Proclaiming that “the new era calls for new ideas,” the State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China issued a 40-page White Paper
on Sept. 26 under the headline: “A Global Community of Shared Future: China’s Proposals and Actions.” It is a major policy document geared to address the unprecedented crisis facing mankind with a proposal for an entirely new set of international relations based on fundamental philosophical principles and a universal concept of man. (Lengthy excerpts can be found in the Documentation section of this Briefing.)
The timing of its release indicates it will be at the center of deliberations of the upcoming October Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing (no firm date has been made public yet). The paper notes: “By July 2023, more than three-quarters of countries in the world and over 30 international organizations had signed agreements on Belt and Road cooperation with China…. The BRI originated in China, but the opportunities and achievements it creates belong to the whole world.”
The document repeatedly stresses the universality of Mankind, as opposed to the Hobbesian war of each against all, as the key to solving to current crisis:
“In the universe there is only one Earth, the shared home of humanity…. Whether human civilization can survive these has become an existential issue that must be squarely faced.… The vision of a global community of shared future bears in mind the wellbeing of all humanity. It is based on both observation of the present and visionary planning for the future…. This vision serves the common interests of humanity….
“Our world is undergoing change on a scale unseen in a century…. Instability, uncertainty, and unpredictability are now the norm…. The shadow of the arms race lingers on, and the threat of nuclear war—the Sword of Damocles that hangs over humanity—remains. Our world is at risk of plunging into confrontation and even war….
“Some countries’ hegemonic, abusive, and aggressive actions against others, in the form of swindling, plundering, oppression, and the zero-sum game, are causing great harm….
