Global Civilization Initiative proposed by Xi 'provides hope to heal the world in turbulence' – another gift from China to world

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Chinese president, attends the CPC in Dialogue with World Political Parties High-Level Meeting via video link and delivers a keynote address in Beijing, capital of China, on March 15, 2023. Photo: Xinhua

 Global Civilization Initiative proposed by Xi 'provides hope to heal the world in turbulence'

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Chinese president, proposed the Global Civilization Initiative. Experts said following the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative, China is trying to share its wisdom and plans to bring new hope for all nations to consider together on how to escape the trap of the "Clash of Civilizations" and find a path that can help the world sail through the current turbulence.

Xi proposed the initiative during his  key note speech on Wednesday at the opening ceremony of the CPC in Dialogue with World Political Parties High-Level Meeting via video link and delivered a keynote address.

Under the initiative, Xi called for respect for diversity of civilizations, advocating the common values of humanity, highly valuing the inheritance and innovation of civilizations, and jointly advocating robust international people-to-people exchanges and cooperation.

"We are ready to work together with the international community to open up a new prospect of enhanced exchanges and understanding among different peoples and better interactions and integration of diversified cultures. Together we can make the garden of world civilizations colorful and vibrant," Xi said.

World needs hope

According to a Xinhua News Agency story on Thursday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, also president of the African National Congress, and 11 other leaders of political parties and political organizations also addressed the dialogue on Wednesday.

They spoke highly of Xi's proposals in his keynote speech, and expressed their willingness to work with the CPC to play a leading and driving role in the modernization process.

"We fully agree with the four proposals put forward by Chinese President Xi in the Global Civilization Initiative," Ramaphosa said, noting the initiative is vital to the world today.

The event, with the theme "Path towards Modernization: the Responsibility of Political Parties," brought together more than 500 leaders of political parties and political organizations from more than 150 countries.

Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Thursday that the Global Civilization Initiative will help the world get rid of the old mentality for relations between different civilizations, and create a new landscape for the world which allows all countries to deal with each other based on stability, mutual respect and equality.

Experts said a very fundamental reason why the world at present is experiencing great turbulence is that the old international order dominated by the US-led West is making the world fall into the trap of "Clash of Civilizations," with many countries with different civilizations having a hard time to deal with each other peacefully.

Li said that within the US, people from different ethnic groups and with different religious beliefs are having more tensions rather than becoming more united. For the foreign affairs, during the time of the Trump administration, US senior officials openly hyped "Clash of Civilizations" and currently Washington is still having tensions with many countries with different civilizations, and even instigating conflicts between the countries in the same region with similar civilization.

At present, the old system and order dominated by the US-led West is causing huge problems and dangers to the world in the fields like geopolitics, supply and industrial chains, as well as the financial markets.

The Ukraine crisis is still far from easing, and the energy and foods crises are troubling many countries worldwide. At present, the new danger of a potential global financial crisis brought along by the collapse of US-based Silicon Valley Bank and the problem of Credit Suisse in Europe has made the world more unstable.

Liu Dian, an associate research fellow of the China Institute under Fudan University, told the Global Times on Thursday that in recent years, the world has been facing rising challenges and uncertainties.

"It's just about 15 years away from the financial crisis in 2008, the world is once again under the shadow of another crisis caused by the US," Liu noted. "The world is getting increasingly worried about the old system and getting more desperate to ask for new solution."

Contribute with action

From the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative to the latest Global Civilization Initiative, China has presented the world with an ideological system that gets increasingly mature. Adding to the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the ideal of the global community of shared future, China is trying to use its own wisdom, experiences and influence based on its own successful development and exploration in the past decades to help the world improve and reform the old problematic international system and order, experts said.

Liu said that the series of initiatives proposed by the top leader of the CPC and China are answering the questions for the world and our time. The combination of these three initiatives shows China's comprehensive thoughts that aim to solve global problems and improve global governance.

China is not just proposing the initiatives, but also making contribution through actions, and gain concrete achievements, analysts said. For instance, the successful mediation that lead to the resumption of diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and the BRI that links countries with different civilizations to jointly realize development.

The vast majority of the international community welcomes and praises the latest reestablishment of Riyadh-Teheran diplomatic ties with China's support and assistance. This shows that the world in turbulence and regions in chaos desperately need new hope and new solution for peace and stability. China is actively utilizing its influence and wisdom to solve global challenges, as a result, more and more countries will be open to and carefully consider and research China's initiatives, Liu said. 

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Global Civilization Initiative – another gift from China to world: Global Times editorial

 

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Chinese president, proposed the Global Civilization Initiative when he delivered a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the CPC in Dialogue with World Political Parties High-Level Meeting on Wednesday. This is the third major global initiative presented by China after the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative. It fundamentally answers a series of questions of the times, such as "What kind of modernization do we need?" and "How can we achieve modernization?" The initiative has become another important public good provided to the world.

The background of the Global Civilization Initiative is that in recent years, as geopolitical conflicts have intensified, the "clash of civilizations" and "superiority of civilizations" have returned to public attention under the instigation and hype of some politicians in the US and the West. The hatred and estrangement among different civilizations have seriously hindered international cooperation. At the same time, "black swan" and "grey rhino" incidents are occurring frequently in the international community, and multiple challenges and crises are intertwined and superimposed. Different countries and civilizations urgently need to work together to deal with global challenges that affect the future and destiny of mankind as a whole. The Global Civilization Initiative can be said to have emerged in response to the demand of the times, and has strong practical significance and practical value.

The Global Civilization Initiative puts forward four initiatives - respect for diversity of civilizations, advocating the common values of humanity, highly valuing the inheritance and innovation of civilizations, and jointly advocating robust international people-to-people exchanges and cooperation. It covers the basic concepts and principles that different civilizations can tolerate each other and coexist, and has the source of motivation and a practical path for realization. It is a major initiative that is very constructive, operable and sustainable. Since it advocates respect for different civilizations and support for their development rights, it fully meets the strong needs of the international community and has shown strong vitality from the very beginning, arousing enthusiastic responses in the international community.

As abovementioned, after the end of the Cold War, the world entered an era of high globalization, but it has not really experienced peace. The Cold War mentality and practice of demarcating ideological boundaries and engaging in camp confrontation have not disappeared. On the contrary, in recent years it is resurging. The Russia-Ukraine conflict is essentially a remnant of the Cold War detonating a powder keg in the 21st century. In other parts of the world, the practice of distinguishing between friends and foes in the name of "values" and wooing one faction while fighting against another faction casts a huge shadow on world peace and development.

Furthermore, without true equality and inclusion among civilizations, the process of peace and development will always be at risk of being interrupted. There have been too many tragedies in this regard, both historical and current. In this sense, the Global Civilization Initiative is an extension and complement to the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative, and together they form the key components of a human community with a shared future.

The world does not need hatred, division or conflict, and the people of all countries want to live a good life. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Communist Party of China has led the Chinese people to create two miracles - rapid economic development and long-term social stability. These are by no means "out of luck." Instead, they have their own profound internal logic. The Global Civilization Initiative, Global Development Initiative and Global Security Initiative are highly condensed versions of China's past successful experiences, which China is willing to share with the world without reservation to achieve common development through mutual exchange and learning. It can be said that these three initiatives are all high-quality global public goods demonstrating China's sincerity and goodwill.

It should be emphasized that China is not only a "thinker" but also a "doer" in promoting building a human community with a shared future. In the past year or so, the number of countries and international organizations supporting the Global Development Initiative has increased to more than 100; the Group of Friends of the GDI established on the UN platform has expanded to more than 60 members; and platforms such as the Global Development and South-South Cooperation Trust Fund, the Global Development Promotion Center, and the China Global Development Knowledge Network have also been established one after another. Just a few days ago, Saudi Arabia and Iran held a dialogue and reached an agreement in Beijing, which also became a successful practice of the Global Security Initiative. This happened less than a year after the initiative was first proposed.

Thus, there are more reasons to expect that the Global Civilization Initiative, together with the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative, will constantly inject stability and bring new hope to this world of turbulence and transformation. At the same time, we also believe that "Chinese modernization, as a new form of human advancement, will draw upon the merits of other civilizations and make the garden of world civilizations more vibrant." 

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US media wanted 'special privileges'

President Barack Obama disembarked from Air Force One in Hangzhou, China, on Saturday. Photo: JONATHAN ERNST/REUTERS

https://youtu.be/f6AmvKBrJaQ

The United States' "obsession with special privileges" lies behind several US media organization's accusation that China treated US reporters rudely during the G20 Leaders Summit in Hangzhou, sources said.

The sources, who are close to the matter, responded on condition of anonymity to news reports and opinion pieces in some US newspapers that accused China of failing to meet the US media demands.

They faulted China first with not allowing some US reporters to be close to President Barack Obama as he got off Air Force One in Hangzhou on Saturday.

Obama said on Sunday, however, that his talks on Saturday with President Xi Jinping had been "extremely productive" and that he "wouldn't overcrank the significance" of arguments that took place at the airport upon his arrival.

The Wall Street Journal complained that on Saturday "the Chinese barred Mr Obama from including his traveling press contingent in his motorcade".

The New York Times said on Tuesday that "The White House press corps, which normally has access to the president's public events wherever he travels, has been sequestered in buses 200 yards from the site of the Group of 20, without access to food or toilets."

In response, a Chinese source told China Daily that the US, brushing aside common journalistic practice in multilateral meetings, insisted on having a bus carrying about 20 US reporters follow Obama's motorcade directly to summit hall where closed-door meetings were held.

Normally, however, host countries of major multilateral meetings have journalists gather as a pool in the news center and have them go through routine security checks before they are led to the meeting hall.

Another source at the scene told China Daily that "the bus was of course not allowed to join the motorcade, according to press rules, and we arranged for the reporters to go to the news center. But some of them chose to stay on the bus, while some went to the bathrooms or the press center at the summit."

The New York Times reported that when Xi and Obama took a leisurely stroll after dinner on Saturday, "Chinese security cut the number of US journalists allowed to witness it to three from the original six, then ultimately to a single reporter".

But a second Chinese source said China "had never promised to allow six reporters".

"Because the lakeside path was too narrow for that many reporters, we proposed one on one - one reporter from the US and the other from China. Later, the US agreed it was a good arrangement," the source said.

When asked about the meeting between Xi and Obama and the so-called incidents, Mark Toner, deputy US State Department spokesman said at a news briefing on Tuesday that the "small incidents that took place on the periphery" do not take away from "the strong cooperation that we've had with China on a number of fronts over the past several years of this administration".

A Chinese source said: "It is common to make some demands, but the demands should not cross the line. The US should not be an exception."

The sources added that no other country demanded the privileges that the US sought, and "China had every reason to provide convenient arrangements to foreign reporters" because it wished to successfully host the summit.

By Zhang Yunbi and Wu Jiao(China Daily)

Contact the writer at zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn

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• G20 SUMMIT CONCLUDES

• Dialogue 09/05/2016 G20 Summit concludes

  
   

   

   

  China’s multiple victories from G20 summit

  
  
  The Hangzhou G20 summit concluded Monday afternoon. China as host of the summit has garnered more global attention. China's careful organization has maximized the efficiency of the meeting, with abundant results achieved. While world opinion was reserved about the role of the G20 platform in the future, the Hangzhou summit has undoubtedly consolidated its status in global governance.
  
  From China's perspective, the summit is more successful. China's situation, its ideas and stance have all been shown to the world. It has opened the door to comprehensive communication between China and the outside world.
  
  Chinese President Xi Jinping met with his US and Russian counterparts respectively, which bears significance for global strategy. The summit also offered a chance for Sino-Japanese and Sino-South Korean ties, both of which are at a low ebb currently.
  
  China has gained a great deal of soft power through the meeting. As a rising power, China's unique system has been seen by Western media as its first identity. Some in the media were more interested in seeing China make mistakes as a host than expecting fruitful results of the summit. It turned out that the summit went smoothly and was a crowd-pleaser.
  
  The US Defense Intelligence Agency tweeted a New York Times article about the G20 and wrote, "Classy as always China" to its 83,000 followers. It later deleted the tweet and made an apology. The act only shamed the agency.
  
  The way China hosts international conferences indeed differs from the West, but so what? The Hangzhou G20 meeting has further enhanced China's confidence.
  
  The world is diverse, and China does not need to feel shy about displaying its cultural characteristics or care about what the West thinks.
  
  Many countries are simply shouting out slogans, while China is dedicated to actions. Picturesque Hangzhou becomes more beautiful after hosting the G20. Despite some criticisms, its positive impact will long be enjoyed by Hangzhou residents and domestic travelers.
  
  China has encountered some controversies and challenges during its hosting of the G20 summit, but now they are all gone. This is a valuable process for China as it conveys the meaning of being a major power.
  
  As long as we are firm and dedicated, we will be confident that even if there are some errors, we can be at ease about it.
  
  During China's rise, we will keep changing our understanding of success and become more skilled in coping with the West. Development still tops the agenda. Rapid development is the biggest parameter for China to win respect and discourse power, and how the West sees us is one of the least important factors.
  
  We also got to know what world unity is. China should make contributions to unite the world. The Hangzhou G20 summit proves that China has such capabilities and doing so suits our interests. - Global Times
  

China puts its stamp on global governance at G20 Summit

Chinese President Xi Jinping presides over the opening ceremony of the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, Sept 4, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

The ceremonies, handshakes, meetings and speeches, banquets and performances of this year's G20 Summit have now come to an end.

In fact, they ended on Monday after the leaders of the world's 20 major economies met in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, and a long list of agreements were signed. Check details of the final communiqué

But these were not the be-all and end-all of the 2016 G20, as it is likely to have a lasting legacy in international relations, with China leaving its stamp on the G20 as a mechanism to coordinate future actions by the world's leading economies.

China's contribution to the 2016 G20 has been significant in two ways.

First, China has demonstrated unswerving commitment to globalization, more specifically to defending free trade and cross-border investment and business cooperation, despite the fact that it can no longer easily increase its own exports by relying on low-cost labor, and that many processing operations formerly based in China have relocated elsewhere.

Amid growing calls for protectionism worldwide, pessimism about the future, and fear of sharing opportunities with foreigners, China understands that it must set an example by working with other countries to defend the existing global market system.

Just as President Xi Jinping told the delegates at the Business 20, a sideline session of the G20 Summit, on Saturday, rather than overturning the existing system, what China wants is to expand the global market system, to make it include more nations, more workers and more entrepreneurs.

China has also cautioned against attempts to seek self-protection, and politically defined small-circle games, since they tend to rewrite the rules for the global system and worsen the problems plaguing the world economy. On Sunday, Xi again called on the G20 members to continue to promote the liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment.

Second, China's contribution has also been significant in the way the G20's agenda has been aligned with the long-term goals and programs set out by the United Nations. China has contributed substantial content to affect this, including its efforts to nurture cooperation among the emerging market economies and inviting more leaders from developing nations to participate in the G20 process, as well as the proposal for a common e-commerce platform for small and medium-sized enterprises across the world.

To brave the rough waters of the world economy and start a new journey for future global growth, the G20 should not only help the world coordinate efforts to deal with emergencies, as was its original purpose following the onset of the global financial crisis, it should also focus on long-term governance. It should address both the symptoms and root causes of the world's economic problems with real actions, so as to spread opportunities where there are few or none.

In anti-globalization, anger and divisiveness hold sway. Globalization, on the other hand, requires people from different countries to exchange views, compare notes and learn from one another.

However, the G20 members can do more than just talk. They can generate more trade and cross-border investment deals, showcase more innovations, provide more services, and extend help to more poor people and under-developed nations. In the process, the G20 can become more important by finding "a direction and a course for the world economy with a strategic vision", as Xi has urged. In this way it can help realize people's common aspirations for sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth. - China Daily

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Gathering synergy for a new type of world economy

Beijing's prescriptions may sound too good to be executable at this point, but not if the G20 members, as Xi called for, "work with real action with no empty talk".


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You are being snooped on, Malaysia views US-NSA spying seriously!

Asia being snooped on, too 

Spying by foreign intelligence agencies is also prevalent in Malaysia and other regional countries via the Internet or spying equipment located in embassies.

SO last week it was the turn of Asians to learn that their region was also the subject of foreign spying.

This was no surprise. If American intelligence is spying on Americans, on Latin Americans, and on Europeans (including its top political leader, Angela Merkel of Germany), it is a foregone conclusion that Asia would not be left out.

There is no revelation yet that Asian prime ministers and presidents have had their personal mobile phones and e-mails tapped.

But it is also a foregone conclusion that these things are happening. Be prepared, therefore, to read in the coming weeks about famous Asian leaders, opposition stalwarts, journalists and celebrities being the subjects of snooping.

Nevertheless, the news that American and Australian embassies are being used to snoop on Asian countries justifiably caused outrage in our region. The Australian surveillance is reportedly in cooperation with the United States.

Malaysia is one of the places where Australian intelligence operates to spy, according to reports in the Der Spiegel and Sydney Morning Herald. They revealed that the spying takes place from the Australian High Commission in Kuala Lumpur.

Other Asian countries where the intelligence collection is conducted is the Australian embassies in China, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Timor Leste and Papua New Guinea.

The news reports also revealed that the US embassies have also been conducting surveillance activities in many Asian countries including Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar.

Malaysia last Friday registered its protests in official notes handed to the Australian High Commissioner and the US Deputy Chief of Mission who were summoned to Wisma Putra. The notes warned that surveillance of close friends could severely damage relations.

Indonesia warned the United States and Australia that the continuation of surveillance facilities inside their embassies threatened to derail years of trust built up between countries.

China also responded to the report that the American embassy in Beijing and consulates in Shanghai and Chengdu operated special spying facilities.

Its Foreign Ministry has demanded an explanation from the United States, saying that “foreign entities must not in any form engage in activities that are incompatible with their status and that are harmful to China’s national security and interest”.

Also last Friday, Brazil and Germany introduced a draft resolution to a United Nations General Assembly committee calling for an end to excessive surveillance.

The press reports on spying in Asian countries are based on information leaked by Edward Snowden, a former contractor with the US National Security Agency.

Newspapers and magazines had previously revealed that the personal phones of the German chancellor and the Brazilian president had been tapped. Both leaders have registered protests directly to US President Barack Obama.

Last week also saw revelations by the Washington Post that the US and British intelligence agencies had found a way of intercepting communications from Google as well as Yahoo as the data were being passed between their data centres.

“We are outraged at the lengths to which the government seems to have gone,” said Google’s chief legal officer.

The Internet giant companies have found that their encryptment system protecting e-mail and other information flowing through its data centres is not secure after all.

The technology companies are worried that their millions of customers will no longer trust that their privacy will be protected.

How will this affect the use of browsing, e-mail, Facebook and other facets of the Internet technology?

US companies and entities currently dominate the global Internet business. Much of the world’s flow of data go through Internet companies based in the United States.

The US administration had projected itself as an honest host of the Internet centres, respecting the rights and privacy of the world’s Internet and e-mail users, and a champion of Internet freedom.

That image has been shattered by the series of revelations emerging from Snowden’s leaked files. The opposite image has replaced it, of a government that has used high technology to gather billions of bits of data on practically all Internet users.

If counter-terrorism was the official reason, this now seems to be only a pretext for also spying on any important person, including one’s closest allies.

Now that they have lost confidence that the United States or other countries will respect privacy of the politicians, companies and citizens of their countries, some governments are now planning to limit the reach of American-based Internet companies.

The Financial Times reported that Brazil is planning regulations that would force technology companies to retain information on the Internet about its citizens and institutions within Brazil itself.

It also said that European officials are discussing the need to have stronger cloud computing capabilities in Europe to protect their citizens’ privacy.

Brazil is also planning to bring up in various UN agencies and fora the need for a global framework to respect and protect privacy on the Internet.

Contributed by Global Trends Martiin Khor
The views expressed are entirely the writer’s own.

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Malaysia views spying seriously

KLUANG: Spying activities on Malaysia by its allies is a serious matter, says Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.

This is because it can cause relations between Malaysia and these countries, long established based on trust and sincerity, to be tense.

“I believe if this (spying) is not fully explained, our long-established good relations can be adversely affected. Therefore, we need a full explanation on the extent of the spying activities and for what purpose.

“Tensions can be avoided if the allies involved uphold the trust and sincerity in their relations with Malaysia,” he said.

Hishammuddin said this to reporters after attending a Deepavali open house hosted by Johor Unity and Human Resources Committee chairman R.Vidyanathan here yesterday.

The spying issue arose following media reports on the claim made by intelligence informant Edward Snowden that the United States had 90 electronic surveillance facilities throughout the world, including at its embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

In light of this, Hishammuddin wanted a detailed explanation on the matter as such activities could threaten Malaysia’s security and its other interests.

The US ambassador to Malaysia, Joseph Y. Yun, was reported to have explained on the spying claim to Wisma Putra.

Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman said Yun had stated that all surveillance activities by the United States throughout the world were specifically for security, to detect threats of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction.

On his trip to China last month, Hishammuddin said it was aimed at enhancing cooperation in the area of defence, especially through joint exercises, exchange programmes involving navy and other military officers, establishing cooperation between the defence industries of both countries, and efforts to combat terrorism and transnational crime.

Meanwhile in Yan, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said they would arrest any foreign diplomat found to be involved in spying activities.

“We will not hesitate because spying is a threat to the country’s sovereignty. In the 1980s, we have arrested foreign diplomats involved in spying activities.

“We will do the same again if there is proof of such activities,” he told newsmen after a briefing on the Sungai Limau by-election at the Yan police headquarters yesterday.

- The Star/Asia News Network Monday Nov 4, 2013

Who leads Asia? Can Asia step up to 21st century leadership?

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Can Asia step up to 21st century leadership?

ANALYSIS by Amitay Acharya

IF one had any doubts about the world being in the midst of a huge power shift, recent events should have dispelled those.

From Europeans appealing to China to save the euro to President Barack Obama arriving in Bali to lobby for Asian support, the transformation is evident. Less clear is who will lead the world in the 21st century and how.

There is plenty of talk about the 21st century being an Asian century, featuring China, Japan and India.

These countries certainly seek an enhanced role in world affairs, including a greater share of decision-making authority in the governance of global bodies. But are they doing enough to deserve it?

The intervention in Libya, led by Britain and France, and carried out by Nato, says it all. There is no Nato in Asia, and there’s unlikely to be one.

China and Japan are the world’s second and third largest economies. India is sixth in purchasing-power parity terms. China’s defence spending has experienced double-digit annual growth during the past two decades. India was the world’s largest buyer of conventional weapons in 2010.

A study by the US Congressional Research Service lists Saudi Arabia, India and China as the three biggest arms buyers from 2003 to 2010. India bought nearly US$17bil (RM54.17bil) worth of conventional arms, compared with US$13.2bil (RM42.06bil) for China and some US$29bil (RM92.4bil) for Saudi Arabia.

Chinese, Indian and Japanese foreign policy ideas have evolved. India has abandoned non-alignment. China has moved well past Maoist socialist internationalism. Japan pursues the idea of a “normal state” that can say yes to using force in multilateral operations.

Unfortunately, these shifts have not led to greater leadership in global governance. National power ambitions and regional rivalries have restricted their contributions to global governance.



President Hu Jintao has defined the objective of China’s foreign policy as to “jointly construct a harmonious world”. Chinese leaders and academics invoke the cultural idea of “all under heaven”, or Tianxia. The concept stresses harmony – as opposed to “sameness” – thus signalling that China can be politically non-democratic, but still pursue friendship with other nations.

China has increased its participation in multilateralism and global governance, but not offered leadership. This is sometimes explained as a lingering legacy of Deng Xiaoping’s caution about Chinese leadership on behalf of the developing world. More telling is China’s desire not to sacrifice its sovereignty and independence for the sake of multilateralism and global governance.

Japan’s policy conception of a “normal state”, initially presented as a way of reclaiming Japan’s right to use force, but only in support of UN-sanctioned operations, may sound conducive to greater global leadership.

But it also reflects strategic motivations: to hedge against any drawdown of US forces in the region, to counter the rise of China and the growing threat from North Korea, and to increase Japan’s participation in collective military operations in the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf regions.

Beset by chronic uncertainty in domestic leadership and a declining economy, Japan has not been a proactive global leader when it comes to crisis management.

Its response to the 2008 global financial crisis was a far cry from that to the 1997 crisis, when it took centre-stage and proposed the creation of a regional monetary fund, a limited version of which materialised eventually within the Chiang Mai Initiative.

In 2005, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asserted that “the 21st century will be an Indian century”.

Manmohan expressed hope that “the world will once again look at us with regard and respect, not just for the economic progress we make but for the democratic values we cherish and uphold and the principles of pluralism and inclusiveness we have come to represent which is India’s heritage as a centuries old culture and civilisation”.

Yet, the Indian foreign-policy worldview has shifted in the direction of greater realpolitik. Some Indian analysts such as C. Raja Mohan have pointed out that India might be reverting from Gandhi and Nehru to George Curzon, the British governor-general of India in the early 20th century.

Indian power projection in both western and eastern Indian Ocean waters is growing, thereby pursuing a Mahanian approach for dominance of the maritime sphere – named after US Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan – rather than a Nehruvian approach. It is partly driven by a desire, encouraged by the US and South-East Asian countries, to assume the role of a regional balancer vis-à-vis China.

Asia’s role in global governance cannot be delinked from the question: Who leads Asia?

After World War II, India was seen as an Asian leader by many of its neighbours and was more than willing to lead, but unable to do so due to a lack of resources.

Japan’s case was exactly the opposite; it had the resources from the mid-1960s onwards, but not the legitimacy – thanks to memories of imperialism for which it was deemed insufficiently apologetic by its neighbours.

China has had neither the resources nor the legitimacy, since the communist takeover, nor the political will, at the onset of the reform era to be Asia’s leader.

In Asia today, although Japan, China and India now have the resources, they still suffer from a deficit of regional legitimacy. This might be partly a legacy of the past – Japanese wartime role, Chinese subversion and Indian diplomatic high-handedness. But their mutual rivalry also prevents the Asian powers from assuming regional leadership singly or collectively.

Hence, regional leadership rests with a group of the region’s weaker states: Asean. While Asean is a useful and influential voice in regional affairs, its ability to manage Asia is by no means assured.

Greater engagement with regional forums is useful for the Asian powers to prepare for a more robust role in global governance. So many of the global problems – climate change, energy, pandemics, illegal migration and more – have Asian roots.

By jointly managing them at the regional level, Asian powers can limit their rivalries, secure neighbours’ support, and gain expertise that could facilitate a substantive contribution to global governance from a position of leadership and strength. — The Daily Star/Asia News Network

> The author is the UNESCO chair in Transnational Challenges and Governance at American University and a senior fellow of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. This is based on his article, “Can Asia Lead: Power Ambitions and Global Governance in the 21st Century”, International Affairs, vol. 87, no. 4, 2011.

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