SCO SUMMIT IN COMPARISON WITH G7 SUMMIT:CHINA, A RESPONSIBLE MAJOR COUNTRY

SHAO FENG

Researcher, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

Early June of 2018 saw the holding of two globally high-profile summits. The G7 Summit was held in Quebec of Canada from June 8 to 9;and the 18th Meeting of the Council of Heads of Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)was held in Qingdao, China from June 9 to 10. However, the two meetings were poles apart in terms of process and result, which has attracted great attention in the international community. The G7 summit was tense, with the members engaged in a battle of words, and ended on a sour note, earning itself the name of “the most divided summit ever” in the group’s history. In contrast, the SCO Qingdao Summit was harmonious and the participating countries engaged with each other for cooperation, making it a meeting of fruitful results. As the first summit after the expansion of its membership, the SCO Qingdao Summit has opened a new chapter in the history of regional cooperation.

The underlying reason why the two summits had totally different results is the differences of how the leading major countries understand and grasp trend of globalization and the evolution of global landscape, and the differences of their global governance philosophy. Like two mirrors, both summits reflect that China and the United States, both as major countries,have different attitudes, concepts, policies and manner. We can see from the summits a world of difference between the responsibilities both nations assume as leading major powers.

FIVE CRITERIA FOR RESPONSIBLE MAJOR COUNTRIES

There is no systematic and clearcut standard both in academia and the international community as for which country is a “responsible major country”and how to make such evaluation. But the author believes a real “responsible major country” should at least meet the following five criteria.

I. Credibility

Commitment to the spirit of the contract is the most basic requirement for a responsible major country. The spirit of the contract is a mainstream spirit of the Western civilized society and a basis for its sustainable development,and credibility is one of the core items of the spirit of the contract. Willingly abiding by the spirit of the contract, as a traditional idea, has a long history in the Western countries. The Christian civilization is the initial source of the spirit. Therefore, the sanctified spirit of the contract is the foundation for the traditional Western culture, and a basic guarantee for the successful development of the Western commercial civilization. With the development of the modern economy and society, the spirit of the contract has been spread all over the world and widely accepted by all the governments and their peoples. It has become one of the cornerstones for the development of the modern civilized society. If a nation abandons the spirit of the contract, it will be hard for it to keep a foothold in the international community. Since there is a typical anarchy in the international community, the selfdiscipline of nations and governments is of great importance to the world’s peace and stability and sustainable development. Thus, honesty and credibility of great powers, especially those dominant and leading superpowers, is particularly important.

II. Morality and Justice

Morality and justice is to promote and restrict people’s behavior. To take the moral high ground is to stick to the widely recognized international morality and justice, and norms governing the international relations. As civilization of human society advances, its role in the international relations has become increasingly significant. Taking the moral high ground serves as a great boost for a country’s national image, external exchange and international influence.Thus, it has also been a basic requirement for a responsible major country.

III. Dedication

Dedication means to offer public goods to the international community and to assume due responsibilities in global governance. A responsible power has to provide necessary global public goods in accordance with its own strength and the needs of the international community, and take more obligations in global governance that addresses various kinds of global issues. That is what it takes to maintain the normal running of the international community in a globalized era, and also a historical mission a responsible power has to undertake.Charles P. Kinderberg, an international political economist of the United States,believed that the disaster in the 1930s was attributed to the fact that the United States, after replacing the United Kingdom as the world’s largest power, failed to take the responsibility of offering global public goods just like its predecessor did.As a result, the global economic system fell into recession, which led to human tragedies such as the Second World War.Who is to provide global public goods in the future is of great importance for the world’s next development.

VI. Equality

Equality refers to dealing with international affairs in the manner of win-win cooperation and equal consultation. As human civilization develops and globalization deepens, the global issues need to be resolved by all the nations by way of equal consultations. It has become a consensus among most countries to build international mechanisms, abide by international rules and pursue international justice. China’s proposal of democratization of international relations has enjoyed increasingly wide support. Its basic spirit is to object to unilateralism, power politics and hegemonism; and that all the nations in the world should jointly address international issues and govern international affairs through equal consultations.Against the backdrop of outstanding global problems and a weak recovery of the world economy, a nation’s commitment to win-win cooperation and equal consultations in addressing international issues serves as an important yardstick to judge whether it is a responsible power.

V. Balance

Early June of 2018 saw the holding of two globally high-prof i le summits. The G7 Summit was held in Quebec of Canada from June 8 to 9; and the 18th Meeting of the Council of Heads of Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)was held in Qingdao, China from June 9 to 10. The two meetings were poles apart in terms of process and result, which has attracted great attention in the international community. The picture shows that the light and fi reworks performance of “friends from afar"held in Qingdao on June 9, 2018.

Balance means properly handling the relationship between one’s national interests and global interests and striking a balance between the two. Since its birth, a nation has been pursuing a maximization of its own interests.However, with the development of globalization and the emergence of various global issues, it has become a problem that cannot be ignored to safeguard global interests, or in other words, the interests of all the humankind. A responsible major country not only seeks its own interests, but also maintains and enhances the global common interests.Some scholars believe that in the era of globalization, it is necessary for us to reflect on and transcend the concept of“maximizing one’s national interests”.Instead, we should pursue reasonable national interests, make compromise,secure a win-win result in the field of traditional national interests and realize win-win cooperation on global issues.Though it is demanding and challenging to strike a balance between the two in reality, a major country, which only cares about itself and disregards the interests of others and the overall interests of the whole world, cannot be seen as responsible.

COMPARISON WITH UNITED STATES HIGHLIGHTS CHINA AS A RESPONSIBLE MAJOR COUNTRY

Having defined the five criteria for a responsible major country, the author will compare China and the United States’performance leading up to and after the summits, and make a judgement on what a responsible major country is.

1. “Exit Addict” Trump vs. China’s Abiding by its International Commitments

As a former businessman, U.S. President Donald Trump seriously violates the spirit of the contract upon which Western development has depended.Since Trump’s inauguration, the United States has withdrawn from the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement(TPP), the Paris Agreement on climate change, UNESCO, and the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear issue. On June 19,shortly after the end of the G7 Summit,the United States withdrew from the UN Human Rights Council. In addition, the Trump administration has not complied with the international trade rules and frequently started trade wars.As the dominant leader of the existing international order, the United States has caused a new round of chaos in the international political and economic order and invited dissatisfaction and criticism from the international community and even its allies by adopting“exit policies” in international cooperation. By contrast, China has always abided by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations,international law and universally recognized norms of international relations, and promoted the international order to develop in a fairer and more reasonable direction. The Chinese government has always been prudent in making commitments. But once it does, it will strictly honor its own commitments and thus is widely praised by the international community.

2. Trump’s “America First” vs. China’s Proposal of Community with a Shared Future for Mankind

The slogan of “America First” was first proposed by the 8th president of the United States Woodrow Wilson. But now the Trump administration has pushed the so-called “America First” to the extreme by not only fighting a trade war with China, but also wielding a big stick of tariffs against its allies including the EU, Canada, Mexico and Japan. Trump’s“America First” policy shows that the United States is extremely confident in dealing with international relations. But the theory of “Prisoner’s Dilemma” says any outcome will depend on whether the participating parties cooperate or not. If the parties refuse to cooperate,they will eventually jointly bear the losses and all end up being losers. The international behavior of the US government over the past year is likely to lead to the “Prisoner’s Dilemma” where all parties lose. The mainstream Western public opinions believe that Trump is “no longer the moral leader of his country or the world” and at the same time “cannot speak on behalf of the free world”.

In contrast, the Communist Party of China (CPC) has seen its world view keep up with the times and China has gradually taken the international moral high ground. In March 2013, President Xi Jinping, when speaking at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, first proposed the concept of the community of a shared future. Since then, China has gradually extended and improved the elaboration of the concept at various levels. This concept has also become the core of the new type of international relations and global governance advocated by China. Thus it can be seen that China is a responsible major country which strives for the cause of human progress. The concept of the community of a shared future for mankind was written into the UN resolution,the report of the 19th CPC National Congress and the Constitution of the CPC. In 2018, it was added into China’s Constitution at the “Two Sessions”, which makes it clearer that to build a community of shared future for mankind is established as the collective will and goal of all the CPC members and the Chinese people. At the SCO Qingdao Summit, President Xi proposed the concept of the “community of common destiny for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization”, which embodies and echoes the concept of the community of a shared future for mankind, and lays a more solid foundation for the SCO members to conduct new cooperation projects.

3. Trump’s Obsession with “Fairness”Principle vs. China’s Proactive Offering of International Public Goods

Trump, guided by “America First”philosophy, is not interested in engaging in global governance and offering international public goods, nor does he pay attention to international aid, even less is he willing to assume international development obligations. Indeed, the new US administration has significantly cut budget for international aid in its first budget bill. Instead of being “antiglobalization” as hyped up by the media,Trump actually wants to advance globalization and international trade. The thing is he wants a globalization that benefits the United States and its free trade. Therefore, he tries to change the rules of trade so that the United States can continue to maintain an absolute advantage in economic competition.

In recent years, with the improvement of its comprehensive national strength, China has been more active in taking part in the reform and building of the global governance system and has played an increasingly important role. China initiated the building of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank,the BRICS New Development Bank, the Silk Road Fund, the Assistance Fund for South-South Cooperation, and the Center for International Knowledge on Development, and it promotes the construction of the “Belt and Road” Initiative and helps enrich the content and mechanism of global governance. In addition, China also actively promotes the institutionalization of the abovementioned global governance programs by hosting APEC meeting in Beijing, the G20 Summit in Hangzhou and the “Belt and Road” Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing, the BRICS Leaders’Meeting in Xiamen, the SCO Qingdao Summit and other diplomatic events. At the SCO summit in Qingdao, President Xi announced that China would set up a special loan of RMB 30 billion within the framework of the SCO Interbank Consortium. In the next three years, China will provide 3,000 quotas on human resources development training for all the SCO members to improve the peoples’understanding and recognition of the big SCO family. China is willing to provide meteorological services to all parties by using its FY-2H weather satellite.It is safe to say China has always been offering international public goods within its capacity and striving to assume its responsibilities as a major country.

4. Trump’s Retreat to Unilateralism and Power Politics vs. China’s Commitment to Multilateralism, Philosophy of Wide Consultation, Joint Contribution and Shared Bene fi ts

As the one and only superpower after the end of the Cold War, the United States has a long history in practicing unilateralism. After Trump took office,the domestic politics of the United States tends to become conservative and extreme. Instead of doing it in a disguised manner as before, the United States has been unscrupulous in practicing unilateralism in international affairs. French President Emmanuel Macron warned that “the United States invented multilateralism. You are the one now who has to help to preserve and reinvent it”.However, the Trump administration still insists on unilateralism and withdraws from many multilateral mechanisms. It even attempts to force other countries to accept its unreasonable demands by provoking trade war against them. Trump even threatens its allies. The G7 Summit is coincident with the Trump administration’s imposition of tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from the EU and Canada on the grounds of national security, thus leading to heated debates between Trump and leaders of France, Germany and Canada. The G7 was reduced to the“G6+1” and ended up a farce.

In recent years, China has committed to the same foreign policy. Holding high the banner of peace, development,cooperation and mutual benefit, it keeps in mind both internal and international imperatives, commits itself to the peaceful development and mutually-beneficial open strategy and promotes to build a new type of international relations with win-win cooperation at its core. It actively participates in multilateral international affairs, pursues multilateralism,and promotes the international system and order to develop in a more just and reasonable direction. In terms of global issues, China opposes any tendency to isolationism and unilateralism. General Secretary Xi Jinping said in his report to the 19th CPC National Congress that“China follows the principle of achieving shared growth through discussion and collaboration in engaging in global governance. China stands for democracy in international relations.” Now, the concept of wide consultation, joint contribution, shared benefits has been widely accepted by the international community and become an important consensus on global governance.

5. Trump’s Obsession with Trade Protectionism vs. China’s Commitment to “Belt and Road” Initiative

In terms of how to coordinate the relationship between national interests and global interests, the Trump administration has always prioritized its policy of enhancing the national interests of the United States. In particular, it never yields an inch of ground on economy and trade. However, once a trade war is on, the United States itself will inevitably see its own interests being damaged.For example, its penalty trade measures against China will hurt others, its allies and companies included, since about 60 percent of the $500 billion worth of US imports from China comes from the Chinese branches of multinationals.

By contrast, China always pays attention to an organic unity of national interests and global interests. Since its proposal, the “Belt and Road” Initiative has been warmly welcomed by most countries. Through extensive and indepth cooperation with engaged nations in various fields, especially through international capacity cooperation, China has made an organic unity of its own national interests and global interests,which shows it is a responsible major country. Over the past five years, the “Belt and Road” Initiative has been gradually turned from concept into action and from vision to reality, with fruitful results. On June 7, 2018, President Xi Jinping said in his talks with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev that the key reason for the “Belt and Road” Initiative’s positive results lies in the fact that it conforms to the trend of peace and development of the world and meets the pragmatic development and cooperation needs of the engaged nations; and that the Initiative also provides a new impetus for further development of the SCO.

Indeed, we still need to be prudent in balancing our national interests with global interests. In terms of development stage and overall national strength, China is still the largest developing country in the world. Therefore,in offering international public goods,we need a systematic analysis of history and reality, and of the world’s trend and China’s national capabilities. We should not only be proactive in making achievement, but also be cautious towards other things, especially the lavish praises some nations have given China just for the sake of their own interests.

In summary, it can be seen from the above-mentioned five comparisons that the Trump administration has failed to assume the international responsibilities that should be consistent with its power and status as the number one world power. In addition, it reflects both directly and indirectly that China is indeed a responsible major country.