Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Friday, March 29th, 2024

China’s Concern about Regional Issues

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China’s Concern about Regional Issues

Chinese officials have been constantly reiterating the principle of win-win cooperation and smile diplomacy between China and the rest of the world. To view China from a colorless lens, it has played a constructive role and seeks to broker peace between nations. Establishing a community with shared future for mankind, in which people of all colors and religions be treated equally and exercise their rights and liberties freely, is the aspiration of Chinese officials.
To view this issue deeply, Beijing has not been engaged in the ongoing regional conflicts in which a large number of civilians were killed and wounded. That is to say, engaging in a violent mechanism is against the principle of China and against the socialism with Chinese characteristics. China is in pursuit of extending the realm of soft power and win the hearts of people through non-violent mechanism. Indeed, cultivating friendly relations and enhancing “heart-to-heart” exchanges are not only the call of time but also a panacea for the regional conflicts.
Sitting on the fence does not necessarily mean that China is not concerned about the regional issues. Chinese officials seek to broker peace talks between nations and adhere to reconciliation processes. For example, in line with Pakistan, US, and Afghanistan, China is a member of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) which aims to push the Taliban to resolve the issue through negotiation. The last meeting of QCG was held in Muscat (Oman) in October 2017 to bring the Taliban to peace table. This reflects the fact that China, along with Afghanistan’s allies, intends to broker peace talks between Afghan government and the Taliban.
Regarding the summit between US and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), Beijing is willing to play its role in promoting the settlement of the regional issues. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said, “We expect them [US and DPRK] to follow the ‘dual track’ approach to advance the political settlement process of the Korean Peninsula issue, so as to promote and achieve the denuclearization on the one hand and establish the peace regime of the Peninsula on the other hand”. Thus, China is highly concerned about regional issues and willing to promote peace across the region.
Chinese officials are also against the war trade between Beijing and Washington and urge the US to end this issue through negotiation. “We are against any trade war. We believe any dispute should be worked out through dialogue and consultation,” Chinese Ambassador the US Cui Tiankai is cited as saying.
Speaking in a press conference on Wednesday entitled as “War Trade without Benefitting US”, Chen Fengying, former president of Chinese Research Institute of Global Economy, said that the emerging trade war between Beijing and Washington would undermine the global landscape and have repercussions for the entire region. Answering to my question whether Trump’s recent tweet regarding his friendship with President Xi Jinping was a green light to China for dialogue, Chen said that dialogue was unavoidable and the two countries had to organize their negotiating team and hold dialogue very seriously. She added that four platforms should be considered in dialogue: strategic platform, economic platform, culture, and cyber security. Reiterating the promotion of simultaneous four platforms, she said that there was an atmosphere for tackling the issue through dialogue, however, both sides had their own choices which make the issue a little problematic.
It is believed that forming a peaceful society for all nations is one of the lofty ambitions of China that promotes regional peace and connectivity. As I mentioned in one of my commentaries, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) will not only connect the world but also the hearts and enhance people-to-people exchanges more than ever before. The more we realize our shared interests, the more we will promote regional peace and prosperity. In this global village, we need to resolve conflicts through dialogue, change negative rivalries to positive competition, and struggle for the well-being of all nations and individuals.
Let there be no doubt that a peaceful region will benefit the entire world and all nations are supposed to play their role constructively in social, cultural, political and economic issues. The ongoing challenges and conflicts will be a threat to all nations in one way or another. To resolve these issues, the world needs to enhance economy and trade to alleviate poverty, adhere to dialogue to avoid conflicts, uphold heart-to-heart exchanges to stop misunderstanding and animosity, and exercise the spirit of brotherhood to put an end to violence. In short, all nations need to struggle to form a peaceful world for the present and future generations and support the idea of building a community with shared future for mankind.

Hujjatullah Zia is the permanent writer of the Daily Outlook Afghanistan. He can be reached at zia_hujjat@yahoo.com

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