China and the Global Governance Reforms Agenda
The international system that was developed after the two wars was regularized through the United Nations Organization. The agenda was that the UNO not only control matters related to security, manage economic matters, provide assistance in the solution of disputes, but also promote a rule-based society. Where the small nations and their interests are as protected as those of the big nations. Unfortunately, the UNO horribly fails to achieve the purposes for which it was established.
Now, the small states are again looking to the major powers to overhaul the system and end the law of the jungle, where powerful states use their influence to achieve their goals, with no one to stop them, as seen in cases such as Gaza and Ukraine.
In this situation, President Xi came forward with a new vision to improve the system in order to make it more relevant according to new demands. President Xi’s vision is not to dismantle the existing system but to make it more competitive to fulfill the needs. President Xi Jinping’s plan is known as the ‘Global Governance Initiative’ (GGI). The initiative was unveiled during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Plus meeting, which was attended by the leaders of more than twenty nations that mostly belong form the global south.
The global south, which includes developing nations around the world, is dissatisfied with the current global structure established by the winners of World War II. In this global governance system, the global West holds the power and makes the decisions. Often, these decisions are not based on the actual circumstances, or they ignore the sovereignty of individual states.
The Global Governance Initiative (GGI), launched by President Xi, focuses on the following agenda. First, GGI emphasizes that the sovereignty of all states should be respected regardless of their size, wealth, or geo-strategic position. Second, it urges all states to adhere to international law in their dealings, rejecting the double standards most Western states apply to the global south. The third and most important point of the initiative is to avoid using force to settle conflicts unilaterally. Instead of unilateral actions, the global governance system should promote multilateralism and strengthen the role of international institutions, which ultimately facilitate dialogue and discussion. These steps help build consensus on key issues like security, climate, and terrorism. Fourth, the initiative highlights the humanitarian aspect, calling for the global governance system to focus on the welfare and sustainable development of people worldwide. Lastly, it advocates taking practical steps to address problems such as the economy, climate change, inequalities at the regional level, and improving governance.
The Chinese proposed governing initiative never challenged the existing system, but it wanted to improve the performance of the system. As president, Xi thinks that the existing system is not sufficient to deal with modern-day challenges and requires a more responsive and equitable system.
In the initiative, the idea is that no single country would dominate the reform process, but the reform agenda would be completed with the support of all actors, and no state can impose its will on others. The other important aspect of the initiative would be to replace the zero-sum with a win-win situation for all the actors that are participating in the system.
The essence of the GGI is in line with the UN charter, and it also supported the central role of UNO in world affairs, but for that, it required certain changes according to the time in order to meet the current challenges. The Chinese have a track record of working as a responsible state in the international system, and they have always supported that all the key decisions, whether they are related to security, economy, human rights, and climate change, would be made and implemented through the UNO.
President Xi, with GGI, also presented four more initiatives that include a security initiative, a civilization initiative that includes all the countries to build a shared future, a global development initiative, and the road initiative.
All these initiatives have a common goal to work for global development, peace, and prosperity, and establishing a world order is beneficial for all nations, whether they are small or large, wealthy or poor, and developed or developing.
