Europe and China – major actors in safeguarding world peace
Rally together to Safeguard Peace
Speech at the Peace Alert International Peace Seminar in Helsinki Finland
13 June 2015
By Mr. Tao Tao, the Deputy Secretary General, the Chinese People’s Association for Peace and Disarmament
Dear Chairperson,
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Good afternoon.
I come from China, serve as the Deputy Secretary General of the Chinese People’s Association for Peace and Disarmament. I am very pleased to join you in Helsinki to participate in the “Peace Alert” gathering, and to exchange views with you on contemporary international phenomenon, in the hope that we could find a way forward for peace, security and development.
Being the largest peace association in China, the CPAPD aims to promote mutual understanding, friendship and cooperation between the peoples of China and the rest of the world in joint efforts to maintain world peace, oppose arms race and war, achieve arms control and disarmament, strive for complete prohibition and thorough destruction of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, protect environment, eliminate poverty and promote social harmony and sustainable development. I think we share the same hat with friends here as the keeper, advocator and builder of peace.
Europe, being the homeland for most of you, serves as an important pillar in the multi-polar world and enjoys a significant position in contemporary world strategic layout. At the same time, both Europe and China are the major actors in safeguarding world peace. Today, we gathered here at a momentous time, the 70th anniversary of the end of the World War II and the founding of the United Nations. When we look around the globe and review the past, I feel that it is of utter necessity to deepen our mutual understanding and discuss the global current world peace situation on the platform of “Peace Alert”.
Generally speaking, the contemporary world is facing rare opportunities and complicated challenges, but the opportunities outweigh the challenges. In the past 70 years, the world maintained the overall peaceful situation, but local wars and regional conflicts constantly emerged. After the end of the cold war, the global balance of powers is moving further towards détente, but the unpredictable elements still exist, impacting world peace and stability. The journey to the ultimate goal of universal peace and joint development is long and arduous.
First of all, I would like to list 4 difficulties at the current stage:
1. Complicated Security Situation.
Peace, development, cooperation and all-win mindset are major trends of the time. Still, the hidden danger of security is lurking around. We have seen the growth of hegemonism and power politics, the increasingly active movement of international terrorism, the complex and ever-changing contradictions among different nationalities and religions and the disputes over bordering territory. Constant local wars, endless conflicts and frequent crisis have become a normal status for some regions. The world is still facing realistic and potential threat of local wars.
2. Increasing Number of Security Challenges
Though different countries are making great efforts to deal with security challenges of all sorts, the international security challenges appear to have a mixed and compound style. Traditional and non-traditional security issues are often intertwined with each other. From the Middle East Turmoil to Ukraine Crisis, from the Syrian disorder to Yemen upheaval, the danger of wars still exist around us. At the same time, the non-traditional security challenges such as the economic safety, cyber safety and transnational crimes are becoming more and more pressing in recent year.
3. Weak Building of Security Mechanism.
The policy goal of the current world is to maintain peace through the building of safety mechanism. However, the process of such international and regional security mechanism building is relatively lagging behind. The overall level of security cooperation is not high, the building of security system is wait to be strengthened and the process of security cooperation still needs deeper engagement. Besides, some countries who are interested in forming exclusive small groups or military rallies, are not contributing to world peace and stability.
4. Security concepts need to be updated
In the world today, solving disputes or conflicts through negotiations and consultations are the main policy orientation, but the cold war and the zero-sum game mindset still have the market. The common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security concept is waited to be advocated. For some countries, they attempt to seek absolute security by strengthening the military rallies. I will say that they live in the 21st century with the outdated thinking from the age of Cold War and zero-sum game.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
As Mr. Qian Zhongshu, a Chinese famous scholar once said: despite of the vast ocean lying between, people from the East and West share similar hearts and minds; despite of the great differences among various academic schools, scholars from the East and the West pursue the same truth. This sentence vividly describes the “Peace Alert” seminar today. Though we are from Oriental and Western civilizations, we devoted ourselves to the same noble cause of peace, development and prosperity of the world. Working together, we can maintain peace, share development, create opportunities and deal with challenges. Here, I would like to propose 4 principles that we need to stick to, so that with the historic lessons bear in minds, we can build a safer world together for the future.
1. We need to safeguard security together.
Safeguarding security together means that we need to respect and guarantee the safety of each country. If we can create a harmonious and stable international security environment, security will be shared by us as a whole. Up till now, China has already established partnerships of different forms with 75 countries and 5 regional organizations, including Europe, and is actively dedicated to safeguarding common security. As a peace organization, the CPAPD should also actively push forward peace movement, spread peace education and arouse people’s awareness of harmonious coexistence.
2. We need to govern security in a comprehensive way
Governing security in a comprehensive way means that we need to coordinate the governance of both traditional and non-traditional security issues, so that we can achieve the balanced global security governance through multiple channels and comprehensive policies. China has always participated actively in the regional security cooperation, advocated the new security concept of mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and coordination, and consolidated regional peace and stability. As a peace organization, the CPAPD should plan for the long-term stability and order, carry forward security governance, actively engage in the process of building security mechanism and deal with both traditional and non-traditional security in a coordinated manner.
3. We need to safeguard security through cooperation.
Safeguarding security through cooperation means that we need to actively initiate new concepts of dealing security challenges through cooperation, promote security of each country, different regions and the world through dialogue. China always sticks to the peaceful solution when dealing territorial and maritime disputes with other countries, and has already determined the land border with 12 out of its 14 neighboring countries. As a peace organization, the CPAPD should actively take part in conflict solving and the post-conflict reconstruct process, and push forward the political solution of the disputes.
4. We need to promote peace through development.
Promoting peace through development means that we need attach equal importance to development and security, so that we can achieve ever-lasting peace. If each country can realize its own development, then sustainable development will promote sustainable security. China always advocates that each country should conform to time trend of peace, development, cooperation and all-win outcome, and jointly build a new road for global security that is shared by and win-win to all. As peace lovers and advocators, we need to become the main force, both in our country and in the region, to push forward reform, promote development and realize cooperation so that ever-lasting peace and shared development can be achieved.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
The world is yours, and is ours as well. We live together on the same planet. Europe is the region where developed countries are the most concentrated, while China is the largest developing power of the world. Europe and China are both consistent forces to maintain world peace and promote joint development. China always sticks to the road of peaceful development, and contends that each country should set up the concept of the common destiny community for the mankind. China always pushes forward the building of a new model of international relations with the core values of cooperation and win-win outcome, and pursues the building a peaceful, harmonious and prosperous world.
History is the best textbook and the best dose of sobriety. The bitter lessons drawn from the World War II have taught the mankind that the strong preying on the weak, the law of the jungle, warlike or hegemonic policies, the winner-take-all mindset and zero-sum game do not benefit coexistence, peace or development of mankind. Peace instead of war, cooperation instead of confrontation and win-win to all instead of zero-sum game are the permanent theme of peace, progress and development for the mankind. Let’s work with joint hands to safeguard world peace, promote human development and build a prosperous world.
Here, I would like to wish a great success of the “Peace Alert” international peace seminar. You are making important and positive contribution to world peace and prosperity.
Thank you All.
PEACE ALERT
