On March 7, 2023, Mme. Guo Haiyan, Chinese Ambassador to Guyana, published an article entitled "Achieving Common Security for All Countries Entails the Unity and Cooperation of the International Community" in the Guyana Chronicle newspaper. Below is the full article:
Peace and development are the common aspirations of all peoples in the world. As the COVID-19 pandemic has eased, countries should have seized the opportunity to focus on economic recovery and accelerating development. Unfortunately, the world today is far from tranquil due to a complex interplay of security challenges such as major-country competition, geopolitical conflicts, political turmoil, natural disasters, and energy and food crises. Human society faces multiple security dilemmas like never before.
What security concepts does the world need? How can countries achieve common security? These are the questions of this era facing us all. In 2022, President Xi Jinping proposed the Global Security Initiative (GSI),calling on countries to adapt to the profoundly changing international landscape in the spirit of solidarity, and address the complex and intertwined security challenges with a win-win mindset.
The GSI aims to eliminate the root causes of international conflicts, improve global security governance, encourage joint international efforts to bring more stability and certainty to a volatile and changing era, and promote durable peace and development in the world. It has been warmly received by over 80 countries and regional organizations including Guyana.
Recently, China officially released The Global Security Initiative Concept Paper. The concept paper expounds the core ideas and principles of the GSI, identifies the priorities, platforms and mechanisms of cooperation, and demonstrates China's sense of responsibility for safeguarding world peace and firm resolve to defend global security. The GSI concept paper is underpinned by "six commitments".
1. Stay committed to the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security. "Common security" is to respect and safeguard the security of every country; "comprehensive security" is to maintain security in both traditional and non-traditional domains; "cooperative security" is to bring about security through political dialogue and peaceful negotiation; "sustainable security" is to resolve conflicts through development and eliminating the breeding ground for insecurity.
2. Stay committed to respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries. Sovereign equality and non-interference in internal affairs are basic principles of international law and the most fundamental norms governing contemporary international relations. We believe all countries, big or small, strong or weak, rich or poor, are equal members of the international community. Their internal affairs brook no external interference, their sovereignty and dignity must be respected. There should be no practicing of double standards on sovereignty and territorial integrity.
3. Stay committed to abiding by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. The purposes and principles of the UN Charter embody the deep reflection by people around the world on the bitter lessons of the two world wars. They are humanity's institutional design for collective security and lasting peace. To effectively implement the purposes and principles, all countries should practice true multilateralism, and uphold the authority of the UN and its status as the main platform for global security governance. The Cold War mentality, unilateralism, bloc confrontation and hegemonism contradict the spirit of the UN Charter and must be resisted and rejected.
4. Stay committed to taking the legitimate security concerns of all countries seriously. All countries are equal in terms of security interests. The legitimate and reasonable security concerns of any countries should be taken seriously and addressed properly, not persistently ignored or systemically challenged.
Humanity is an indivisible security community. Security of one country should not come at the expense of that of others, and security of a region cannot be ensured by strengthening or even expanding military blocs. The enduring solution to global security challenges lies in upholding the principle of indivisible security. There should be a balanced, effective and sustainable security architecture, so as to realize universal security and common security.
5. Stay committed to peacefully resolving differences and disputes between countries through dialogue and consultation. Neither military aid nor unilateral sanctions are the fundamental solution to disputes; instead, they will only drive the crisis into prolongation and expansion, displacing more people, exacerbating the food and energy crises, and disrupting the world more severely. Only dialogue and consultation are effective in resolving differences. Major countries must uphold justice, fulfill their due responsibilities, support consultation on an equal footing, and facilitate talks for peace, play good offices and mediate in light of the needs and will of the countries concerned.
Recently, on the one-year anniversary of the full escalation of the Ukraine crisis, China released "China's Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis", proposing a solution to the crisis that addresses both the symptoms and the root causes, clarifying China's position of always standing on the merits and abiding by objectivity and impartiality, which has been widely recognized by the international community.
6. Stay committed to maintaining security in both traditional and non-traditional domains. No country can stay unaffected or become a lone island. Countries should work together to tide over the international security threats, such as regional disputes, terrorism, climate change and those related to cyber-security and bio-security.
The GSI is rooted in the fine traditional Chinese culture that values peace above everything else, and is inspired by China's independent foreign policy of peace and its practices. Over the years, China has held high the banner of peace, development, cooperation and mutual benefit, fulfilled its responsibility for world peace, and contributed its level best to global security as a responsible major country.
China remains the only country that has put the commitment to peaceful development in its Constitution. China has never started a war, never occupied one inch of foreign land, never engaged in proxy wars, and never participated in or organized any military bloc. Among the major countries, China has the best peace and security record.
China is the first founding member of the United Nations to sign on the UN Charter. It firmly upholds the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and advocates respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries. China has dispatched the most peacekeepers among the permanent members of the UN Security Council. It is the second largest contributor to the UN peacekeeping budget.
China is the only one among the five nuclear-weapon states that has pledged no-first-use of nuclear weapons, contributing significantly to maintaining global strategic stability. China is committed to the international arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation processes. China has joined over 20 multilateral arms control treaties, and firmly upheld the international nuclear non-proliferation regime.
China is committed to following a Chinese approach to resolving hotspot issues, playing a constructive role on Ukraine, the Middle East, the Iranian nuclear, the Korean Peninsula, and Afghanistan among other issues.
China is committed to meeting global challenges. China has made robust efforts to implement the Paris climate agreement, provided more than 2.2 billion doses of COVID vaccines to over 120 countries and international organizations, put forward the Global Initiative on Data Security and the International Cooperation Initiative on Global Food Security, and promoted the establishment of the Global Clean Energy Cooperation Partnership. China will continue advancing international cooperation on counter-terrorism, disaster relief, climate change, public health, among others, combat transnational organized crime, and contribute its share to tackling non-traditional security threats.
The GSI is rooted in true multilateralism and is an important public good in the field of international security. It is open and inclusive, not closed and exclusive. We welcome all peace-loving and development-oriented countries and parties to participate in this initiative, which is by no means a solo of China, but a symphony performed by all partners. For Latin American and Caribbean region, we support regional countries in actively fulfilling commitments stated in the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, and support the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States and other regional and sub-regional organizations in playing active roles in upholding regional peace and security and properly handling regional hotspots.
Hon. Prime Minister Brigadier (Ret'd) Mark Phillips said that "China.s Global Security Initiative establishes a framework for addressing the world's security challenges. The Global Security Initiative is predicated on respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states, respect for the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and a commitment towards the peaceful resolution of disputes. All of these principles constitute the essential pillars of Guyana's foreign relations."
China wishes to stand in solidarity and cooperate with Guyana, Caribbean region and all countries in the world for a brighter future of lasting peace and universal security.