Peace and Development, the World’s Eternal Mission

President Xi Jinping’s meeting in Beijing with visiting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on June 14 – in the wake of China’s impressive brokering of a rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia – reinforced the country’s role as a major promoter of global peace. Xi put forward a three-point proposal for the settlement of the Palestinian question, laying particular emphasis on the importance of keeping to the right direction of peace talks. The country’s efforts to promote peace are conspicuously imbued with its respect for the sovereignty, core concerns, and distinct systems and culture of other countries. “The peaceful nature of Chinese civilization fundamentally determines that China will continue to build world peace, contribute to global development and safeguard the international order,” President Xi said on June 2 at a meeting on cultural inheritance and development, adding that it also warrants that China will not impose its own values and political system on others.

China has successfully pursued world peace and security by virtue of the country’s commitment to international responsibilities. Since 1990, China has sent more than 50,000 peacekeepers on 30 UN peacekeeping missions. Out of all permanent members of the UN Security Council, the country is the largest contributor in this respect. “Without peace there is no development, but without development there can be no peace,” Michela Arricale, chairperson of the Center for Research and Elaboration on Democracy of Italy observed on June 14 at the Forum on Global Human Rights Governance. 

The two-day human rights forum, whose 300 participants came from around 100 countries and international organizations, highlighted China’s approach to promoting human rights through development, which is gaining approbation from ever more countries. China’s feat of eliminating absolute poverty within its borders has been lauded as a prime example of the prominence accorded to human rights by the country’s governance. That people’s livelihoods are paramount has become clear through the experience gained from China’s reform and opening up over the past few decades, director Zhang Weiwei of the China Institute of Fudan University in Shanghai recently commented. Zhang held that the 100 million people China has lifted out of poverty within ten years cost a mere one-tenth of the US $2.3 trillion that the United States expended on its war in Afghanistan. In addition to destroying the West Asian country’s economy, the 20-year-long war also witnessed blatant human rights violations on the part of the U.S..

China has, according to a think tank report published in December 2022, nurtured through continuous progress an outlook on human rights wherein “people” are central, “development” is the driving force, and “a life of contentment” is the goal, thus enriching the global human rights cause.

Meanwhile, Washington continues to violate human rights in the guise of protecting human rights. On June 9, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it would add two Chinese entities to the so-called Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) “entity list,” so driving up the number of Chinese companies on that list to 22. The groundless accusation of “forced labor” and concomitant ban makes business extremely difficult for many Xinjiang companies, in effect infringing upon the human rights of local residents and impinging on their quality of life. 

The U.S. Treasury Department estimated in late 2021 that it had sanctions on 9,421 organizations and individuals, an approximate 900 percent increase over the past 20 years, according to The Washington Post. And in 2022, the Treasury Department added 2,549 new designations. These sanctions are triggering humanitarian disasters worldwide. 

“The United States views China as its ‘primary rival’ and ‘the most consequential geopolitical challenge.’ This is a major strategic misjudgment,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on June 16. Referring to U.S. efforts to contain and suppress China’s development in the name of competition, Wang observed, “This is not ‘responsible competition,’ but irresponsible bullying. It will only push the two countries towards confrontation and create a divided world.” 

With the apparent purpose of steering bilateral relations back on course, the Beijing visit of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on June 18-19 drew massive global attention. Blinken said at the press conference on June 16 prior to his departure that the purpose of his trip was to “carry forward what President Biden and President Xi agreed to in Bali” last year, namely, to establish sustained, regular lines of communication at senior levels so as to avoid misunderstandings and miscommunications.

China always hopes to see a sound and steady China-U.S. relationship and believes that the two major countries can overcome various difficulties and find the right way to get along based on mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation, said President Xi in his meeting with Blinken in Beijing on June 19. He called on the U.S. side to adopt a rational and pragmatic attitude and work with China in the same direction. Xi further pointed out that the two sides need to remain committed to the common understandings he and President Biden reached in Bali, and translate the positive statements into actions so as to stabilize and improve China-U.S. relations.  

Meanwhile, a certain U.S. company is “showcasing unswerving commitment” to Chinese business. The memory chip giant Micron Technology recently announced that it would invest RMB 4.3 billion (US $603 million) in its packaging and testing plant in Xi’an, capital of Northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, over the next few years.

People are the foundation of China-U.S. relations, President Xi said in a meeting with the co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Bill Gates. “We count on the American people, and hope for lasting friendship between the two peoples,” he concluded.