Cooperation: An Iron Law for a Community with a Shared Future

The sudden COVID-19 outbreak, like a phantom lingering on across the world, has evolved into a global pandemic that has taken the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and stoking the fears of hundreds of millions. This catastrophe has heavily impacted the world order and international relations, posed serious challenges to global economic and social development, and raised new and acute questions about the future of humanity. The COVID-19 outbreak and its spread has amply demonstrated that the world is an indivisible global village, and humanity a community with a shared future. As Chinese President Xi Jinping stated in his speech at the Extraordinary G20 Leaders’ Summit, in facing global threats and human catastrophes, it is imperative for the international community to strengthen confidence, act with unity and work together in a collective response. “We must comprehensively step up international cooperation and foster greater synergy so that humanity as one could win the battle against such a major infectious disease.”

The Era of Global Threats

The novel coronavirus pandemic is the common enemy of all. In just a few months, more than 200 countries and territories around the world have recorded cases of the disease. The initial 200-plus cases seem to have jumped to over one million in an instant, and the number is continuing

to climb. As the United Nations’ Secretary-general António Guterres said, it was the biggest public security threat since the organization’s inception. Governments in major countries have also made the fight against the pandemic a top priority.

The globalized world is an interdependent world. Since the end of the Cold War, globalization has developed rapidly and economic factors have become highly mobile, forming industrial chains and sales networks on a regional and global scale; people have become highly mobile and the interaction between citizens of various countries has become a key link to the world today, forming a transnational and cross-border network; information is highly mobile and technologies such as the internet can instantaneously spread all kinds of information around the world, forming a pervasive information network. Interdependence and interconnectedness have allowed the entire world to reap enormous benefits from these dynamic networks that are constantly flowing. For example, economic globalization enables all parties to give full play to their comparative advantages, and technological, managerial, market, capital, and labour advantages can all attain their full value in such a mobile network in order to achieve win-win economic benefits.

However, globalization has also brought new security threats. In traditional international relations, the greatest threat has been conflict between nations, and the highest form of that conflict is war. World War I and World War II are typical manifestations of this threat. Traditional security threats have clear enemies, explicit intentions, and specific targets. However, the security threats in the era of globalization are of a different nature, with enemies, intentions and targets difficult to detect but more harmful than any traditional security threat. If people could still find a region of peace during World War I and World War II, the novel coronavirus has threatened almost every country in the world. Information about the epidemic spreads just as rapidly, and actual and virtual fears have had a serious impact on the human psyche. In this sense, the era of globalization is indeed an era of global threats.

The characteristics of a global threat are clear. First is its transnational nature. Global threats are characterized by mobility and random expansion, regardless of national boundaries. Since the establishment of the Westphalian system in 1648, the nation-state has been the most important entity in international relations, national boundaries have become the markers of a nation’s geographical existence, and the definition of international security is often based on national borders. Nevertheless, an essential feature of a global threat is its rejection of any national boundary. Invisible pathogens, polluted air, or computer viruses can easily cross borders and travel between countries at any time. Even with the most stringent precautions, it is difficult to fully control such invisible crossborder flows with no defined purpose and no clear channels.

Second is its encompassing coverage. Global threats target all humanity and the international community as a whole. It transcends race, nation, faith, ideology, political system, economic status, and social formation, and accepts no compromise or surrender. The major threats over the years, be they SARS, Ebola, the novel coronavirus, the financial crisis, climate change, or terrorism, are all consistent with the previous assertion. The 2008 global financial crisis, while not as directly lifethreatening as the novel coronavirus, affected almost all major economies. And the more globalized and interdependent a country is, the more catastrophic the blow can be. The threats we are experiencing are not aimed against any particular country, but all of humanity; the world is facing an enemy not of any specific country, but of all humanity.

Third is its non-exclusivity. No country is immune to global threats. No matter how powerful a country may be, there is no way to eliminate the threat and preserve itself through its own strength. Almost none of the major countries have been spared from the successive major global threats. In the September 11 attacks, terrorism struck the United States, the world’s superpower; the financial crisis of 2008 threatened all major economies, with the Western developed countries bearing the brunt; and now the novel coronavirus is spreading rapidly throughout the world, with almost all

countries being affected. In turn, if the virus is not eliminated completely in all places, the pandemic could return and spread again.

The virus spreading worldwide highlights the risk patterns in the era of global threats. The hallmark of globalization is interdependence, which is characterized by a high degree of interrelated sensitivity and vulnerability. The complex, multidimensional, interconnected global network makes the entire world a global village. If one is in danger, all are in distress. Only with the overall security of the international community as a whole can there be security for each member; and only with security for each member can there be security for the international community as a whole. The fate of each country is linked to the fate of the international community, and the interests of each country are linked to the interests of other countries, which makes the whole of humanity a community with a shared future.

The Iron Law of Cooperation

The reality that globalization and global threats have inextricably bound the interests of different countries, peoples, societies and individuals further proves the significance of Confucius’ idea, which advocates that “The man of perfect virtue, wishing to be established himself, seeks also to establish others; wishing to be enlarged himself, he seeks also to enlarge others,” and that “What you do not wish for yourself, do not impose on others.” The common interests serve as the foundation, and cooperation as the iron law for the community with a shared future. Only through cooperation can win-win outcomes be achieved. The current coronavirus pandemic has irrefutably demonstrated that the only effective way to overcome this threat is through all-round cooperation of the international community and the unity and solidarity of its members.

The history of human evolution is a history of cooperation. A large body of research in life sciences and social evolution has shown that the evolution of species follows three laws. First is mutation, which produces

the diversity of species and presents a colourful world. The second is selection, by which the species most adapted to the environment can survive, grow, reproduce, and flourish. The third is cooperation, and only those species that actively cooperate with their environment, with others, and within groups are the most adaptable to achieve successful evolution. In the world as we know it, it is humans who are the most cooperative in their awareness and social behaviour. Because of this, humanity has had a more successful development and evolution than any other species. In other words, a crucial reason for human success and the progress of human society is that human beings are “super cooperators.”1

The importance of cooperation is self-evident. Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, international cooperation has been ongoing. China has repeatedly made declarations of active cooperation, maintained close contact with international agencies such as the World Health Organization (WHO), and shared its experience in combating the epidemic with other countries. China has taken the initiative to provide assistance for other countries when it was still suffering from the epidemic. Regional cooperation in East Asia has also gained new momentum, with China and ASEAN supporting each other and China, Japan and the Republic of Korea showing signs of cooperation rarely seen in recent years. The mutual donation of anti-pandemic supplies and the above-mentioned messages express the sentiments and will of humanity to cooperate and help one another. In this sense, the epidemic has brought closer the interests of countries in East Asia, which is likely to become the region with the strongest momentum for cooperation in the aftermath of the epidemic. The foundations for building a community with a shared future in East Asia would be further consolidated.

While cooperation is the only way out, words and deeds of noncooperation abound, including politicizing the fight against the virus, shifting blames onto others, making unfounded speculations and 1 Martin Nowak and Roger Highfield, Canongate, 2011.

Super Cooperators,

Edinburgh-london-new York-melbourne:

stigmatizing comments on the problems during the pandemic, interpreting the anti-epidemic cooperation through an ultra-nationalist lens, maliciously speculating on the motives behind it, and viewing the fight against coronavirus in other countries solely from the perspective of one’s own interests. The global crisis could have been an opportunity for global cooperation, but in reality, it has repeatedly encountered difficulties and even pushed the world into a state of disorder and division.

The pandemic is a global threat and the fight against it falls within the realm of global governance. The dilemma of cooperation also reflects the awkward situation that global governance finds itself in. Since the strong beginning of globalization, global governance has become an important issue. Terrorism, the financial crisis, major infectious diseases, climate change and environmental pollution have all been identified as major global threats, and a range of measures have been attempted to achieve the goal of governance. To date, however, there have been no substantive breakthroughs and no sustainable progress in any one area of governance. Global threats are increasing, the deficit in global governance is growing, and there is a clear setback in building multilateral mechanisms. This pandemic is yet another manifestation of a serious failure of global governance.

The serious lack of international cooperation is one fundamental cause of the problem. In recent years, populism, unilateralism, and power politics have returned, strategic competition has been intensifying, international relations have shifted towards geopolitics, and the sense of responsibility for international affairs has declined significantly. The Trump administration’s “America First” policy and its successive withdrawals from international organizations are typical of these trends. The result is a declining trust in the international community, with competition on the rise, and cooperation absent. Win-win cooperation is both an iron law and common sense, and everyone seems to know it, but in actual international relations, the spirit of cooperation is easily masked, forgotten, and even deliberately abandoned.

Rebuilding Cooperation: The “G20+1” Model

The pandemic has pushed the international community once again to a crossroads. Should we make more efforts in institution building, cooperate on all fronts, and promote multilateralism and global governance; or should we reject international cooperation, cower in a corner, and exacerbate the fragmentation of the world? This is a choice that humanity needs to make.

The sensible choice must be cooperation. The sudden pandemic has not only had a serious impact on global public health security, but has also created global threats of varying degrees in other areas through spillover effects. The shocks to economic development are already evident, international trade and investment activities have been significantly restrained, and risks are emerging in social and security spheres. All this requires the international community to rebuild a cooperative consensus and take cooperative actions. International cooperation is an important condition not only for defeating the pandemic, but also for ensuring world peace and stability, the orderly evolution of the international community, and the healthy development of a community with a shared future for mankind.

Rebuilding cooperation requires institutional reform and the establishment of a sound and effective global multilateral cooperation mechanism. Multilateral cooperation mechanisms should have at least two functions, political leadership as well as advising and implementation. In light of current international conditions, the “G20+1” model is a feasible option, under which the G20 assumes political leadership and UN specialized agencies play a role of advising and implementation. In the area of public health security, for example, the political leadership of the G20 and the WHO’S advising and implementation may result in a more effective pattern of global action to combat security threats in a more proactive manner.

The G20 is the most appropriate multilateral body to assume political leadership. As a multilateral international organization established at a time of global threats, the G20 incorporates the world’s major countries and important international actors such as the EU, with a high degree of authority and representation, and is more likely to reach decisions on crises due to its small membership. The G20 has played an active role in responding to the global financial crisis. In the event of an urgent threat to global public security, such as a pandemic that emerges or is likely to emerge in a particular area, the G20, as the central leadership body, can declare its willingness to cooperate, set out guiding principles, plan global strategies, coordinate national policies and assume leadership responsibility for the overall advancement of international cooperation. The era of hegemonic cooperation is over, and the mechanism of multilateral and collective leadership cannot be absent.

Specialized agencies of the United Nations could play a policy advisory and implementing role within the framework of global cooperation. In the current international environment, it is unrealistic to expect specialized agencies to play a central political leadership role, as they do not have the corresponding political authority and power resources. However, as a multilateral organization with extensive expertise in particular fields, it is the fundamental responsibility and obligation of specialized agencies to provide intellectual backing and technical implementation for political decision-making. For example, in a crisis such as the current coronavirus pandemic, the WHO can bring together important information from all parties and provide sound advice and concrete recommendations to address the threat, serving as a solid scientific basis for the G20 to propose global guiding principles.

Institutional reform and the reshaping of international cooperation platforms require solid support with regard to political will and cooperative consensus. Multilateralism is by far the most rational form of global governance, and multilateral cooperation is the most democratic and effective way to solve global problems and respond to global threats.

However, the necessary condition for a successful multilateral mechanism is the unanimity of major powers, and the sufficient condition is broad support from the international community. After World War I, the international community began to reflect on the evils of power politics and reached consensus on the establishment of a multilateral organization, pioneering multilateral mechanisms worldwide. After World War II, major countries of the world again agreed on cooperation and established a multilateral regime represented by the UN, which has made a significant contribution to the long peace in the post-war world for more than 70 years. After the Cold War, there has been a resurgence of cooperation among major countries of the world, which, by supporting multilateral international mechanisms and promoting globalization, has played a positive role in economic and social development. The current novel coronavirus pandemic is another major crisis in human history comparable to the two world wars, and is once again a test of the political will of countries in the world, especially that of major countries. Whether or not a consensus on cooperation and mechanisms for cooperation can be reached as a result of the crisis will not only directly determine the fate of the fight against the pandemic, but will also have a profound impact on international relations and the world order in the post-pandemic era.

Humanity is a community with shared interests and common destiny. China has repeatedly stressed the importance of building a community with a shared future for mankind, and all nations should make a positive contribution to building an open, inclusive, clean, and beautiful world that enjoys lasting peace, universal security, and common prosperity. The outbreak of the novel coronavirus has demonstrated once again that, like any major crisis in human history, cooperation is the iron law for a community, and only cooperation can ensure the long-term survival and sustainable development of any community. In the darkest moments, the spirit of cooperation is especially precious, and the action of cooperation is vitally important. After all, in the face of a global pandemic, humanity can only be saved through cooperation.