SHF2023｜Cui Tiankai

Cui Tiankai

Former Chinese Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United States of America;

Former Vice Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China

Distinguished guests and friends, it is my great pleasure to come to my hometown in the golden autumn to attend the “Shanghai Forum 2023”, and it is my great honor to speak at the opening ceremony.

The theme of the conference is “Towards a More Inclusive Globalization: Asia's New Responsibilities”. It is a targeted topic with strong pertinence and urgency. It is also a big topic, which requires us to have a profound understanding of the global changes, the trend of the times, and cultural traditions. I have little talent and knowledge, and I know that I have no real insights. So here I only have a little experience to share with you for your criticism and correction.

You may have noticed a paradox in today's world: on the one hand, the development of communication technology and convenient transportation have provided people with more and better opportunities to get to know different cultures and societies. The “global village” is no longer a romantic imagination but has become a tangible existence. On the other hand, the estrangement between different cultures seems to be increasing, and the antagonism between countries with different social systems seems to be intensifying. At a time when countries need to talk to each other, there is a movement towards so-called “decoupling.” At a time when people are looking for integration, they are seeing deepening rifts in some parts of the world. There are even growing social divisions within some countries.

There is a widespread international consensus that globalization has gone wrong. It’s true that there is something wrong with globalization, and not a small one. However, to simply blame everything on globalization is neither consistent with the facts nor helpful to solve the problem.

Globalization is an objective trend, driven by economic development and enabled by science and technology. The human society in the process of globalization has created the huge wealth, opens the door to new opportunities. At the same time, any trend has an impact. With the tide of globalization covering almost all corners of the world, all kinds of contrasts have been highlighted, some gaps have been deepened, and the collision and confrontation between different cultures and systems have increased. The world seems to be getting more and more unstable.

If we do not take these problems seriously, they will certainly not go away by themselves, but will only get worse. It is futile to try to solve the problem by reversing course with the so-called “anti-globalization”. The key lies in whether the international community can take a comprehensive and objective view of globalization, follow the trend, seek benefits and avoid disadvantages, and work together to make globalization fair, inclusive, balanced and beneficial to all and achieve win-win cooperation.

This is not a purely economic issue, it affects all aspects of human society, and it is also crucial for international order and global governance. Therefore, here are some fundamental issues that must be clarified.

There is a view that globalization is to implement a specific development model, social system and cultural form in the world, so that those who conform to it will prosper and those who oppose it will perish, and finally, the world will be unified. Such a view, narrow, exclusive and short-sighted, has been proved by the history of human society so far to be unworkable, let alone the direction of future development. If we say that in the past, when international exchanges were still difficult, such thinking could be attributed to objective limitations to a considerable extent, but today, when transport and communication are highly developed and people of all countries look forward to connectivity and common development, to act in accordance with such thinking is to go against the trend and disregard the will of the people.

Globalization, as its name implies, should be based on, oriented to and beneficial to the whole world, and should be fully inclusive. It should be pointed out that when we talk about inclusiveness, we do not mean patronizing charity, nor does it mean that any person or country can pretend to be a teacher, and regard other people and other countries as followers who can only follow their orders. True inclusiveness should be based on equal treatment and mutual respect among different countries and cultures, recognition of the diversity of the world, respect for the choices of countries based on their national conditions, learn from each other's strengths, and appreciate the culture of others for the prosperity of human civilization.

Inclusive globalization should be open and tolerant, and no one would dispute that. However, the reality is that the trend of isolation, segmentation and containment in the world is increasing. Keen on ideological confrontation, forging adversarial military alliances, and deliberately dividing and distorting industrial and supply chains, such acts happen almost every day, posing a serious threat to world peace, stability, development and prosperity.

Some specious claims, in an attempt to justify these practices, have been put forward, which in fact do not stand up to scrutiny. For example, the so-called “de-risking”. Preventing risks is undoubtedly crucial. But first we have to figure out what risk is. Some people regard other countries' pursuit of a better life as a risk, and other countries' adherence to their legitimate right to development and their development path suited to their national conditions as a risk. In fact, “decoupling and chain-breaking” is the risk; To abuse the concept of national security and politicize, instrumentalize and weaponize economic, trade and scientific and technological issues are the risk; Unilateral sanctions, long-arm jurisdiction and undermining the international order based on international law are the risk. Advocating a new “Cold War”, splitting the international community and provoking conflicts between major powers are the huge risk.

There is also a word called “small yard, high fence”. In fact, this originally came from the discovery that “decoupling and chain-breaking” could not be made, and the one who tried it would hurt itself, so it changed to a new saying. However, there is no substantial difference between the two except in degree and method. They are not based on legitimate and reasonable national security concerns, and they are not really for the protection of intellectual property rights and trade secrets. Instead, they are meant to set up obstacles to economic and trade exchanges and scientific and technological cooperation, stifle normal economic and technological competition, contain wrongly identified rivals, and maintain their own hegemony.

However, economic development and scientific and technological progress have objective laws that no one can violate. Exchanges and cooperation are the aspiration of the people of all countries, and no one can stand in their way. “Water still flows, though we cut it with our swords”, the trend is unstoppable. The result of confining others is likely to be confining yourself. If someone surrounds himself with “small yard, high fence”, and the walls get higher and higher, such a picture always reminds me of a Chinese idiom: “look at the sky from the bottom of a well.”

Inclusive globalization should aim at achieving common development for all countries in the world. The problem of the globalization process, if anything, is that it has made some imbalances and inequalities in the world more prominent. The opportunities and wealth created by globalization have yet to be truly shared globally, or even within some countries. The development goals set by the United Nations have made great progress in some places, but have lagged far behind in many others. The existing development gap and the gap between the rich and the poor in the world have not been eliminated. Now new risks have emerged. Will there be a digital gap, a population-intelligence gap and a life-science gap in human society? Are these gaps already being created? Such a prospect warrants high vigilance.

Regrettably, at a time when we are facing major common challenges, some people are busy waging cold wars, hot wars and proxy wars while ignoring the food security, energy security and development security of many developing countries. Some are keen on the so-called “strategic competition among major countries” and ignore the legitimate aspirations of developing countries, especially small and medium-sized countries. Some are intent on maintaining and perpetuating anachronistic hegemony, rather than joining hands with all countries in the international community to build a community with a shared future for mankind.

It is worth noting that in the face of such challenges, Asian countries have produced generally encouraging results. Despite the differences in politics, economy and culture among Asian countries, and despite the existence of some regional hotspot issues, Asia has generally maintained peace and stability and avoided major conflicts. Although there are still some disputes among Asian countries, friendship and cooperation continue to be the keynote of our relations, and equal-footed consultation and pragmatic settlement of problems remain our priority. Despite the difficult recovery of the world economy and the marked increase in uncertainty and instability in the international economic environment, Asia, as one of the main engines of world economic growth, has maintained the momentum of economic development and continued to make progress in regional cooperation.

Asia offers useful lessons. Abided by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and the basic norms governing international relations based on them, Asia has upheld the principle of Peaceful Coexistence and the Spirit of Bandung. Asia carries forward its own cultural traditions and wisdom, and practices mutual respect, especially respect for each other's core interests and major concerns. Asia takes development as its top priority and sees cooperation as the only way to achieve win-win results. Asia is good at spotting opportunities in others' development and is willing to share its own development achievements with others. We believe that “if we do well for ourselves, we will do better for others”. Asia has developed effective mechanisms and methods for handling mutual relations. As we all know, ASEAN has put forward the ASEAN Way of “accommodating each other’s comfort levels”, that is, we should discuss matters more, speak out properly, and do not impose on others.

Asia has provided the world with useful experience in responding to and leading globalization, and it should also assume new responsibilities in this regard. Asia's greater role is a response to the call of the times and a historical mission, not a challenge or replacement for anyone. Asia is committed to making more contributions to world development and human progress, rather than repressing or excluding any other party or seeking hegemony. Asia has always opposed a zero-sum game of exclusivity. Asia is willing to share its experience with others and learn from others. In fact, Asia has always been good at learning, and for a long time, Asia has been paying close attention to Europe's integration process, believing that Europe is the forerunner in this regard. Now, we still want Europe's integration to succeed, and we value Europe's lessons.

It is alarming that there have been some negative problems in the Asian situation in recent years. There are those who sow division, incite confrontation and advocate confrontation among Asian countries. There are those who are trying to split Asia's industrial and supply chains and disrupt the sound momentum of regional cooperation and economic development. There are those who are trying to copy the wars in other places to Asia, to establish the so-called “Asian version of NATO”, so that the forces that once engaged in colonization and aggression in Asia can “change their vests” and return to Asia. These pose a serious threat to peace, stability, development and prosperity in Asia and must be resolutely resisted. It is believed that Asian countries have enough wisdom and strength not to allow such attempts to succeed.

Today, in the face of changes in the world, times and history, we need to have a clear understanding, a long-term vision and a wise choice. We need to clarify our basic concepts and come up with a correct narrative. Some specious and highly misleading so-called theories and “doctrines” are prevalent in the world, which is a big problem that we must pay attention to and solve.

Wang Yangming, a famous Chinese thinker in the Ming Dynasty, said: “It is easy to defeat external challenges, but difficult to conquer internal struggles”. It means that it is easy to defeat the enemy outside, but it is difficult to eliminate the inherent thoughts in the heart. Remember there was the roundly criticized Berlin Wall during the Cold War, which was seen as a symbol of entrenched division and isolation. Then the Berlin Wall finally came down and the Cold War ended. Many believed that history had come to an end. But look at the region today, where one military group has disappeared while another continues to expand and strengthen. When the visible walls are torn down, the invisible ones seem stronger. The Cold War was over, but the Cold War mentality is still very much in market. Some people pick up old tools almost instinctively and go back to their old ways. Is the region more stable and secure than it was then? To borrow the words of Wang Yangming, “it is easy to tear down walls in the boundary, but difficult to tear down walls in the heart.” We should think deeply about it.

The Shanghai Forum is a good platform for us to pool our ideas together. I believe that in this world-famous city known for inclusive, excellent, open-minded, and modest, we will certainly be able to open our minds, broaden our horizons, deepen exchanges, inspire each other and achieve important results.

Wish Shanghai Forum 2023 a complete success!