By Wang Qing, Chinese Ambassador to Sierra Leone
Recently, some countries invented a new word “de-risking” to describe their policies towards China. From “decoupling” to “de-risking”, the terminology may have been changed, but their attitude against the trend of the times remains the same, they are still looking for every pretense possible for suppressing and containing China in order to maintain their own hegemony. “De-risking” is actually another “discourse trap” created against China when “decoupling” has proven to be unfeasible.
If we want to talk about “de-risking” in a serious manner, we must first understand what the real risks are there in today’s world and where their origins are. In now days our planet is not peaceful at all! The Ukraine Crisis is protracted, expanded and further complicated, and its spillover effects give a huge negative impact on people’s livelihood around the world. The world economy is facing many complex challenges, with stability of the global industrial and supply chains seriously undermined and the global development process disturbed. It is worth noting that certain countries, as the instigator and the biggest pusher of the Ukraine Crisis, are still adding fuel to the fire, trying their best to obstruct the process of political settlement of the Ukraine Crisis. These countries are also inciting ideological antagonism, engaging in bloc confrontation and dragging the world on the brink of a new Cold War. They are obsessed with abusing the dominant position of certain currency, imposing long-arm jurisdiction and unilateral sanctions against other countries, pushing for decoupling and severing supply chains, which violates international economic and trade rules. These are the real risks that need to be taken seriously.
To solve these real risks, China has actively played a constructive role, injecting more certainty into the world.
On the issue of the Ukraine Crisis, China has been speaking out for peace and doing its best for peace talks. China released a Position Paper on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis, which offers 12 propositions such as respecting the sovereignty of all countries, abandoning the Cold War mentality, ceasing hostilities, and resuming peace talks etc. China’s efforts to promote peace talks have been widely understood and recognized by the International Community.
China’s economy is showing a positive growth momentum. The World Bank predicts that China’s GDP will grow by 5.6% in 2023, contributing more than one-third of the world’s economic growth. China with its 1.4 billion population creates a vast market space for the world. Foreign direct investment in China is up to 100 billion dollars, which proves again this market is full of opportunities. Chinese commodities characterized by high-quality and affordable price are good for restraining the world’s inflation level.
China actively provides wisdom and solutions to various global challenges. In response to the development problems plaguing the world, President Xi Jinping advocated the promotion of high-quality Belt and Road Cooperation and proposed the Global Development Initiative. It created the most extensive, inclusive and largest international cooperation platform, which has been widely welcomed by the International Community.
In response to climate change, China is committed to pursuing a development path that puts ecological conservation first, green and low-carbon growth first. China announced the ambitious carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals in order to implement the Paris Agreement. China alone accounts for one-fourth of all the trees planted globally that show its determination to foster a community of life for man and nature.
China also actively mediates hot issues. This year China facilitated a handshake between Saudi Arabia and Iran, ushering in the dawn of peace in the Middle East. Last week, China hosted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ visit to China, hoping to inject new impetus into the resumption of the Palestine-Israel peace talks through its own efforts, and contribute to the final historic agreement and the realization of peaceful coexistence between the two sides.
What is the “risk” and what is the “opportunity”, the world has its own opinion. Certain countries have tried their best to create terms and seek to decouple from China with the word of “de-risking”. But they forgot that they are just the biggest source of risk to the world peace and development. A western media pointed out that “de-risking” is a “magic word” used by the West to hide its differences; when dealing with China, “de-risking” will be counterproductive.
China’s own development provides the world with new opportunities. If certain countries seek to decouple from China in the name of “de-risking”, it will decouple from opportunities, cooperation, stability, and development. In response to various global problems and challenges, the International Community must not be held back by headwinds and waves of reversal. It must uphold fairness and justice, oppose all kinds of acts of division and confrontation and work together to inject more confidence and strength into a world for peace and prosperity.
