World Peace Discussed at Forum
Igor Sergeyevich Ivanov, former secretary of the Russian Federation Security Council, believes that a security consensus in the Asia-Pacific is critical for the future of the whole world. “The Asia-Pacific is the region most representative of the complexity and multifaceted-ness of international politics. If a consensus on crisis control and response to development challenges were reached in this area, its success would be replicated in other parts of the world. If we fail to do so in the Asia-Pacific, development in other regions will be affected and the 21st century will face instable, unpredictable and perilous prospects,” Ivanov said.
The gravity of international politics and economy is shifting from the Atlantic to the Asia-Pacific, but as former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama cautioned, Asian security issues are profuse in uncertainties. “Defending national interests by military means will incur reprimands of other countries, and also inflict great suffering on the people. To stave off conflicts, we must adopt a new attitude and instill friendship, mutual trust and cooperation into inter-country relations,” Hatoyama said.
Stephen John Hadley, former assistant to the president for National Security Affairs of the U.S., denounced the idea “Asians must handle Asian security problems on their own” in his speech at the forum. He said that it implies driving the U.S. out of the Asian security framework. This reflects a miscomprehension of the envisioned Asian security mechanism.
Mr. Yang pointed out in his speech, “The new constellation of Asian security places emphasis on both inter-regional cooperation and cooperation between Asian countries and those elsewhere as well as regional and international organizations. It welcomes all parties to play an active and constructive role in Asian security and cooperation.” He called for countries outside of Asia to fully take into account the rational concerns of their peers in the area, asserting positive not negative influences. Trans-regional mechanisms should be given full play as a bond in promoting exchanges and cooperation between Asia and the rest of the world.
At a panel discussion on building the new Asia-Pacific security framework, Richard Armitage, former U.S. deputy Secretary of State, said he was impressed by the message President Xi sent in his CICA speech – China is willing to communicate with the rest of the world, respects other countries’ sovereignty and territorial integrity, and does not interfere with their internal affairs, and respects their rights to independently choose their paths of development and their security interests. He called the speech a good manifesto of Chinese policies.
Mr. Armitage, however, has a question for the proposed Asian security concept: Do other Asian countries see eye to eye with China in this regard? Huang Renwei, vice president of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, gave his reply in an interview with the media. “The new Asian security concept is an idea China has put forward in the new stage of development. Will big powers comply? Will small countries follow suit? It takes time. We need to outline to the world our peaceful development roadmap, and what’s more, we need to put words into deeds.”
Former Japanese Ambassador to China Yuji Miyamoto pointed out that, in addition to penning down a theory, the central task of Asian security is to set out workable mechanisms and rules to put the idea into practice, hence establishing a new regional security order.
Former French PM Dominique de Villepin said that a multi-polar world is a balanced world, and China could be a crucial contributor to world stability. This, he explained, is not only due to China’s size and clout, but also the principles and shared wishes it stands for such as harmony and mutual respect, essential factors in today’s international situation.
Responsibilities of Big Powers
In his video message, Mr. Kissinger cautioned that throughout history rising powers and estab lished powers often ran into heated disagreements that turned out to be catastrophic to both sides, disrupted the international system, blocked progress of important issues and fed conflicts. He said that if this scenario were repeated between China and the U.S., neither party would win, and what’s more, other countries may exploit the discord for their own gains. He concluded that the Sino-U.S. relationship is crucial to the establishment of a new international order in the 21st century, in particular the Asia-Pacific security mechanism.
Austrian Ambassador to China Dr. Irene Giner-Reichl agreed that a multilateral system based on cooperation of big powers opens more opportunities and choices for smaller countries. In cases of confrontation between big powers, smaller countries are forced to take sides, and consequently have no access to the economic and security benefits that each provided.
Several kingpin participants at the forum reiterated the weight of responsibility. Mr. de Villepin noted in his speech that the rule of responsibilities had to be established as the first step to realize peace. Similarly, Mr. Ivanov called on all countries to perform their due obligations in the face of the increasingly complicated international situation.
At the Second World Peace Forum held in June 2013, China for the first time declared its task to shoulder international security responsibilities as a major country by virtue of Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao’s speech entitled “United in Our Pursuit of Peace and Security.”
“The Chinese government is poised to take up international obligations commensurate with the country’s rising international status. In my view, these obligations are more in the security sector than about the economy. No country is obliged to help with the economic development of others, but it is different matter with security issues. A security guarantee provided by major countries is needed in many parts of the world to prevent wars,” commented Yan Xuetong, director of the Institute of Modern International Relations, Tsinghua University. Russian scholar Sergey Aleksandrovich Karaganov expounded that the primary international obligation of a major country is to provide leadership in such realms as environmental conservation and Internet security, while French Ambassador to China Sylvie Bermann sees the obligations of major countries as multi-faceted, including economic development, military strength and soft power, such as cultural influence.
