The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games have begun in earnest featuring nearly 3 000 athletes from more than 90 countries.
These Olympics, running from February 4 to 20, are hosted under the motto: “Together for a Shared Future”. This motto is not an empty meaningless slogan, but has, undoubtedly, rich resonance with the foreign policy of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
In its full expression of “promote a sense of community of shared future for mankind”, it was pronounced and propagated by President Xi Jinping, in November 2013, at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations.
What did President Xi mean by this phrase, and how can it possibly be relevant, inarguably, for the present global community beset by the colliding pandemics of Covid-19, economic uncertainty and conflicts in almost all corners of the globe?
A “community of shared future” comprises a major bedrock of China’s multilateral foreign policy. It is consistent with the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, namely: mutual non-aggression, mutual respect for sovereignty, non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful co-existence. In terms of historical consanguinity, these principles are related to the UN Charter, which calls on all its 191 member countries to endeavour to “practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours”.
President Xi, last month at The Davos Agenda, emphasised the fact that the “world is always developing through the movement of contradictions, without contradiction, nothing would exist. We need to move forward by following the logic of historical progress and develop by riding the tide of development of our times.”
This tide of development entails coming together as humanity for a shared common purpose of dealing decisively with the net effects of the Covid-19 health and economic pandemic.
Hence, the PRC has followed its global commitments with impactful action to close the global immunisation gap by donating, in 2021, over 2-billion doses of vaccines to more than 120 countries and promises to donate another 1 billion to African countries.
Since economic globalisation is inevitable, cooperation to rebuild a better global economy, especially for the benefit of the developing South, is critical. To speak of protectionism, erecting trade barriers and speaking the language of sanctions makes no logical sense.
As President Xi states, as the global community faces common threats and crises points, all of us should be united to “seek integration, not decoupling” since this is the way “to build an open world economy” and we should “uphold the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization as its centre”.
Building a community of shared future is not empty rhetoric but is a pragmatic policy for the PRC. We do well to remember that China has no history of invading or colonising other countries.
It has no history of seeking political or economic hegemony over its neighbours or forcing other countries to follow the Chinese model of development. For South Africa, its approach should be centred on various principles.
First, continue to support multilateral bodies like the UN and AU to solve intractable regional conflicts like the militant insurgency in Mozambique and finding a lasting solution to the coups in Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso. Second, it should not be easily swayed in its approach by rhetoric but prioritise measurable actions in its dealing with foreign countries.
Third, there is still an opportunity for South Africa under President Cyril Ramaphosa to promote continental amity to benefit materially from Africa’s demographic dividend.
Fourth, our country should be unambiguous in its support for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as a route towards making this, indeed, an African century.
* Professor Tembe is a Sinologist and founder of Sele Encounters.
** The views expressed here may not necessarily be that of the IOL.