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

（樂玉成，2019年7月8日）

尊敬的陳旭主任，

尊敬的各位嘉賓，

女士們，先生們，朋友們，

　　很高興再次出席世界和平論壇，與各位新老朋友相聚一堂。本屆世界和平論壇的主題是“穩(wěn)定國際秩序：共擔(dān)、共治、共享”。我依然清晰記得，去年，也是在這里，我們縱論天下大勢和中國外交，大家對形勢最突出的感受是“三不”：不確定、不穩(wěn)定、不可預(yù)測。遺憾的是，一年過去了，國際局勢依然亂變交織、陰云密布，各種不穩(wěn)定不確定因素還在蔓延，世界仍面臨著何去何從的艱難選擇。

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.

　　人類對于未來的選擇，總是基于對過去的理解?；厥?00年前，一戰(zhàn)的硝煙剛剛散去就建立了以國際聯(lián)盟為支柱的凡爾賽體系，以期“開辟永久和平”。然而，“理想很豐滿，現(xiàn)實(shí)很骨感”，僅僅20年，第二次世界大戰(zhàn)就爆發(fā)了。凡爾賽體系未能有效制止戰(zhàn)爭的一個(gè)重要原因是，有關(guān)國家唯本國利益至上，甚至相互以鄰為壑，競相轉(zhuǎn)嫁危機(jī)。國聯(lián)形同虛設(shè)，多邊協(xié)調(diào)失效。教訓(xùn)極其深刻。

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，世界又一次面臨亂變交織的危機(jī)和挑戰(zhàn)。我們該如何應(yīng)對？上世紀(jì)凡爾賽體系失敗的教訓(xùn)殷鑒不遠(yuǎn)。我們不能再重蹈歷史的覆轍，不能再上演單邊主義和保護(hù)主義的老劇本。更何況我們已經(jīng)生活在各國相互依存不斷加深的全球化時(shí)代，人類已經(jīng)形成休戚與共的命運(yùn)共同體。如果把世界多年形成的網(wǎng)絡(luò)化聯(lián)系和產(chǎn)業(yè)鏈協(xié)同當(dāng)作威脅的武器，國家間大搞關(guān)稅戰(zhàn)、貿(mào)易戰(zhàn)，甚至金融戰(zhàn)、科技戰(zhàn)，那就是開歷史的倒車，后果極其危險(xiǎn)。我們切不可因一時(shí)的短視而犯下不可挽回的歷史性錯(cuò)誤，將人類帶入災(zāi)難的深淵。

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.

　　事實(shí)上，面對前所未有的挑戰(zhàn)，多邊主義日益成為國際社會(huì)的廣泛共識。剛剛結(jié)束的二十國集團(tuán)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人大阪峰會(huì)又一次發(fā)出了支持多邊主義的主流聲音。如何踐行多邊主義？我認(rèn)為，首先要有制度保障。沒有制度也就沒有秩序。要維護(hù)以聯(lián)合國為核心、以國際法為基礎(chǔ)的國際體系，維護(hù)以世界貿(mào)易組織為核心、以規(guī)則為基礎(chǔ)的多邊貿(mào)易體制?，F(xiàn)行的國際秩序雖然不盡完美，需要改革完善，但不能全盤推翻、各行其是、為所欲為，那樣將會(huì)天下大亂。其次要有合作精神。全球性問題需要全球性合作應(yīng)對，沒有哪個(gè)大力士能夠包打天下。必須同舟共濟(jì)、共同劃槳，才能乘風(fēng)破浪到達(dá)彼岸。三是要有共贏意識。國際社會(huì)就是一個(gè)大家庭，應(yīng)該有難同當(dāng)、有福同享。零和博弈、贏者通吃行不通，追求利益最大化和本國利益至上的結(jié)果只能是沖突和戰(zhàn)爭。

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.