A willful US concerns world

Washington only maximizes own benefits: observers

A forum on world security was held in Beijing over the weekend with the trade war between China and the US remaining a hot topic, and Chinese experts urged countries to be more united to fight against the constant uncertainty of the international situation.

The seventh World Peace Forum, themed “Constructing a Security Community: Equality, Equity and Justice” ended in Beijing on Sunday.

It was organized by the Beijing-based Tsinghua University in partnership with the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs and is a high-level non-governmental seminar focusing on international security topics, the Economic Daily reported on Sunday.

More than 70 think-tank scholars from 23 countries delivered speeches and a total of 270 attended the forum to discuss current security challenges facing the world and propose solutions, according to the Economic Daily.

Talk of the trade war between China and the US loomed large in the forum.

“Recently, unilateralism and protectionism have been a threat to global economic growth, causing anxiety and protests around the world,” Yang Jiechi, a member of the Po-

litical Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee said at the opening ceremony on Saturday, chinanews.com reported.

“China would like to work together with other countries to maintain free trade and multilateralism and firmly safeguard the interests of all countries in the world,” Yang noted.

Yang also urged countries to promote security by increasing equality, trust, cooperation and reform.

He said that with China’s development, China would do its best to contribute to peace and development in the world.

Meanwhile, Le Yucheng, Chinese vice foreign minister, said during the forum that in the current world community, all countries’ interests and destiny have been blended together, and protectionism could not protect a single country, the China News Service reported on Sunday.

He noted that China and the US have a great many shared interests, and conflicts would harm both countries. “We advise the US to be reasonable and stop the behavior of damaging itself and others.”

During the first half of 2018, the security situation in the world has been in general relieved with the gradual de-escalation of the North Korea nuclear issue and Syria situation, Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University’s Institute of International Relations in Beijing told the Global Times on Sunday.

However, relations between big powers have been under great strain. The US’ anti-globalization stance has been strengthened and is spreading to Europe, Li noted.

In the past year, US President Donald Trump brought an element of high uncertainty to the international community, which this year turned into untold negative effects, Li noted.

“The US has only been focusing on maximizing its own benefits, but going against the trend of globalization,” Lu Jing, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University’s Institute of International Relations, told the Global Times said on Sunday.

The US “freely” quitting multilateral protocols or international organizations has directly affected operations that they have been building for many years and has been a blow to the global rule of law, Lu said.

Globalization the mainstream

“In past years, the US, which used to be a leader in international affairs, has been shrinking from the forefront, which has brought an opportunity for China to play a more significant role,” Lu said.

China’s strategy of peaceful development and the idea of building a shared community for all mankind have been generally recognized by the world, and China should be more effective in world development, Lu noted.

Li also said that countries should not split and be at odds with each other as globalization remains a mainstream objective among the international community.

“All countries should be more tolerant and united to seek out coordination and communication with each other,” Li said.

The rest of the world should recognize the essential legitimacy of the scale and ambition of the Belt and Road initiative, Hon Gareth Evans, former Australian foreign minister, said at the forum.