Thread by @GeringTuvia

"No matter how hard the US attempts to impose sanctions and suppress China, it will not be able to prevent us from 'going up' while it is 'going under'" - excerpted from an essay published last week by Zhou Li, a career diplomat and former PRC amb. to Ukraine and Kazakhstan.
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Zhou also served as the deputy chairman of the CCP's International Liaison Department from 2013 to 2016.

Zhou, like many in China's intellectual elite, recognizes that when Xi Jinping makes statements like "the world is undergoing great changes unseen in a century" and "time and momentum are on our side," he's actually saying that "the East is rising, and the West is declining."

The "great changes," according to Zhou, are rewriting the global economic landscape, with the economic center of gravity shifting from the US and Europe to Asia.

Zhou believes that the US and other Western nations are riddled with internal conflicts, political infighting, social and economic inequities, that their governance system is failing, that their leadership is unreliable, and that their citizens are disheartened.

Furthermore, developing countries are pushing for the democratization of international relations and applauding China's efforts to counter US hegemony and power politics, uphold international fairness and justice, and defend their common interests.

Another shift Zhou observes is that "China and Russia have evolved from important forces in preserving global peace and stability to "mainstays" of global peace and stability."
A full translation of Zhou's concluding policy recommendations and takeaways is available below:

"First, the protracted war of the Sino-American struggle deserves careful consideration. The shifting power dynamics between China and the US have been going on for a long time.

"However, no matter how hard the US attempts to impose sanctions and suppress China, it will not be able to prevent us from "going up" while it is 'going under'. We must firmly believe that "time and momentum are on our side," (as Xi Jinping put it in July 2021), and

"we must dare to struggle and be good at it." (Quoting Mao:) "Despise (the enemy) strategically, but tactically, take (the enemy) seriously.
Second, develop commercial and trade links with neighboring countries, as well as friendly exchanges.

"Establish a strong sense of a Community of Shared Future with Neighboring Countries, seize/make use of (抓住) neighboring organizations and mechanisms such as ASEAN, the SCO, ASEAN, the East Asia Summit, and others, promote high-quality development of the BRI,

"the Global Development Initiative (GDI), and other prioritized projects in China's neighboring regions to achieve more results, and promote further integration of neighboring countries into the supply chain of industrial chains that are denominated in RMB.

"Third, forge the widest international anti-hegemony coalition possible. In the international arena, openly reject hegemony, power politics, and all their varieties. At the moment, only China and Russia wield the most power and appeal in the world.

"We need to improve Sino-Russian 'back-to-back strategic coordination,' extend our strategic wiggle room and work together to resist the US and its Western allies' containment and suppression.

"Develop multilateral cooperative relations with European countries to the fullest extent possible, and back Europe's desire for strategic autonomy.

"In sum, we should do everything we can to encourage the international community to form the world's greatest convention for those seeking stability, cooperation, and development.

“Fourth, maintain the developing countries' positioning/characterization (定位). We must effectively manage China's rising interests as well as the growing disagreements with developing countries.

“Focus on the long haul, give greater attention to small and medium-sized countries and disadvantaged populations, and successfully implement country-specific policies so that developing countries can reap more of China's strong development's overall benefits.

"Fifth, foster a positive multilateral environment. The existing multilateral system will not be fundamentally altered in the long run, and that is a fact we must face.

"We should make full use of the significant international institutional power that comes with our permanent membership in the UN Security Council, improve our ability and capacity to operate the multilateral mechanism, and strengthen the overall integration and coordinating role

"of political, diplomatic, military, economic, scientific and technological, legal, civil, and other resources and means.

"We must concentrate on analyzing, mobilizing, and transforming (global) contradictions/conflicts (矛盾) in order to improve our means and methods for resolving global hotspot issues."
/End

Link: aisixiang.com/data/131847.ht…