By Guo Jiping, People’s Daily
The long river of time is always flowing tirelessly, and the wheel of history keeps rolling forward no matter what happens.
The year 2021 is of milestone and historic significance for China. It witnessed the holding of the grand gathering celebrating the centenary of the Communist Party of China (CPC), where CPC general secretary Xi Jinping solemnly announced the completion of the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects.
His firm statement, summarizing past experience and aiming to make new progress, demonstrated the responsibility of the CPC to seek happiness for the people, rejuvenation for the nation, progress for humanity, and harmony for the world.
In the past year, the world experienced a persistent and unchecked pandemic and accelerating changes unseen in a century. These have once again put the world in another crossroads of history.
Whether should we act out of the common good of humanity to strengthen solidarity and cooperation, advocate openness and win-win results, and promote equality and respect, or revert to a Cold War mentality, provoke division and antagonism, and stoke confrontation between blocs? The trial of strength between these two trends has a profound impact on the future of mankind.
One’s competence is shown in trials and tribulations. Over the past year, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with comrade Xi Jinping at its core, major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics, focusing on the main tasks of serving national rejuvenation and promoting human progress, has drawn wisdom from the hundred-year history of the CPC, and proceeded from an insightful grasp of the general trend of human development, the grand scheme of things amid global changes, and the entire course of Chinese history.
Upholding the banner of building a community with a shared future for mankind, China has broken new ground in its diplomatic endeavors amid profound global changes and turned crises into opportunities amid complex situations on the international stage. The country has steadfastly forged ahead through struggle as well as cooperation.
“China has embarked on a new journey toward fully building a modern socialist country. As China enters a new development stage, we will follow a new development philosophy and foster a new development paradigm. We will build a new system of open economy of higher standards, create a more attractive business environment, and advance high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. We hope to work with countries in the Asia-Pacific and beyond to achieve higher-standard mutual benefit and win-win cooperation.”
“The CPC has a grand and simple goal, which is essentially about delivering a better life to all Chinese people.”
“The Chinese people’s aspiration for a better life is the biggest internal driver for China’s development and an inevitable trend of history, and any attempt to stop this trend will be rejected by the Chinese people and will by no means succeed.”
These stories and philosophy of the CPC and China told by Xi, also the President of China, demonstrated to the world that no matter what changes are taking place on the international stage, China will continue to place its own development in the coordinate system of human development, seeing that the interests of the Chinese people are integrated with the common interests of the peoples of other countries, and the Chinese dream connected with the dreams of the people in the rest of the world, so as to bring new hopes and opportunities to the world and make newer and greater contributions to building a community with a shared future for mankind. At the same time, China will also make unswerving efforts to safeguard its national sovereignty, security and development interests.
On the new journey, China will follow a path of peaceful development. For any country or nation to achieve rejuvenation, it must follow the logic of history and the trend of the times in their pursuit of progress and development. China will stay committed to peace, development, cooperation and mutual benefit and follow an independent foreign policy of peace, so as to achieve development by upholding world peace and promote world peace through its own development.
China’s commitment to peace doesn’t mean that China is a weak country subject to the bullying by others. The Chinese are a people who uphold justice and are not intimidated by threats of force. As a nation, they have a strong sense of pride and confidence. They have never bullied, oppressed, or subjugated the people of any other country, and they never will. By the same token, they will never allow any foreign force to bully, oppress, or subjugate them.
On the new journey, China will follow a path of reform and opening up. Just as President Xi promised at the fourth China International Import Expo, China will not change its resolve to open wider at a high standard; it will not change its determination to share development opportunities with the rest of the world; and it will not change its commitment to an economic globalization that is more open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial for all.
To expand opening up doesn’t necessarily mean that China will lose itself. Throughout human history, no nation or country has ever become strong and prosperous by relying on external forces, indiscriminately copying the models of other countries, or blindly following in others’ footsteps. China learns whatever lessons it can learn from the achievements of other cultures, and adheres to independent development, stressing reliance on its own efforts to drive the nation’s development, and maintaining that China’s affairs must be decided and run by the Chinese people themselves.
On the new journey, China will follow a path of multilateralism. There is only one Earth and one shared future for humanity. As we cope with the current crisis and endeavor to make a better day for everyone, we need to stand united and work together.
China will firmly keep practicing real multilateralism, and safeguard the international system with the UN as the core, the international order based on international law, and the basic norms governing international relations embodied in the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.
It will also work with other countries under the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits to explore new ideas and new models of cooperation and keep enriching the practice of multilateralism under new circumstances.
To safeguard multilateralism, one must firmly oppose unilateralism. China will keep working with other countries to oppose unilateral practices under the disguise of multilateralism, and oppose hegemonism and power politics, so as to safeguard international justice and equity.
China always stands on the right side of history, advances with human progress, speaks for international equity and justice, and supports the vast developing countries. On the new journey in the new era, China will write a new chapter of win-win cooperation together with all the peace-loving countries and peoples.
