GSI Concept Paper - Jan FDI @$19.02 bn - Cai Qi on Xi Thought & Chinese-style Modernisation - HuanYu Ping on Cold War Thinking in Munich - Qin-Cleverly Talks - Report on US Hegemony
China’s GSI Concept Paper
At the Munich Security Conference, Wang Yi had spoken about China releasing a concept paper on GSI. The paper is now out (Full English text here). And to me, it’s a bit of a nothingburger. This is not to say that there aren’t interesting points that one must note. Rather, it is to say that unlike the GDI, which saw a specific group of countries being brought together and specific measures being announced, GSI remains very broad, lacking specific measures. It has been nearly a year since GSI was formally announced, and if this is the stage that the initiative is at, it perhaps is a reflection of the lack of buy-in from the developing world. Most developing countries do not want to be caught in the midst of the China-US strategic competition. They do not want to see a bipolar world. And GSI’s framing has essentially reflected the Cold War mentality. So, it is not surprising that it remains broad, and for the moment, encompasses current Chinese policy measures within one rhetorical umbrella, rather than the creation of a new, broad-based security institution. Also, as I had argued in my paper on the GSI, Beijing was not necessarily heading towards creating a new institution. This official paper makes that amply clear.
Summary of the paper:
The threat perception that GSI is expected to deal with: “Today, our world, our times and history are changing in ways like never before, and the international community is confronted with multiple risks and challenges rarely seen before. Regional security hotspots keep flaring up, local conflicts and turbulence occur frequently, the COVID-19 pandemic persists, unilateralism and protectionism have risen significantly, and traditional and non-traditional security threats are entwined. The deficits in peace, development, security and governance are growing, and the world is once again at a crossroads in history.”
The first section talks about core concepts and principles. These include:
Promote the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security
Respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries
Abide by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter: “The Cold War mentality, unilateralism, bloc confrontation and hegemonism contradict the spirit of the UN Charter and must be resisted and rejected.”
Commitment to taking the legitimate security concerns of all countries seriously
Stay committed to peacefully resolving differences and disputes between countries through dialogue and consultation: “War and sanctions are no fundamental solution to disputes; only dialogue and consultation are effective in resolving differences…Abusing unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction does not solve a problem, but only creates more difficulties and complications.”
Stay committed to maintaining security in both traditional and non-traditional domains
The next section outlines priorities for cooperation:
“Actively participate in formulating a New Agenda for Peace and other proposals put forth in Our Common Agenda by the UN Secretary-General. Support UN efforts to enhance conflict prevention and fully harness the peace-building architecture to assist post-conflict states in peace-building. Further leverage the Secretary-General’s Peace and Security Sub-Fund of the China-UN Peace and Development Trust Fund and support a bigger UN role in global security affairs…Support the provision of sufficient, predictable and sustainable financial assistance to the African Union (AU) for it to carry out autonomous peacekeeping operations.”
“Build a major country relationship featuring peaceful coexistence, overall stability and balanced development…Adhere to mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, stick to the bottom line of no conflict and no confrontation, seek common ground while reserving differences, and manage differences.” — How does one do this if Beijing does not want to talk during a crisis?
“Firmly uphold the consensus that ‘a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought’.” As part of this, the paper calls for strengthening dialogue and cooperation among nuclear-weapon states, safeguarding the international nuclear non-proliferation regime, and building a fair, collaborative and mutually beneficial international nuclear security system.
“Carry out cooperation under such frameworks as the UN Security Council’s 1540 Committee, the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), promote complete prohibition and thorough destruction of weapons of mass destruction, and build up the capacity of all countries in areas including nonproliferation export control, biosecurity and protection against chemical weapons. Support the process of global conventional arms control. Support cooperation among China, Africa and Europe on small arms and light weapons control under the premise of respecting the will of Africa. Support the implementation of the initiative of Silencing the Guns in Africa. Actively carry out international cooperation and assistance on humanitarian demining and provide help to affected countries as much as one’s ability permits.”
Promote political settlement of international and regional hotspot issues
Support and improve the ASEAN-centered regional security cooperation mechanism and architecture, and adhere to the ASEAN way of consensus-building and accommodating each other’s comfort level to further strengthen security dialogue and cooperation among regional countries…” Build a GSI pilot zone under the Lancang Mekong Cooperation framework.
Implement the five-point proposal on realizing peace and stability in the Middle East…take practical steps to advance the two-state solution to the Palestinian question, and convene a larger, more authoritative and more influential international peace conference, so as to achieve a just solution to the Palestinian question at an early date.
“Support the efforts of African countries, the AU and sub-regional organizations to resolve regional conflicts, fight terrorism and safeguard maritime security, call on the international community to provide financial and technical support to Africa-led counter-terrorism operations, and support African countries in strengthening their ability to safeguard peace independently.”
“Support Latin American and Caribbean countries in actively fulfilling commitments stated in the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, and support the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States and other regional and sub-regional organizations in playing an active role in upholding regional peace and security and properly handling regional hotspots.”
“Pay high attention to the special situation and legitimate concerns of Pacific island countries in regard to climate change, natural disasters and public health, support the efforts of Pacific island countries to address global challenges, and support island countries in implementing the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent. Increase the provision of materials, funds and talents to help island countries improve their ability to deal with non-traditional security threats.”
“Strengthen maritime dialogue and exchange and practical cooperation, properly handle maritime differences, and work together to tackle transnational crimes at sea including piracy and armed robbery, so as to jointly safeguard maritime peace and tranquility and sea lane security. Call on upstream and downstream countries along trans-boundary rivers to actively engage in international cooperation, resolve relevant disputes through dialogue and consultation, ensure the safety of shipping on trans-boundary rivers, rationally utilize and protect water resources, and protect the ecological environment of trans-boundary rivers.”
“Strengthen the UN’s role as the central coordinator in the global fight against terrorism, support the international community in fully implementing the UN General Assembly and Security Council counter-terrorism resolutions and the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, and jointly crack down on all terrorist organizations and individuals designated by the Security Council. Channel more global counter-terrorism resources to developing countries to enhance their counter-terrorism capacity building. Oppose linking terrorism with any particular country, ethnic group or religion. Enhance studies on and responses to the impact of emerging technologies on global counter-terrorism efforts.”
On information security, it mentions the Data Security Initiative, the China-LAS Cooperation Initiative on Data Security and the Data Security Cooperation Initiative of China+Central Asia.
On biosecurity: “Jointly advocate responsible bioscience research and encourage all stakeholders to refer to the Tianjin Biosecurity Guidelines for Codes of Conduct for Scientists on a voluntary basis. Jointly strengthen the building of biosecurity capability of laboratories, reduce biosecurity risks and promote the healthy development of biotechnology.”
“Strengthen international security governance on artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies, and prevent and manage potential security risks.”
“Strengthen international cooperation on outer space and safeguard the international order in outer space underpinned by international law.”
Support the World Health Organization in playing a leading role in global governance in public health
On food and energy security, “Strengthen action coordination to maintain the smooth operation of international agricultural trade, ensure stable grain production and smooth supply chains, and avoid politicizing and weaponizing food security issues.”
On law enforcement cooperation, “actively conduct law enforcement cooperation on the basis of respecting each country’s sovereignty, so as to jointly improve law enforcement capacity and security governance. Support the establishment of a global training system to train for developing countries more law enforcement officers who are responsive to their countries’ security needs.”
Finally, “support the cooperation among countries in addressing climate change and maintaining stable and smooth supply and industrial chains, and speed up the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in order to promote sustainable security through sustainable development.”
The final section talks about platforms and mechanisms for cooperation. There are five points:
“Engage in wide-ranging discussions and communication on peace and security at the General Assembly, relevant UN Committees, the Security Council, relevant institutions, and other international and regional organizations…”
Leverage SCO, BRICS, CICA, the China+Central Asia mechanism, and relevant mechanisms of East Asia cooperation…Promote the establishment of a multilateral dialogue platform in the Gulf region and give play to the role of coordinating and cooperative mechanisms such as the Meeting of Foreign Ministers of the Neighboring Countries of Afghanistan and the China-Horn of Africa Peace, Governance and Development Conference to promote regional and global peace and stability.”
Hold high-level conferences on the GSI in due course
Support the establishment of more security forums, like say the Beijing Xiangshan Forum or China-Africa Peace and Security Forum, for talks.
“Build more international platforms and mechanisms for exchange and cooperation on addressing security challenges in such areas as counter-terrorism, cybersecurity, biosecurity and emerging technologies, with a view to improving the governance capacity in the domain of non-traditional security. Encourage more exchanges and cooperation among university-level military and police academies. China is willing to provide other developing countries with 5,000 training opportunities in the next five years to train professionals for addressing global security issues.”
And that’s about it.
Let’s now take a look at the key reports and articles that I found noteworthy from the People’s Daily’s edition on Tuesday, February, 21, 2023.
Page 1: At the top of the page is a report on Xi Jinping’s reply to a letter from Professor Stelios Virvidakis of the University of Athens and four other Greek scholars. This is in the context of the founding of the Center of Chinese and Greek Ancient Civilizations. Xinhua reports:
“The world today is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century, Xi said, adding that to solve outstanding contradictions and problems facing the mankind, it is necessary to rely on material means to overcome difficulties and rely on the strength of the spirit to rectify mind through thinking with sincerity. The values, as well as views of the world, universe, life, science, and culture contained in Chinese and Greek civilizations are profound and timeless, and are sure to provide important spiritual guidance for mankind to solve the problems of the times and promote the building of a community with a shared future.”
Next, there’s a report on a new book with a compilation of Xi’s speeches on work related to urban development. Xinhua says: “Xi's discourses in this regard offer an important guide for advancing the modernization of the urban governance system and capacity, promoting the level of new urbanization, and improving the urban environment, together with people's wellbeing and the competitiveness of cities. They are also of great significance in guiding the construction of modern cities that are harmonious, livable, dynamic and have distinctive features.”
Two other stories to note. First, there is a report with data from the Ministry of Commerce on FDI into China in January. It says total FDI inflows were 127.69 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.5%. In U.S. dollar terms, the FDI inflow went up 10 percent year on year to $19.02 billion.
FDI in the manufacturing industry increased by 40.4% year-on-year
FDI in the high-tech industry increased by 62.8% year-on-year, of which, the high-tech manufacturing industry FDI expanded by 74.5% year-on-year, and the high-tech service industry saw an increase of 59.6% year-on-year
FDI in the eastern, central, and western regions increased by 13.4%, 25.9%, and 21.6% year-on-year, respectively
The report quotes the Ministry of Commerce calling for relevant departments and regions to “expand market access, optimise the business environment, do a good job in service guarantee for foreign-funded enterprises, increase the coordination and resolution of the difficult problems faced by enterprises, and strive to retain and attract more high-quality foreign capital.” 下一步，相关部门和各地区将持续扩大市场准入，全面优化营商环境，有针对性做好外资企业服务保障工作，加大企业反映困难问题的协调解决力度，努力把优质存量外资留下来，把更多高质量外资吸引过来. — Again worth nothing the call to retain foreign capital.
Second, there’s a report on PBSC member Cai Qi’s remarks while addressing the opening of a study session at the Central Party School.
“He said that it is necessary to fully, accurately and comprehensively study and grasp Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era and the spirit of the 20th Party Congress, further enhance the political consciousness, ideological consciousness and action consciousness of supporting the Two Establishments and the Two Safeguards, better shoulder the responsibilities and missions entrusted by the Party and the people, and do a solid job in promoting the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation with Chinese-style modernisation.” 他表示，要完整准确全面学习领会把握习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想和党的二十大精神，进一步增强拥护“两个确立”、做到“两个维护”的政治自觉、思想自觉、行动自觉，更好担负起党和人民赋予的职责使命，扎实做好以中国式现代化推进中华民族伟大复兴各项工作.
The report informs that this was the first-of-its-kind study session. Three more sessions will be held by April 2023 at the Party school.
Cai Qi said that “the most fundamental reason for the great achievements of the Party and the people in the past five years and the great changes in the 10 years of the new era is the fact that General Secretary Xi Jinping has been at the helm and the scientific guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era. We must profoundly understand the decisive significance of the Two Establishments resolutely safeguard the core position of General Secretary Xi Jinping, safeguard the centralised and unified authority of the CPC Central Committee, and always maintain a high degree of consistency with the CPC Central Committee with comrade Xi Jinping as the core in ideological and political actions. We must deeply understand that Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era has achieved a new leap in the modernisation of Marxism in China, firmly grasp the world outlook and methodology of this important thought, and adhere to and use well the positions, viewpoints and methods that run through it, so as to ensure that it becomes a powerful ideological weapon to transform the subjective and objective worlds. It is necessary to systematically grasp the theoretical system of Chinese-style modernisation, deeply understand the Chinese characteristics, essential requirements and major principles of Chinese-style modernisation, correctly handle several major relationships in promoting Chinese-style modernisation, and implement the strategic deployment of building a modern socialist country in an all-round way. We must advance comprehensive and strict governance of the party with sobriety and firmness…comprehensively promote Party building with the Party's political construction as the guide, carry out the Party's great self-revolution to the end, and ensure that the Party will never deteriorate, change colour or flavour. We must maintain strategic sobriety and strategic self-confidence, adhere to the bottom line thinking, carry forward the spirit of struggle, improve our struggle skills, and rely on tenacious struggle to open up new horizons for the development of our cause. We must persist in striving for progress in stability, overcome difficulties, vigorously investigate and study, avoid formalism and bureaucracy, do a good job in all aspects, and achieve a good start in the new era and on the new journey.” 要深刻认识习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想实现了马克思主义中国化时代化新的飞跃，牢牢把握好这一重要思想的世界观和方法论，坚持好、运用好贯穿其中的立场观点方法，使其成为改造主客观世界的强大思想武器。要系统把握中国式现代化的理论体系，深刻领会中国式现代化的中国特色、本质要求和重大原则，正确处理推进中国式现代化的若干重大关系，贯彻落实好全面建设社会主义现代化国家的战略部署。要以永远在路上的清醒和坚定推进全面从严治党，以党的政治建设为统领全面推进党的建设，把党的伟大自我革命进行到底，确保党永远不变质、不变色、不变味。要保持战略清醒和战略自信，坚持底线思维，发扬斗争精神，提高斗争本领，依靠顽强斗争打开事业发展新天地。要坚持稳中求进、攻坚克难，大兴调查研究之风，力戒形式主义、官僚主义，扎实做好各方面工作，实现新时代新征程良好开局.
Page 2: There’s a report about the China Meteorological Administration approving a new plan with regard to weather modification and rain-seeding. The plan calls for building seven experimental demonstration bases in the southwest, north and southeast regions, so as to improve the modernisation level of weather modification systems with intelligence as the main feature.
Page 3: This page carries the foreign affairs related stories. First, there’s a report on Wang Yi’s meeting with Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban. The readout says:
Wang said that:
“Though different in size, China and Hungary have always respected, understood and trusted each other, whose relations have become a model of international exchanges. China is willing to comprehensively promote friendly exchanges with Hungary, continuously deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, and strive to promote the democratisation of international relations and the multi-polarization of the world. Noting that the year 2023 marks the tenth anniversary of Chinese President Xi Jinping's proposal of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Wang called on both sides to continue to strengthen high-quality cooperation under the BRI. China appreciates Hungary's active role in supporting the development of China-EU relations, which is not only beneficial to Chinese and Hungarians, but also in the fundamental long-term interests of Europe, he added.”
“The two sides also exchanged views on Ukraine, deeming that the more complex the situation is, the more necessary to stay calm and sober and make the right choices in line with the norms of international relations as well as the long-term interests of Europe, so that Europe can achieve peace at an early date.”
Although this is not in PD today, later in Budapest, Wang met with Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto. Xinhua says:
“China will firmly pursue a friendly policy toward Hungary and will support its domestic and foreign policies adopted based on the fundamental interests of the Hungarian people, said Wang…China is ready to work with Hungary to implement the important consensus reached by leaders of the two countries, seize the opportunity brought about by China's optimizing its epidemic prevention and control policies as well as its strong economic recovery, exploit the two countries' respective advantages, push for progress in bilateral cooperation on infrastructure, investment, trade and tourism, and elevate their cooperation on building the Belt and Road to a new level, Wang said. This year marks the 20th anniversary of China's comprehensive strategic partnership with the European Union (EU), Wang said, noting that China and Europe have never been rivals, and their common interests far outweigh their differences. He said China's cooperation with Hungary, with the Central and Eastern European countries, and with Europe at large can achieve benign interactions and open up more room for development. In the face of changes and disorders in the world, China and Hungary should jointly practice multilateralism, uphold the basic norms governing international relations, oppose unilateralism and hegemonism and provide more stability to the world, Wang said.”
Xinhua adds that Szijjarto “expressed his country's gratitude to China for its sincere support in such areas as politics, economy and the fight against the pandemic.” “The two sides also exchanged views on Ukraine. Wang stressed that China will work with all the peace-loving countries, including Hungary, to make efforts to achieve an early ceasefire and lasting peace. Szijjarto highly appreciated China's objective and just position on this issue as well as its active efforts to promote peace talks.”
Next, there are reports of engagements by Qin Gang. First, Qin’s meeting with his Singaporean counterpart Vivian Balakrishnan in Beijing. Xinhua reports:
“Qin said that China attaches great importance to bilateral ties with Singapore and the unique role Singapore plays in regional and international affairs. China stands ready to work with Singapore to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state and to achieve new developments in bilateral relations. Noting there are important opportunities for the integration and mutual promotion of modernization of the two countries, Qin said the two sides should seek greater synergies between each other's development strategies, advance the joint construction of a high-quality Belt and Road, and promote the upgrading of cooperation…Noting that the interests of the two sides are highly integrated, Balakrishnan said Singapore is full of expectations for cooperation with China in various fields, adding that Singapore will continue to uphold multilateralism and safeguard peace and prosperity together with China. The two sides indicated that they will prepare for the next stage of high-level exchanges, agreed to accelerate the full resumption of direct flights, and stressed adherence to an open and inclusive regional cooperation architecture with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations at the center.”
Second, there’s a report on Qin’s chat with James Cleverly, British secretary of state for foreign, commonwealth and development affairs. This is an interesting readout because the intent here is so transparent. Xinhua says:
“Qin said China is not a challenge or threat to Britain. Adding that China is committed to high-quality development and high-level opening-up, Qin said the advantage of China's super-large market and its domestic demand potential will continue to be released and the two countries can complement each other and achieve mutually beneficial cooperation. Harmony brings wealth and bilateral cooperation depends a great deal on a good atmosphere between the two countries, Qin explained. It is hoped that the British side will view China's development objectively and rationally, work with China for shared goals, enhance mutual trust, properly handle differences, establish correct understanding of each other, strengthen cooperation, and promote the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations, Qin said.”
Although not reported in PD, Qin also spoke to Zambian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Stanley Kasongo Kakubo. Xinhua’s report does not mention the debt issue at all. Zambia is currently in talks for restructuring of about $13 billion of external debt this year. Chinese creditors account for nearly $6 billion of Zambia’s total external debt. Beijing is reportedly insisting that multilateral lenders, who don’t usually take haircuts, should participate in debt relief for Zambia. Anyway, Xinhua has Qin saying:
“China is ready to strengthen practical cooperation with Zambia in various fields under the high-quality cooperation of the Belt and Road Initiative and within the framework of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, said Qin, adding that China welcomes more high-quality Zambian goods to enter the Chinese market. China and Zambia should strengthen coordination and cooperation on international and regional issues, jointly oppose unilateralism, protectionism and bullying practices, and safeguard the common interests of the two countries and other developing countries.”
Next, there’s a report (English report) on the NPC criticising the US Senate for passing resolutions “that hype up the ‘China threat’ and malign and discredit China after the unintended entry of a Chinese civilian unmanned airship into U.S. airspace.” — The balloon saga refuses to die down. And other countries have raised the issue with China too. This makes it all the more difficult for Beijing. The NPC’s Foreign Affairs Committee’s statement says: “The U.S. Congress is deliberately igniting confrontation, creating tension, and politicizing, complicating and magnifying the unexpected and isolated incident, which is a typical example of hegemony…The Chinese side strongly urges the U.S. Congress to respect the facts, the principles of international law and the basic norms of international relations, and immediately cease maligning China to prevent bringing further disruption and damage to China-U.S. relations.”
Finally, there’s a HuanYu Ping commentary, which basically trashes the conversation around the war in Ukraine during the Munich Security Conference. I wonder how European leaders can actually buy the talk of peace that Beijing is selling on the Ukraine issue, when this is the view that it argues at home.
The Munich Security Conference “meeting focused on the Ukrainian crisis, but did not create a favourable atmosphere for the political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis; some western countries call for unity, but they have not shown enough will to promote the construction of a more just and rational international order. This shows that there is still a big gap between the countries concerned in terms of understanding and actions in maintaining world peace and stability.” 围绕如何应对乌克兰危机、如何维护国际秩序稳定等焦点问题，许多国家的代表发表了看法。但应该看到的是，会议聚焦乌克兰危机，却没有为政治解决乌克兰危机营造出有利氛围；一些西方国家呼吁团结，却没有展现出推动构建更加公正合理的国际秩序的足够意愿。这表明在维护世界和平稳定方面，有关国家在认识和行动上还有不小差距.
The article says that “the MSC theme this year was Re:vision, reflecting the desire of some Western countries to use the Ukraine crisis to ‘reinvigorate’. Whether it was the ‘Munich Security Report’ released before the meeting, which peddled the so-called false narrative of ‘democracy against authoritarianism’, or the various confrontational voices at the meeting, they all clearly reminded people that the so-called ‘vision’ that some Western countries want to offer is to go back to the past and replicate the Cold War pattern of opposing camps even in the 21st century. It is precisely because of this way of thinking that the number of American delegates to Munich has reached a record high, while some so-called ‘rival countries’ have been deprived of the right to participate. Standing at an important juncture of historical evolution, human society must not take the old road of camp opposition, division and confrontation again. 过去几年，慕尼黑安全会议聚焦“西方缺失”“摆脱无助感”等主题，流露出西方国家对在不断变化的国际格局中如何转换角色的纠结与焦虑。今年的慕尼黑安全会议将主题定为“重塑愿景”，反映出一些西方国家想借乌克兰危机“重振旗鼓”的意图。无论是会前发布的《慕尼黑安全报告》大肆兜售所谓“民主对抗威权”虚假叙事，还是会场上传递出的种种对抗性声音，都清楚地提醒人们，一些西方国家想要重塑的所谓“愿景”，实际上是要回到过去，在21世纪复制阵营对立的冷战格局。正是受这种思维方式的影响，前往慕尼黑的美国代表人数创下历史新高，而一些所谓的“对手国家”则被剥夺了参会权。站在历史演进的重要关头，人类社会绝不能重走阵营对立、分裂对抗的老路.
The next paragraph argues that the Munich Security Conference report admits that “many countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America are unwilling to follow the West to isolate Russia economically and diplomatically. For many countries in the Global South, the ‘Western-led order’ is characterised by ‘post-colonial rule, double standards and ignoring the concerns of developing countries’. Many international observers have pointed out that in order to win the trust of the Global South, western countries must stop pedalling the rhetoric of ‘black and white’ and commit themselves to promoting peace.” 今年的《慕尼黑安全报告》也不得不承认，非洲、亚洲和拉丁美洲的许多国家都不愿跟随西方在经济和外交上孤立俄罗斯，对于许多南方国家来说，“西方主导的秩序”的特点是“后殖民统治、双重标准和忽视发展中国家的关切”。许多国际观察人士指出，西方国家要取信于“全球南方”，必须停止兜售“非黑即白”的说辞，致力于推动实现和平.
After this, there is pessimism expressed with regard to the future direction of the war in Ukraine. Clearly, this signals that Beijing does not believe that its interventions will have any significant impact.
“All parties should abandon the ‘minor principle’ of giving priority to their own interests and obey the ‘major principle’ of observing the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. Regrettably, due to individual countries’ obsession with adding fuel to the fire and extreme pressure, people still cannot see the prospect of a peaceful solution to the Ukrainian crisis.” 各方都应放弃本国利益优先的“小道理”，服从遵守联合国宪章宗旨和原则的“大道理”。遗憾的是，由于个别国家沉迷于拱火浇油、极限施压，人们至今仍看不到和平解决乌克兰危机的前景。
Then the article discusses the future of the international order.
“A stable international order is a public good that all countries cannot do without. The root cause of the turmoil and war in the world today is that the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter are not truly observed. The international order should not be dominated by individual countries, let alone used by individual countries to maintain hegemony, but should be based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, uphold multilateralism, reflect fairness and justice, and contribute to the promotion of world peace and development. This is the common aspiration of the majority of developing countries. In the face of severe challenges such as the increasing lack of mutual trust among major powers, the widening geographical rift, the prevalence of unilateralism and the resurgence of the Cold War mentality, the international community urgently needs to promote the construction of a more just and rational international order and fundamentally clarify the effective path to solve the problem. In order to make the world safer, we should respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, resolve disputes peacefully through dialogue and consultation, return to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and attach importance to the key role of development.” 稳定的国际秩序是所有国家都离不开的公共产品。当今世界面临诸多动荡战乱，根源正是联合国宪章宗旨和原则没有得到真正的遵守。国际秩序不应由个别国家主导，更不应被个别国家用来维护霸权，而应建立在联合国宪章宗旨和原则基础上，坚持多边主义，体现公平公正，有利于促进世界和平发展。这是广大发展中国家的共同诉求。面对大国互信日益缺失、地缘裂痕不断扩大、单边主义大行其道、冷战思维卷土重来等严峻挑战，国际社会迫切需要推动构建更加公正合理的国际秩序，从根本上明确解决问题的有效路径。为了世界更安全，要坚持尊重各国主权和领土完整，坚持通过对话协商和平解决争端，回归联合国宪章宗旨和原则，重视发展的关键作用.
Page 4: There’s a report on comments by Wang Chen, who heads the China Law Society. Wang called on legal workers and scholars to fulfil their “inescapable responsibility” of promoting Chinese-style modernisation. He called on them to “deeply understand the decisive significance of the Two Establishments, resolutely achieve the Two Safeguards, always adhere to the leadership of the Party, and unswervingly follow the path of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics. It is necessary to strengthen the study, research and propaganda related to Xi Jinping Thought on Rule of Law, actively promote the innovation of China’s constitutional theory and constitutional practice, and further promote Xi Jinping Thought on Rule of Law to enter textbooks, classrooms, and minds.” 王晨强调，以中国式现代化全面推进中华民族伟大复兴，广大法学法律工作者责无旁贷、任重道远。要深刻领悟“两个确立”的决定性意义，坚决做到“两个维护”，始终坚持党的领导，坚定不移走中国特色社会主义法治道路。要加强习近平法治思想学习研究宣传，积极推进我国宪法理论和宪法实践创新，进一步推动习近平法治思想进教材、进课堂、进头脑.
Page 17: Today’s international page features the full report “U.S. Hegemony and Its Perils.” The paper basically gives what it says are examples of different kinds of hegemonic behaviour by the US. These are categorised as follows:
Political Hegemony -- Throwing Its Weight Around
Military Hegemony -- Wanton Use of Force
Economic Hegemony -- Looting and Exploitation
Technological Hegemony -- Monopoly and Suppression
Cultural Hegemony -- Spreading False Narratives
There’s also a Zhong Sheng commentary reinforcing the points from the paper.
Also on the page is a report with MoFA’s comments (English comments) calling for an “objective, impartial and professional investigation” into the Nord Stream pipeline explosion.
Wang Wenbin said: “The US government and media have been mysteriously quiet and the countries concerned in Europe seem rather hesitant about how they would react. These unusual signs give people even more reason to believe that the truth behind the Nord Stream blast is more complicated than they can imagine. Given the gravity of sabotaging vital transnational infrastructure and the serious consequences arising thereof, the international community has every right to demand a thorough investigation into this.”