Nation's tireless pursuit of peace wins acclaim

In the eyes of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, China's adherence to peace, amity and solidarity is deeply rooted in the nation's culture of thousands of years.

"In my own career, I have learned a lot from the teachings of ancient Chinese philosophers. One of my strong guiding principles is: 'A thousand friends are never enough; and even only one enemy is still too much'," Prabowo said at a reception during his state visit to China last month, drawing huge applause from the audience.

During his talks with President Xi Jinping on Nov 9, he thanked China for upholding fairness and justice on the Palestinian question, and said Indonesia supports the three major global initiatives proposed by Xi — the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative.

Leaders, officials and scholars have agreed, when assessing Beijing's major country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics, that China is a sincere, productive provider of peaceful solutions to hot spot issues and in global governance.

China has strived tirelessly for breakthroughs, using a range of innovative approaches, and is a keen supporter of true multilateralism, working consistently to make the voice of developing countries better heard regarding global justice, peace and development, analysts said.

Among the clear evidence in this regard is Beijing's role in successfully mediating and facilitating the landmark reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Iran last year.

"China, we have seen, is constantly pursuing different avenues to promote peace, to create dialogue among nations, to try to reduce tensions and sit everybody around the table. We saw this especially in the situation with the Middle East right now," said Nicaraguan Ambassador to China Michael Campbell.

"We are committed to working hand in hand with China as we seek to create more democratic international relations for the world," Campbell told China Daily.

He noted that in many situations, China advances cooperation among countries "to find solutions, and to focus on the real priorities of the world, addressing issues such as climate change, helping to eradicate poverty, and promoting development and prosperity for everyone".

Building on the momentum of its facilitation of the reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Iran, China "has promoted de-escalation efforts and long-term peace" in the Middle East, according to an article published by British and Portuguese scholars in October at the website of the Georgetown (University) Journal of International Affairs.

Maria Papageorgiou, a China expert and researcher at Newcastle University in the United Kingdom, and Mohammad Eslami, an invited assistant professor at the University of Minho in Portugal, said that "China's most substantial engagement "in resolving the Palestine-Israel conflict came with the Beijing Declaration issued in July at the gathering of representatives of Fatah, Hamas and other Palestinian factions.

"China's diplomatic support has also materialized in its organization of other states in seeking a long-term resolution to the conflict," the scholars wrote, noting that China presented a five-point proposal to the United Nations Security Council last year for establishing a comprehensive ceasefire to end the fighting in Gaza.

Regarding the Ukraine crisis, China and Brazil jointly proposed a six-point consensus for its political settlement. As of September, the proposal had received positive response from more than 110 countries, according to the Foreign Ministry.

Also in September, China, Brazil and other Global South countries jointly launched the Friends for Peace group, which seeks a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine crisis, at UN headquarters in New York.

Wu Zhicheng, director and professor of the Institute of International Strategy at the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (National Academy of Governance), said: "To safeguard multilateralism, justice should be served and double standards should not be practiced. Major countries, in particular, should play an exemplary role, shoulder greater responsibility and fulfill their due role as major countries.

"It is important to enhance the representation of developing countries in the global governance system, and to make international organizations such as the United Nations better represent the interests of the vast number of developing countries," he added.

Keith Bennett, a London-based senior analyst on international relations and co-editor of the Friends of Socialist China platform, warned that "the challenges facing humanity are growing", such as climate change and pandemics, and "none of these issues now can be reasonably tackled and addressed without the active involvement of China".

To address such issues, China has come up with proposals, solutions and theoretical frameworks, as summed up in the three global initiatives of President Xi, he said.

As a major country, China "is actually putting forward comprehensive and realistic proposals for addressing these issues in a way that is acceptable to the majority of countries in the world and certainly to the majority of the people of the countries in the world", he added.

zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn