The GSI and Building a Neighborhood Community with a Shared Future

Against the backdrop of the international political and economic configuration featuring that “the East is rising and the West is declining”, relations between China and its neighboring countries enjoy steady development in general. However, the return of the Cold War mentality, rampant protectionism and prominent security governance issues have seriously threatened peace and stability in China’s neighboring region. In April 2022, President Xi Jinping put forward for first time the Global Security Initiative (GSI) at the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2022. The GSI upholds true multilateralism and universal security concept, clearly answers “what kind of security concept is needed, how to achieve universal security”, questions of the world, of our times and of historical significance, which helps neighboring countries resolve complex security issues, and thereby promotes a peaceful and stable development environment for building a community with a shared future for the neighborhood.

Inherent Connection between the GSI and Building a Neighborhood Community with a Shared Future

The GSI and building a neighborhood community with a shared future are interconnected and mutually reinforcing. The GSI helps encourage the neighborhood region to address various security challenges and provide a peaceful and stable development environment for building a neighborhood community with a shared future. At the same time, as China has close ties with its neighboring countries, the GSI can be first practiced and tested in the neighborhood region.

I.Implementing the GSI Helps Create a Peaceful and Stable Environment for Building a Neighborhood Community with a Shared Future

The GSI upholds the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, considers it as principle and point of departure for solving problems to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, and insists on it as basic path to resolving disputes and conflicts between countries through dialogue and consultation. All this is conducive to creating a stable environment for peaceful development that serves the building of a neighborhood community with a shared future. At present, there are diverse security concepts in China’s neighborhood region, including the collective security concept upheld by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the alliance security concept pursued by the United States (US), and the new security vision proposed by China. The GSI puts forward the idea of “six commitments” as its core, which breaks the US Cold War ideology featuring zero-sum game and the mindset of hegemonic stability, and helps promote the transition of the world order from hegemonic bullying to universal security. In addition, the GSI also helps make up for shortcomings of ASEAN collective security concept, which is limited in radiation scope and difficulty in providing security public goods. It fully accommodates the neighboring countries’ sovereignty concerns and vigilance against power politics, and helps create a peaceful and stable environment for building a neighborhood community with a shared future.

II.Promoting the Construction of a Neighborhood Community with a Shared Future and Implementing the GSI Complement Each Other

China’s neighborhood region is the forefront for its various initiatives to take root and a testing ground for building a community with a shared future for mankind. On the one hand, China’s relations with its neighboring countries reach the highest level in China’s global partnership network, which provides favorable conditions for implementing the GSI. For example, China has set up an all-weather strategic cooperative partnership with Pakistan, and published clear-cut plans of action on building a bilateral community with a shared future with neighboring countries such as Kazakhstan, Cambodia, Thailand, and Laos. On the other hand, the neighborhood region provides an important support for China to achieve peaceful development. In general, China has good relations with its neighbors, but is also faced with complex security challenges such as intensifying major-country strategic competition and ever increasing non-traditional security issues. If China can promote a peaceful and stable environment in the neighborhood region, the GSI will gain greater traction in other countries in the world.

Favorable Factors for Promoting the Construction of a Neighborhood Community with a Shared Future by Implementing the GSI

Security is the most basic human need. In implementing the GSI, China has favorable conditions such as priority of neighborhood diplomacy, strong needs of all countries to jointly meet challenges, accumulation of past experience in security cooperation, and strong determination.

I.Neighborhood Diplomacy Has Always Been a Top Priority of China’s Overall Diplomacy

The neighborhood region is where China survives and thrives as well as the foundation of its development and prosperity. General Secretary Xi Jinping has stressed time and again that China has always given its neighborhood top priority in its overall diplomacy. Since the founding of New China, a series of basic principles and concepts have been put forward for developing relations with the neighboring countries, including the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, the Concept of Amicable, Secure and Prosperous neighborhood, the Principle of Amity, Sincerity, Mutual Benefit and Inclusiveness, and a Neighborhood Community with a Shared Future, all of which underline the importance of neighborhood diplomacy in China’s overall diplomacy. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), China has proposed the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind, joint construction of high-quality Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects, and the Global Development Initiative, all of which make the neighborhood region an advanced development zone. Outlook on China’s Foreign Policy on Its Neighborhood in the New Era, released in October 2023, clearly presents the vision of jointly building a community with a shared future with neighboring countries.