Together, Answering the Question of Our Time and Creating a Bright Future: "Thucydides Trap or Orderly Multipolar World" Conference by Ambassador Wu Peng

 Your Honorable Ronald Lamola, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation,

Distinguished Executive Director of Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection, Mr. Joel Netshitenzhe,

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Friends,

Good morning! It’s my great pleasure to attend today’s conference. In face of the great changes' unseen in a century, the question of “Thucydides Trap or Orderly Multipolar World” is truly thought-provoking. I would like to share my thoughts from three perspectives.

Firstly, the “Thucydides Trap” is entirely avoidable. The concept of the “Thucydides Trap” was proposed by Harvard Professor Graham Allison in 2012. It suggests that China and the US are “destined for war”.

However, I believe that this so-called trap is neither an unbreakable law nor a certainty. The future’s path should not be bound by historical fatalism, but rather guided by the choices we make today.

An English saying goes: “To a man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” Chinese President Xi Jinping also stated on multiple occasions that the co-called “Thucydides Trap” does not exist in reality, however, if major countries continue to make strategic miscalculations, they could end up creating such traps for themselves.

The world is big enough for all countries to develop themselves and prosper together.

The China-US relationship is one of the most important bilateral relationships in the world. Whether China and the United States have a cooperative or confrontational relationship bears on the well-being of the Chinese and American peoples and the future of humanity.

Under the new circumstances, China and the US have more, not fewer, common interests. Promoting world economic recovery and settling international and regional issues require both countries to coordinate and cooperate with each other, and to think and act as major countries.

The two countries’ respective success is an opportunity for each other. As long as both sides show mutual respect, coexist in peace and cooperate for win-win results, China-US relations will get better.

This March, Professor Allison, the creator of “Thucydides Trap”, also acknowledged in his visit to China, that the US and China share close economic ties, and that the two countries can only develop and thrive in peaceful coexistence.

Secondly, win-win cooperation is the prevailing trend of the world. China believes that simply avoiding or navigating the so-called “Thucydides Trap” is far from enough; it is also crucial to bridge the development gap and expand shared growth.

While our world struggles with change and disorder, the trends towards multipolarity and globalization are unstoppable. Achieving an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization serves the interests of all humanity.

The Chinese culture values peace, and the Chinese nation has no tradition of external expansion. China, in recent history, once a victim of foreign power bullying, knows full well the value of peace and the hard-won gains of development.

Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, we have never initiated a war or occupied an inch of foreign land. China stayscommitted to the path of peaceful development and never seeks to challenge or replace anyone. We Chinese people just want to enjoy a better life.

President Xi Jinping has put forward the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, advocated high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and proposed the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative.

These vision and initiatives have provided Chinese wisdom and strength for promoting world peace and security and tackling the common challenges of humanity.

In the course of seeking its own development, China has kept generating new opportunities for the world through its own development.

Not long ago, the Third Plenum of the 20th CPC Central Committee made an important decision on further deepening reform comprehensively to advance Chinese modernization, and emphasized the need to further advance high-standard opening up, promote alignment with high-standard international economic and trade rules, and foster a first-rate business environment that is market-oriented, law-based and internationalized for foreign investment and trade.

Chinese modernization will surely contribute robustly to world peace and stability, to the common development for all, and to the advancement of human civilization.
  Thirdly, diversifying cooperation partners serves Africa’s interests. China is actively engaged in cooperation with Africa, and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) has become a leading model for South-South cooperation.

The FOCAC Beijing Summit was successfully held in early September. China is accelerating the implementation of measures announced at the summit, including the expansion of African agricultural exports. Recently, 21 tons of South African fresh avocados entered the Chinese market for the first time.

Supporting Africa’s development is a shared responsibility of the international community. China’s cooperation with Africa has been rooted in openness and inclusiveness. We welcome all partners of Africa to increase their investment in the continent, and we encourage diversification of partnerships, including with the US.

If external partners can leverage their respective advantages and uphold the principles of fairness, equality, and pragmatism to create a collaborative effort that supports Africa’s modernization, it will align well with Africa’s own interests.

China is also ready to engage in more trilateral and multilateral cooperation with other partners of Africa, based on respect for Africa’s will, to jointly benefit the continent.

Lastly, I want to again convey my heartfelt thanks to MISTRA for their exceptional efforts in organizing this conference, and I wish today’s conference a full success.

Thank you!

‍