A visit that goes far beyond relations

Former diplomat says President Xi's recent trip to Europe will help foster global peace

Former senior Chinese diplomat Wu Jianmin says that on his recent visit to Europe, President Xi Jinping went far beyond Sino-European relations when he strongly advocated global peace in a complicated international geopolitical situation.

From March 22 to April 1, Xi visited the Netherlands, France, Germany, Belgium and the European Union headquarters in Brussels.

"I have been closely observing Xi's messages delivered to Europeans and the world, and I found that advocating world peace was the main theme," says Wu, who during 1994-2003 had held important posts in Europe as Chinese ambassador to France, the Netherlands and the UN office in Geneva.

The theme of peace was crystallized in Xi's articles in European media and in his speeches. Xi gave a historic speech at the prestigious College of Europe on the last day of his tour, and Wu listened to it in a concert hall in Bruges, Belgium.

The audience stood up and applauded when Xi said: "China stands ready to work with the EU to let the sunlight of peace drive away the shadow of war and the bonfire of prosperity warm up the global economy in the cold early spring, and enable the whole of mankind to embark on the path of peaceful development and win-win cooperation."

"A lot of people recognized the importance of those comments, which means that Europeans support Xi and are also keen on a campaign for peace," Wu says.

According to Wu, executive vice-chairman of the China Institute for Innovation and Development Strategy, Xi's message and Europeans' recognition of it came hot on the heels of international discussions about the global situation, which focused on comparisons between historic events and contemporary reality.

In recent months, Western mainstream media have started to say that the international situation in 2014 is quite similar to that in 1914, when the four-year World War I began.

In 1910, British politician and writer Norman Angell published the famous book, The Great Illusion, the thesis of which was that the integration of the economies of European countries had grown to such a degree that war between them would be entirely futile, making militarism obsolete. However, World War I eventually began and became the deadliest war in history to that point.

"The international situation now shares similarities with that of 1914, which implies there could be war again," Wu says.

While this comparison continues to deepen, international opinion leaders have also noted the tense situation in East Asia.

Wu says China and Japan finally turned to dialogue to try to achieve mutual strategic benefits, when on Dec 20 last year Chinese Ambassador Cheng Yonghua met Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida. However, six days later, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited the Yasukuni Shrine, which is a symbol of Japan's wartime militarism as 14 Class-A war criminals convicted by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East are enshrined there.

"Apparently, Abe didn't want to improve Sino-Japanese relations. Instead, he needs a tense situation to pursue his political goals," Wu says.

Abe even agreed with some Western opinion, when in January at the Davos World Economic Forum he said that the relationship between China and Japan was very similar to that of Germany and the United Kingdom before World War I. Abe's speech attracted a lot of attention, with some observers even saying East Asia was the most dangerous place in the world.

Against this backdrop, Wu says he has been frequently asked when he travels in China whether he thinks there will be war with Japan.

Wu also says the relationship between Russia and the European Union entered its toughest period when the Ukraine crisis started to deteriorate in February.

The world is peaceful and has made unprecedented economic progress since the Cold War ended in 1991 though there have always been regional wars, Wu says.

But he admits the current situation has created the most serious concerns over the likelihood of major conflict since the end of the Cold War.

Wu says the world needs Xi to answer the following questions: Is the world heading for war or peace? Are peace, development, cooperation and mutual benefits still the global themes? Is China still pursuing the road of peaceful development?

"Europe was the battlefield for the two world wars and it is proper for President Xi to respond to those questions," Wu says.

In his speech at the College of Europe and in his articles, Xi did address those issues.

In an article in a Dutch newspaper, Xi wrote: "I am visiting Europe for peace."

In France and Germany, Xi said the Chinese people's pursuit of peace and development originated from their historic tradition and the essence of their civilization.

Wu says the world needs wide recognition of Asia. "What do I mean? The China-EU relationship is part of the China-Asia relationship."

As for the comments that Asia is the most dangerous place in the world, Wu disagrees.

Wu says emerging Asia is the center of global growth. Last year the world economy grew by 2.9 percent, the European by -0.4 percent, the US by 1.6 percent, Japan's by 2.5 percent and East Asia's by 7.1 percent. "The whole world needs East Asia's growth."

Wu says President Xi wants peace not war, multilateralism not unilateralism, and dialogue not confrontation.

In this context, Wu does not think Japan wants war. Maybe some right-wing Japanese do, but, he says, the world has changed.

"After Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, I don't think people want war. Remember this, China and Japan are tied by the Peace and Friendship Treaty since 1978."

Instead of war, Wu says China's decision to let the market play a decisive role in allocating resources has created tremendous opportunities for development, growth and reform in Europe as well as China.

Li Xiaofei contributed to this story.

fujing@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily European Weekly 04/25/2014 page32)