The crisis in Ukraine has reached its one-year mark.
The outbreak of war again on the European continent more than 70 years after the end of World War II has brought untold sorrow to many people. To cease fire and restore peace as soon as possible is the top priority.
China has always loved peace and opposed war. China is not a party to the Ukraine crisis but it has not stayed on the sidelines. Playing a constructive role in easing the situation and letting peace prevail at an early date, China has actively engaged in diplomatic mediation to facilitate peace talks and continued to increase humanitarian assistance and improve the humanitarian situations.
China has also proposed an initiative on international food security cooperation and actively implemented the Global Development Initiative, supported true multilateralism to curb the crisis-related spillover.
This ongoing crisis cannot be allowed to drag on indefinitely. There is no simple solution to complex problems and the fundamental way is facilitating a political settlement to the crisis.
Recently, China released a 12-point position document on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis. To sum up, they are respecting the sovereignty of all countries, abandoning the Cold War mentality, ceasing hostilities, resuming peace talks, resolving the humanitarian crisis, protecting civilians and prisoners of war (POWs), keeping nuclear power plants safe, reducing strategic risks, facilitating grain exports, stopping unilateral sanctions, keeping industrial and supply chains stable, promoting post-conflict reconstruction.
The fairness and constructiveness of the proposals have been recognised by the international community including the UN, Russia and Ukraine, providing a solution that addressed both symptoms and root causes of the crisis.
Lessons must be learned. We need to seriously reflect on the Ukraine crisis and conclude how to achieve common and universal security.
To this end, President Xi Jinping put forward the Global Security Initiative (GSI), which advocates a new path to security featuring dialogue over confrontation, partnership over alliance and win-win over zero-sum.
The Ukraine crisis has brought huge losses to Europe and the world- Yu Dunhai
The core concepts and principles of the GSI are: staying committed to the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security; respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries; abiding by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter; taking the legitimate security concerns of all countries seriously; peacefully resolving differences and disputes between countries through dialogue and consultation; maintaining security in both traditional and non-traditional domains.
These principles are in line with international consensus and universal values. They embody the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind. More than 80 countries and regional organisations have commended and expressed support for the GSI.
The GSI Concept Paper lays out 20 priorities of cooperation in response to the most significant and pressing international security concerns at present, including promoting political settlement of international and regional hotspot issues, firmly upholding the consensus that “a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought”, safeguarding global food and energy security, supporting the cooperation among countries in addressing climate change and maintaining stable and smooth supply and industrial chains etc., which provides a concrete, practical and feasible path to the realisation of global peace and tranquillity.
Peace and security, like sunshine and air, are hardly noticed when we are benefitting from them. But none of us can live without them. Both China and Malta suffered from wars in their respective histories. Now the Ukraine crisis has brought huge losses to Europe and the world.
History and reality remind us that peace and security are hard-won and should be cherished. The GSI maintains world peace and tranquillity and protects the interests of the people of all countries.
China stands ready to work with countries including Malta to promote the implementation of the GSI so as to inject more stability and certainty into the turbulent and changing era with practical actions and jointly build a safer world.
Yu Dunhai is Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the Republic of Malta.