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How COVID-19 Is Changing the World Order

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How COVID-19 Is Changing the World Order How COVID-19 is Changing the World Order As COVID-19 has grown into a pandemic, it has a profound and complex impact on the world order. To provide our readers with more insights, we have invited six scholars to conduct an in-depth discussion on how COVID-19 is changing the world order. 中国国际问题研究院 China Institute of International Studies Contents China Should Pursue Four Principles as Coronavirus Hits the World ……………………………………… 1 Yu Hongjun Cooperation: An Iron Law of the Development of a Community with Shared Future …………………………… 10 Qin Yaqing The COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Impact on Contemporary International Relations ………………………… 18 Yang Jiemian Attaching Great Importance to the New Adjustment and Its Impact on Globalization …………………… 27 Zhang Yunling One World, Two Orders ………………………………………… 34 Ruan Zongze The Dual Role of COVID-19 in Changing International Landscape ………………………………………… 43 Cui Hongjian HOW COVID-19 IS CHANGING THE WORLD ORDER THE COVID-19 IS CHANGING HOW China Should Pursue Four Principles as Coronavirus Hits the World Yu Hongjun The year 2020 is of pivotal importance for China to secure a decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, achieve the great goal of national rejuvenation, and move closer to global center stage. Also, the year 2020 is crucial for the international community to promote a new round of globalization and perfect global governance. However, the unexpected outbreak of COVID-19 has paralyzed the whole of humanity in an unprecedented manner. The “political virus” of beggar-thy-neighbor policy, mutual hostility and isolation, joined by the “spiritual plague” of scapegoating, defamation and instigating confrontation, has been causing turbulence to the world order. Facing such a chaotic international situation, to be able to draw on advantages and avoid disadvantages in this era of profound changes unseen in a century and forge ahead despite twists and turns, China has to remain committed to building a community with a shared future for mankind, actively participating in the global anti-epidemic cooperation, promoting construction of Yu Hongjun is Vice Chairman of the Chinese People’s Association for Peace and Disarmament, Senior Fellow of Taihe Institute, former Vice Minister of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and former Chinese Ambassador to Uzbekistan. 1 How COVID-19 is Changing the World Order the Belt and Road Initiative, and advocating policy communication and people-to- people exchanges. Promoting the Building of a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind In the course of human history, mankind has often encountered various internal and external risks and dangers, as it went through unforeseeable conflicts and adventures. However, the COVID-19 pandemic is the greatest global health crisis of modern times as well as a life-and-death struggle for the entire human race, the adverse impact of which on international relations, the world economy, social culture and human behavior in the future remains impossible to be accurately evaluated. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), by the end of April, the number of confirmed cases worldwide had exceeded 3 million, and there had been nearly 22 thousand deaths. With the highest number of cases and deaths, the United States has become the epicenter of the outbreak. European countries, especially Italy, Spain, France and the United Kingdom, have also suffered from very serious conditions, with the fatality rate in some countries exceeding 10 percent. In addition, from Russia and other CIS countries to Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and West Asia where Muslim populations are concentrated, from Africa to the South Pacific and even the whole of Latin America, the virus is spreading without recognizing national borders, ethnic groups, religions, ideologies, social systems or development levels. The COVID-19 pandemic is undoubtedly a catastrophe and a common challenge for all humankind. To cut off the transmission of COVID-19 and the expansion of the pandemic, some countries that are hit hardest have taken unusual measures such as suspending transport linkages, locking down cities, cancelling social events, shutting down factories, closing national borders and temporarily stopping freight traffic. As a result of carrying out these extreme but necessary policies, the world economy has experienced unimaginable destruction: global service and manufacturing industries have shrunk significantly, the international industrial and supply chains have encountered temporary rupture, and the world futures and stock markets have witnessed dramatic fluctuations. What lies ahead for countries around the world is a 2 || China Should Pursue Four Principles as Coronavirus Hits the World common risk and a global crisis. Based on scientific evaluation and reflection, China has long held the view that the security and development interests of human society are closely intertwined, the future and destiny of individuals as well as countries are closely related to each other. In recent years, China has paid additional attention to the connection and consistency in the relationship between development and security interests of China and those of other countries worldwide. In March 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Russia and for the first time delivered a speech on the progress of human civilization, the evolution of world structure, and the relationship between China and the rest of the world, explicitly expressing the notion of the community with a shared future for mankind and related concepts on times, development, cooperation, security and civilization. In addition, he put forward that we are in an era of change, confronted with an ever changing world situation: “It is a world where countries are linked with and dependent on one another at a level never seen before. Mankind, by living in the same global village within the same time and space where history and reality meet, have increasingly emerged as a community of common destiny in which everyone has in himself a little bit of others.” Ever since then, President Xi has repeatedly stressed the necessity and urgency of building a community with a shared future for humanity on many occasions at home and abroad. In January 2017, he delivered a speech under the title of “Work Together to Build a Community of Shared Future for Mankind” at the United Nations Office at Geneva, stressing once again that mankind had entered an era of major development as well as profound transformation and change, that interconnection and interdependence between countries are crucial for human survival, and that this is accompanied by numerous challenges and increasing risks for human civilization. In response to the continuous spreading of traditional and non-traditional security threats including major outbreaks of communicable diseases, the Chinese solution is to “build a community with a shared future for mankind and achieve win-win and shared development.” The idea of building a community with a shared future for mankind marks not only the theoretical foundation of China’s diplomacy in the new era, but also provides the guideline under which China participates in international affairs, manages external relations and promotes the reform of the global governance system. The credibility of || 3 How COVID-19 is Changing the World Order this important idea has been proven by the developing trends of our times. The gradual emergence of global anti-epidemic cooperation triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic has once again demonstrated the essence of interconnection and interdependence in the human community. On March 26 of this year, President Xi Jinping announced at the G20 Extraordinary Leaders’ Summit on COVID-19 that “major communicable diseases are the enemy of all mankind,” receiving general recognition from the international community. In his prayer for the world, Pope Francis said: “We have realized that we are on the same boat, all of us fragile and disoriented, but at the same time important and needed, all of us called to row together, each of us in need of comforting the other.” António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, has also stated that as a human crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic demands coordination between major economies with the aim of conducting decisive, inclusive and innovative countermeasures. Despite their different discourse systems, nobody can ignore that the scientific conception of a shared future for mankind is receiving broad recognition. Hence, no matter how the global situation will change in the future and in what manner the post-epidemic world will be reconstructed, China should unswervingly adhere to the idea of building a community with a shared future for mankind, and remain committed to adopting this theory and related policies in its diplomacy, to promote the common development and progress of human society. Contributing to Global Anti-Epidemic Cooperation With distinct governance systems, social customs and cultural psychology, as well as different levels of development, the capability and approach of countries to cope with major disasters and crises vary greatly. However, in addressing these major disasters, cooperation and mutual assistance are in line with the humanitarian character and nature of human society as well as with the constant demand to work together in times of crisis. In its fight against the sudden outbreak of COVID-19, China has received support and assistance from
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