact the editor at editor@chinawatch.cn.