Expert hails China’s contribution to international order and UN system

China is one of the most supportive countries of the international order and the United Nations system, and always opposes hegemony and power politics of all forms, said a Chinese expert.

Wang Honggang, head of the Institute of American Studies at China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said China has achieved the most within the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and offered the most against the climate change. Also, China provided the most peacekeepers of any permanent UN Security Council member.

According to the Ministry of National Defense, China has dispatched more than 37,000 personnel in total for the peacekeeping operations since 1990 when the country started to participate in the process.

Besides, the peacekeepers have built and repaired more than 16,000 kilometers of roads, eliminated more than 9,800 mines and various unexploded ordnance, and received more than 200,000 patients.

On the contrary, Wang said, the United States is the one that jeopardizes the system most, which can be seen from its withdrawals from a series of international organizations or deals, such as the recent Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and the UN Human Rights Council.

“Some people in the US claim that ‘politics is the norm and war is the exception’. However, Washington has launched or involved in a series wars after the World War II, from the Vietnam War, the Cold War, the Iraq War, to the recent years’ Syria civil war,” he said.

There are voices in the US saying that China is trying to subvert the US-led international order, while the theory is based on US’ disguised replacement of concept, Wang said.

“The US has switched the concept of the existing order into its own hegemonic order and misleadingly described the anti-hegemony action as an opposite to the international order, accusing China of not recognizing the international order and seeking hegemony,” he said.

Wang emphasized that instead of expansion and military threat, China is committed to the peaceful settlement of disputes through political dialogue.

“The international order was not created by a certain country in a short period of time, but by all the countries after deep exchanges in various fields,” he said. “And China is one of the builders as well as the protectors.”

From the Belt and Road Initiative to building a community with a shared future for mankind, these are China’s contribution and wisdom to meet the trend of the times, the scholar said.

“The concepts are proposed by China; however, they actually represent each country’s proposition and meet the requirements of all the parties to achieve common development, common security, and common dignity.”

Wang noted that the differences in the vision of the international order have become a fundamental factor in deepening the trust deficit and undermining the stability of bilateral relations between Beijing and Washington.

“It’s necessary and urgent for the two countries to strengthen dialogue on such vision, making clear of what the two see in the future world and laying a solid foundation for the new strategic mutual trust between China and the US.”