Chinese Peacekeeping Battalion Awarded UN Medal for Service in recent years
China today is a big power and as expected, big power comes with big responsibilities. One of the major responsibilities of big powers is to support world peace and order. However, previously, some big powers have contributed to conflict and injustices around the world for selfish gain. What does China’s rise reflect in the global security environment reveal about its national character?
China’s role as a global force for peace is important. Chinese leaders have reaffirmed China’s role as a peacemaker and mediator in global conflicts. Its actions over time have shown that it is a country committed to international peace and security. It has consistently rejected the use of force or any military interventions and occupations of other countries.
Many people across the world are wondering how China managed to reconcile and promote dialogue between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the historic reconciliation between Palestinian adversaries and a peace plan for the Ukraine crisis. This is because of a clean historic record of non-aggression and invasion of other territories and its principle of non-intervention and respect for national sovereignty. This explains why China is able to build widespread consensus among adversaries and promote peace.
China’s growing role in international peace and conflict resolution is supported by principles it holds dear that emphasize peaceful development and peaceful resolution of disputes. First, in its principle of respect and equality amongst nations, China insists that nations should accommodate each other’s core interest and major concerns in a diversified manner.
It proposes acknowledging that countries, big or small, strong or weak, rich or poor, are equal members of the international community and on matters of international concern, dialogue and negotiation must be prioritized to ensure lasting peace, harmony and stability. It rejects bullying of the weak by the strong and intimidation tactics or supporting one party over the other based on race, region or continent.
In the principle of mutual understanding and trust, China calls for understanding of every nation’s strategic intentions. It believes that greater roles played by emerging countries in regional and international affairs represent development opportunities rather than threats to international security. China calls for a new way of thinking and says that unreasonable and zero-sum assumptions and cold war mentality in the security arena contrasts to the trends of today. China says if we ignore the facts, make assumptions or distortions on others’ strategic intentions purely based on differences in ideology and social system, we risk creating adversaries based on fear and imaginations.
China has made it clear that it will follow the path of peaceful development. China’s fast rise in strength and influence goes hand in hand with a desire for a peaceful international environment in which China can develop itself and reciprocally help maintain and promote world peace with its own development. This path is fundamentally different from the historical path of colonial expansion that many developed countries used to develop themselves.
