In a recent speech, Chinese President Xi Jinping talked about the Chinese belief in the value of benevolence and good neighbourliness. As a responsible major country, China adheres to the common values of peace, development, equity, justice, democracy and freedom for all mankind, believes in global governance through consultation and cooperation for shared benefits and perseveres along the path towards peaceful, open, cooperative and common development. As long as we stick to peaceful development and work together with other peoples in the world to build a community with a shared future, we will surely usher in a bright future of peace and development for all. President Xi’s speech was a strong call of the times for upholding world peace and justice and promoting a community of shared future for mankind. It contains a powerful message for China and Afghanistan to work together for a peaceful and promising future.
China is a staunch peace-loving force. The Chinese are a peace-loving nation. Since modern times, China has suffered much from the ravages of war and its people know too well the cruelty of war and the value of peace. The Chinese people don’t make trouble and they are not scared by any trouble. With great patriotism, heroism, optimism and loyalty plus an internationalist passion for the cause of peace and justice for all mankind, we have defied brute force and been united as one to protect our homeland from aggression. We have thus won peace, respect and support. China has all along followed a defensive national defense policy, vowed not to seek hegemony or expansion and opposed hegemony and power politics. China will never stand idly by while its sovereignty, security or development interests are compromised, nor will it allow anyone or any force to infringe upon or split up any part of its territory.
China is an important force to boost international peace. During World War II, China was the main oriental battlefield of the world anti-fascist war. Our men and women fought for the survival of our country, national rejuvenation and justice. Together with other peace- and justice-loving nations in the world, they became heroes of a magnificent epic poem with the heroic fight and great victory in the anti-fascist war, which advanced the cause of world peace, enlightened and encouraged more oppressed nations to fight for national independence and liberation. Since the founding of New China, under the strong leadership of the Communist Party, China has undergone unprecedented historical changes and performed an eye-catching development miracle. As socialism with Chinese characteristics enters into a new era, through great leaps from standing up to getting rich and then becoming strong, the Chinese nation has become a major contributor to world peace. The Chinese military has always been a staunch force in safeguarding world peace. China has taken part in 25 UN peacekeeping operations. With more than 40,000 officers and soldiers dispatched, China has been the leading contributor of troops and the second largest contributor of funds to those operations. The UN spoke highly of China in this regard. ‘Over the years, China has been actively committed to the cause of international peace and development. In particular, it has made important contributions in joining UN peacekeeping operations, addressing regional hotspot issues and promoting common development through South-South cooperation.’
China is a firm force to maintain world order. The world today is shattered in the COVID-19 pandemic and major changes unseen in a century. The international situation is increasingly complicated as zero-sum Cold War mentality and unilateralism make repeated impacts on the international order and the baseline of morality. The world is once again at a critical crossroad. As a defender of international order and a practitioner of multilateralism, China will, as always, adhere to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, commit itself to win-win cooperation, equity and justice, and actively pursue the development of a community of shared future for mankind. As President Xi said, the difficulties and challenges confronting the whole world require people of all countries to work together. Peaceful development and win-win cooperation are the true path for the world.
China is the mainstay in promoting common development of the world. Ancient Chinese philosopher Mencius taught us to ‘maintain moral integrity in obscurity and help improve the world in times of success.’ China is not only dedicated to achieving its own economic development but also determined to make great contributions to the development of all economies. China has up to now signed 200 cooperation documents and carried out over 2,000 cooperation projects with 138 countries and 30 international organizations within the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) framework. The COVID-19 pandemic has plunged the world economy into negative growth. As China took the lead to recover and grow, it has continued to increase investments in BRI participating countries. It has also made great efforts to secure international shipment of medical supplies for pandemic response and stabilize the global supply chain for continued economic and trade exchanges despite various disruptions. With BRI projects connecting China with the rest of the world market, China serves as an endless source of power for and contributes its strength to world economic recovery.
China is a friendly force supporting the realization of lasting peace and development in Afghanistan at an early date. As a firm believer in the value of an ‘amicable, tranquil and prosperous neighbourhood’ and a friendly neighbor connected by mountains and rivers, China readily works together with Afghanistan to build a community of shared future and for a peaceful, stable and prosperous future. Over the past 20 years, China has firmly supported national security, stability and economic development and provided assistance within its capacity to the peace, reconstruction and reconciliation process in Afghanistan. As intra-Afghan negotiation has started, the country is now in a critical phase in history. China will, as always, play a constructive role by upholding the ‘Afghan-led, Afghan-owned’ principle of peace and reconciliation, the general direction towards peace and political settlement and the broad framework of inclusion, solidarity and stability. We sincerely hope to see an early restoration of peace in Afghanistan. At the same time, China will do its utmost to carry out cooperation against COVID-19 and other natural disasters with a view to helping Afghanistan to overcome difficulties, recover economic growth and improve people’s livelihood as soon as possible.
History has proved time and again that justice will prevail over might and that peaceful development is an unstoppable historical trend. As ancient countries that have both suffered war, China and Afghanistan know more about the cruelty of war and treasure more the value of peace. We will join hands in building a peace-loving community of shared future featuring development and prosperity, which will be a stabilizing force for peace in Afghanistan and the region at large and bring more peace dividends to our two peoples.
