A Message of Hope for a Stricken World

CommenTary

A Message of Hope for

a Stricken World

A

By WILLIAM JONES

N annual gathering of business people and

government representatives from the Asia

Pacific region and beyond each year at the

Boao Forum for Asia in south China’s Hainan

Island is always an occasion to gain fresh insights into

economic development in the region and the rest of the

world. Since taking the helm of the country, President

Xi Jinping has addressed the forum’s annual conference

multiple times. The theme of this year’s conference is

“A World in Change: Join Hands to Strengthen Global

Governance and Advance Belt and Road Cooperation.”

In the backdrop of the major tensions between China

and the U.S. and the economic disruption caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic that has ravaged the world over

the past year, President Xi, in his speech delivered at the

opening ceremony of the 2021 conference, presented a

pathway forward for the region and the world, based on

cooperation and mutual respect between nations rather

than on unilateral decisions of individual countries,

while emphasizing the principle of extensive consulta-

tion, joint contribution, and shared benefits.

Noting that this was the 20th anniversary of the

Boao Forum for Asia, Xi reflected on how the economy

of the Asia Pacific region has seen incredible develop-

ment during that period. “Over these two decades,

Asian countries have advanced regional economic inte-

gration and worked in unison to pursue both economic

and social development, which has turned Asia into

the most vibrant and promising region in the global

economy,” Xi said. At the same time, he noted that the

world has entered a period of dramatic and unsettling

changes. “Now, the combined forces of changes and a

pandemic both unseen in a century have brought the

world into a phase of fluidity and transformation,” Xi

said. “Instability and uncertainty are clearly on the rise.

Humanity is facing a growing governance deficit, trust

deficit, development deficit, and peace deficit. Much

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remains to be done to achieve universal security and

common development.” The question now before man-

kind, Xi pointed out, is which way humanity should

proceed in order to secure the future for the coming

generations.

With many nations still mired in the fight to over-

come the pandemic, the growing fear of this deadly

killer has led many countries to turn inward and seek

scapegoats abroad to blame for their own dilemma. The

rise of unilateralism and xenophobia has again taken

root in this era of crisis. President Xi, as the leader of

the second largest economy in the world, is offering a

better pathway to the future than acrimony and fear. He

listed several steps that could be taken to move in the

direction of a better and more peaceful world. Firstly,

he called for consultation between nations on an equal

footing to create a future of shared benefits. Secondly,

he underlined the need for greater openness and in-

novation within and among nations. Thirdly, he called

for solidarity and cooperation in the area of health and

security. The type of beggar-thy-neighbor attitude with

regard to vaccine development that we have seen in

certain countries is not only a form of injustice, but

will only prolong the pandemic on a global scale. And

fourthly, he called for a commitment to justice “to cre-

ate a future of mutual respect and mutual learning. “The

COVID-19 pandemic has made it all clearer to people

around the world that we must reject the cold-war and

zero-sum mentality and oppose a new ‘Cold War’ and

ideological confrontation in whatever form,” Xi said.

“In state-to-state relations, the principles of equality,

mutual respect, and mutual trust must be put front and

center.”

Making this important speech several days before

the virtual climate summit summoned by President

Biden, which President Xi also attended, was extremely

well-timed. On the climate issue, it is hoped that the

U.S. and China can see eye-to-eye and begin to repair

their tattered relationship. The continued efforts by the

The opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2021 is held in Boao, south China’s Hainan Province, on April 20.

Biden administration to hold on to the spirit, if not the

letter, of “America First,” has also found its expression

in the area of climate. While the U.S. has been largely

absent in the discussion recently, the Biden adminis-

tration now feels that it must be the “teacher” or at

least the “coordinator” of other nations, a view that is

undoubtedly not shared by most of the countries that

attended that virtual summit. Making the climate issue

an issue of “geopolitics” will certainly not lead to any

productive results.

The fact that the chief negotiators of both China and

the U.S. have succeeded in issuing a joint statement of

purpose gives an indication that the discussion may

not be impeded by “geopolitics” but will indeed be char-

acterized by mutual respect. At least this is the hope.

President Xi has already committed to an extensive pro-

gram of reaching carbon neutrality by 2060. This goal

will be a major undertaking for China given the fact

that it is still largely reliant on fossil fuels for its energy

production, but seeing the measures that have already

been taken by China in this respect, there can be little

doubt that this commitment is real and doable.

In his speech, President Xi also emphasized the oth-

er great task of our era, namely bringing mankind out of

the vicious circle of endemic poverty. China has shown

the way by bringing around 800 million people out of

poverty over the last several decades. This remains an

important marker for the rest of the world to follow. Xi

also underlined the importance of the BRI in this large

poverty alleviation program. “A World Bank report sug-

gests that by 2030, Belt and Road projects could help lift

7.6 million people from extreme poverty and 32 million

people from moderate poverty across the world,” Xi

said.

Xi assured his listeners that China would “continue

to play its part in building world peace, promoting

global development, and defending international order.”

“By setting sail together, we could ride the wind, break

the waves, and brave the journey of 10,000 miles,” Xi

said. “We may at times encounter stormy waves and

dangerous rapids, but as long as we pool our efforts and

keep to the right direction, the giant vessel of human

development will stay on an even keel and sail toward

a brighter future.” This is a message of great hope in a

world still torn apart by great divisions which still re-

main to be overcome.

C

WILLIAM JONES is a Washington policy analyst and a non-resi-

dent fellow of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies under

Renmin University of China.

June 2021

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