China’s mediation role promotes global peace and stability.

Published: May 01,2023

By Gerald Mbanda

The absence of peace and stability poses challenges to humanity safety and development of nations. At the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2022, President Xi Jinping made a keynote speech entitled “Rising to Challenges and Building a Bright Future through Cooperation.” This was the first time that the Chinese leader proposed the Global Security Initiative (GSI) which gives solutions to issues affecting the world such as the kind of security concept needed and how countries can achieve common security.

The GSI proposal demonstrates President Xi Jinping’spractical approach to world peace and development, his internationalist outlook that contributes China’s wisdom to the efforts in tackling peace challenges, and offering China’s solution to addressing international security challenges. Since the founding of New China, the country has pursued a foreign policy of peace and adhered to the path of peaceful development. China has never engaged in wars against other countries either directly or by proxy and pledged no first use of nuclear weapons among the five nuclear states. 

The recent telephone conversation between president Xi and the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was applauded by many peace lovers around the world as the best diplomatic approach by Beijing to take a more active role as a mediator between Ukraine and Russia. China’s peacemaking efforts are contrary to the US and NATO allies who have taken sides and supplied weapons worth millions of dollars to Ukraine. 

The acts of providing weapons to Ukraine haveescalated the conflict rather than finding solutions to end the conflict. In short, the US and NATO are adding fuel to an already burning fire with consequences of aggravated human suffering and prolonging the war.   In addition the phone conversation, Xi, went further to appoint Li Hui a former Chinese ambassador to Russia as a special envoy to enhance communication between the concerned parties in order to open up peace talks. Chinese authorities have made it clear that it is only through dialogue rather than war that the Ukraine-Russia conflict can be resolved. 

In March, China was able to broker a peace agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia which had for years engaged in proxy conflicts. The achievement is an important indicator of China’s ongoing attempts to play a more active global role in international diplomacy and demonstrate its commitment to peace, stability, and multilateralism.

China is the first founding member of the United Nations to sign on the UN Charter and firmly upholds the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and advocates respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries. China is committed to its international responsibilities and remains a firm defender of the international law and order. For mankind to enjoy a prosperous shared peaceful future, and to avoid human suffering caused by wars, there is need for more countries to join China’s initiative of advocating for peaceful settlement of conflicts through dialogue and diplomatic approach. 

Gerald Mbanda is a Researcher and publisher on China and Africa.  

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