China's Foreign Policy in a Fast Changing World: Mission and Responsibility

Speech by Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng At the Lunch Meeting of the Eighth World Peace Forum

（乐玉成，2019年7月8日）

尊敬的陈旭主任，

尊敬的各位嘉宾，

女士们，先生们，朋友们，

　　很高兴再次出席世界和平论坛，与各位新老朋友相聚一堂。本届世界和平论坛的主题是“稳定国际秩序：共担、共治、共享”。我依然清晰记得，去年，也是在这里，我们纵论天下大势和中国外交，大家对形势最突出的感受是“三不”：不确定、不稳定、不可预测。遗憾的是，一年过去了，国际局势依然乱变交织、阴云密布，各种不稳定不确定因素还在蔓延，世界仍面临着何去何从的艰难选择。

Professor Chen Xu, Chairperson of the Tsinghua University Council,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Friends,

It gives me great pleasure to come back to the World Peace Forum and share my thoughts with so many friends, old and new. The theme this year for the Forum, namely, "Stabilizing the World order: Common Responsibilities, Joint Management, and Shared Benefits" reminded me of our discussions here last year on the international situation and China's foreign policy. The general feeling then was that international developments could be characterized by three words starting with "u": uncertain, unstable and unpredictable. Unfortunately, as we meet again one year later, the situation has remained in a flux. Dark clouds have not cleared away, and destabilizing factors and uncertainties continue to widen. Some hard choices are yet to be made about where our world will be headed.

　　人类对于未来的选择，总是基于对过去的理解。回首100年前，一战的硝烟刚刚散去就建立了以国际联盟为支柱的凡尔赛体系，以期“开辟永久和平”。然而，“理想很丰满，现实很骨感”，仅仅20年，第二次世界大战就爆发了。凡尔赛体系未能有效制止战争的一个重要原因是，有关国家唯本国利益至上，甚至相互以邻为壑，竞相转嫁危机。国联形同虚设，多边协调失效。教训极其深刻。

The choices humankind makes about the future are usually based on its understanding of the past. A hundred years ago, in the immediate aftermath of the First World War, the Versailles System with the League of Nations as its pillar was established to create "durable peace". Yet we all know what happens to ideals when they confront the reality. Just 20 years later, the Second World War broke out. An important reason why the Versailles System failed to prevent the war was that countries concerned put their own interests above those of others, or even took a beggar-thy-neighbor approach to shift the crisis onto others, which made it next to impossible for the League of Nations and multilateral coordination to function properly. These lessons were learned the hard way.

　　今天，世界又一次面临乱变交织的危机和挑战。我们该如何应对？上世纪凡尔赛体系失败的教训殷鉴不远。我们不能再重蹈历史的覆辙，不能再上演单边主义和保护主义的老剧本。更何况我们已经生活在各国相互依存不断加深的全球化时代，人类已经形成休戚与共的命运共同体。如果把世界多年形成的网络化联系和产业链协同当作威胁的武器，国家间大搞关税战、贸易战，甚至金融战、科技战，那就是开历史的倒车，后果极其危险。我们切不可因一时的短视而犯下不可挽回的历史性错误，将人类带入灾难的深渊。

Today, our world is once again confronted with crises and challenges brought by disorder and change. How should we respond? The failure of the Versailles System is not far behind us. We cannot let history repeat itself or witness a replay of the old script of unilateralism and protectionism, particularly when we now live in a globalized world where countries are increasingly interdependent and the entire humanity belongs in one community with a shared future. If countries allow the networks and the collaborative industrial chain that have been formed over the years to be turned into weapons against each other, or if more tariff wars, trade wars, or even financial and technology wars were to break out, our world would regress to the bad old ways with extremely dangerous consequences. We should never be blinded by myopia and make irreversible mistakes leading to catastrophes.

　　事实上，面对前所未有的挑战，多边主义日益成为国际社会的广泛共识。刚刚结束的二十国集团领导人大阪峰会又一次发出了支持多边主义的主流声音。如何践行多边主义？我认为，首先要有制度保障。没有制度也就没有秩序。要维护以联合国为核心、以国际法为基础的国际体系，维护以世界贸易组织为核心、以规则为基础的多边贸易体制。现行的国际秩序虽然不尽完美，需要改革完善，但不能全盘推翻、各行其是、为所欲为，那样将会天下大乱。其次要有合作精神。全球性问题需要全球性合作应对，没有哪个大力士能够包打天下。必须同舟共济、共同划桨，才能乘风破浪到达彼岸。三是要有共赢意识。国际社会就是一个大家庭，应该有难同当、有福同享。零和博弈、赢者通吃行不通，追求利益最大化和本国利益至上的结果只能是冲突和战争。

Fortunately, in the face of unprecedented challenges, there is a growing consensus among the international community for upholding multilateralism. The just concluded G20 Osaka Summit, for example, sent a resounding message of supporting multilateralism. How, then, should we effectively put multilateralism to action? I think first and foremost, there needs to be a sound institutional basis, without which order would be elusive. We need to uphold the international system with the United Nations at the core and governed by international law, and uphold the rules-based multilateral trading system with the WTO at its center. Although it is far from perfect and requires reform and improvement, yet the existing international order should not be overturned. If each country takes things into its own hands, the world would be plunged into utter chaos. Secondly, we need a spirit of cooperation. Global issues require global responses. No country can go it alone, however mighty it may be. We must work together like rowers in the same boat in order to brave the waves and reach the shores of success. Thirdly, we need to follow a win-win approach. The international community needs to shoulder shared responsibilities and seek mutual benefits as members of a big family would do. Zero-sum games and the winner-take-all approach would lead nowhere. Trying to maximize one's own interests and put them above those of others would only lead to conflict and war.