China’s trade links with Asia and Africa go back to the era of the country’s innovative ship-building and navigational technology that characterized the now famous Silk Road.
Jaya Josie
On Friday, 2 June, at the Symposium on Cultural Inheritance and Development in Beijing, President Xi Jinping asserted the primacy of culture and the evolution of civilicational developments in the history of China’s development. The theme of President’s Xi Jinping’s presentation resonated with the three initiatives that he has underlined over the recent past.
Together, global civilization, global development and global security initiatives have become an integral part of President Xi’s standing globally.
Not since Chairperson Mao and Deng Xiaoping has a leader from China received such international publicity. I returned from China at the end of May 2023 after spending seven weeks at the Zhejiang University International Business School (ZIBS), and on the flight back, the media on board and in transit was flooded with news about China’s efforts at peace-making in Ukraine; a new-found cultural assertiveness in its relations with Europe and the USA and, its push for development support and investment for emerging and developing countries in Asia, Eurasia, Africa and Latin America.
The three initiatives, Global Development Initiative (GDI), Global Security Initiative (GSI) and Global Civilization Initiative (GCI), have come to characterise China’s international status since the election of President Xi Jinping as the country’s leader. The interrelationship between these initiatives was underscored when President Xi met at a high-level meeting with world political parties on March 15. The meeting was part of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Dialogue with other global political parties.
The dialogue with other international political parties was important because it reflected on the significance of China’ s cultural heritage as part of the development and security initiatives. For President Xi, this significance must have been extremely important given that President Xi was himself a youthful victim of the cultural revolution that tried to wipe out the rich cultural tapestry of China’s history.
This was a history that combined peace and security with the building of the Great Wall; innovation and technology in engineering with the building of the famous Grand Canal, a major artery for shipping, silk, porcelain and wine liking the northern and southern provinces; the invention of silk, fireworks, tea, and foods that were discovered by the Italian explorer Marco Polo during his visit to Hangzhou in China from 1271 to 1295 and taken back to Italy. Hangzhou is where the main campus of Zhejiang University is located, not far from the famous West Lake and the Grand Canal, and it is where I spent most of April and May 2023.
China’s trade links with Asia and Africa go back to the era of the country’s innovative ship-building and navigational technology that characterized the now famous Silk Road. Zheng He was the most famous Admiral in the era of the Ming Dynasty. From 1405 to 1433, he made seven expeditions to the East African coast.
At the Unesco World Heritage site discovered in 1933 in South Africa at the Mapungubwe site in the Limpopo Province, archaeologists also found Chinese porcelain, glass trade beads and cotton in addition to local golden artefacts found in excavated graves. This was significant evidence of China’s trade with Africa as Mapungubwe had relatively easy access to the East African coast, where trade with Arab, Indian, and Chinese merchants were possible.
Of particular significance for food security and clothing was the discovery of traces of millet, sorghum and cotton remains of storage huts. The storage facilities and agricultural remains at the Mapungubwe site is reminiscent of the storage facilities and agricultural remains that I saw at the 7000-year-old Hemudu, neolithic site and museum I visited recently near Ningbo in the South of China. The site is in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River valley.
Most cultural heritage sites all over the world reflect a nation’s past and give clues to how the present has developed. Almost all ancient cultures and histories globally point to humanity's concern with collective preservation through initiatives of development and innovation, peace and security in all respects, including food security and safeguarding the legacy of these initiatives meticulously. This is evidenced in the many world heritage sites discussed so far in this article.
President Xi Jinping brought together the three initiatives to show how humanity can only survive if it works collectively for peace and security, development and innovation and the recognition that all nations have a different cultural trajectory. China’s current international policies, captured in the One Belt One Road, New Silk Road, the BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and other multilateral cooperation agreements, is an attempt to show in practice how the three initiatives can become the foundation of a new era that places peace, security, and development at the centre of international relations.
So far, China’s foray into the world of peace and security has made significant progress in the Middle East, with the reproaching between Saudi Arabia and Iran and the possibility of peace in Yemen and Syria. The country has also undertaken a peace initiative in the conflict in Ukraine.
In Africa, there is a growing recognition of the importance of China’s development initiative, with many countries opting for China’s infrastructure investment programs in the areas of transport and other social infrastructure. In the area of trade and finance, China’s Renminbi is fast becoming the reserve currency as an alternative to the US dollar. Trade and finance relationships among developing and emerging economies are looking at alternative ways for trade and swap agreements, and using own currencies are being considered as alternatives.
President Xi Jinping’s emphasis on the three initiatives is a reminder to the world that a multi-polar alternative based on the three initiatives provides a firmer foundation for the collective security, peace, development and the preservation of humanity’s future and legacy on the planet. With the three initiatives, China is proposing an alternative multi-polar approach for humanity.
The Global civilization initiative promotes respect for diversity, shared values that encourage strong cooperation and exchanges between people. At the Zhejiang University International Business School (ZIBS), I observed among the students the multicultural and international mix from all over the world.From Africa, Asia, Europe, the USA, and Latin America, more and more students from Africa are choosing to study in China. Some of them remain in China and start their own businesses. They adapt very easily to the cultural norms in China, and some recognise a certain similarity between Chinese and African traditional values.
During his speech to the United Nations General Assembly in September 2021, President Xi Jinping proposed the launch of the Global Development Initiative (GDI) as a comprehensive growth response to the Covid-19 pandemic and to address the global socio-economic development challenges. The GDI focused on stronger, greener, and balanced global development. This attempt to overcome the devastation of the pandemic is now compromised by the threat of international conflicts in Europe and ongoing tensions in Asia, and conflicts in Africa.
In 2022, in response to President Xi Jinping’s proposal for a Global Security Initiative(GSI), about 80 countries and regional organisations supported the initiative. China released a formal GSI proposal in February 2023, in which it identifies priorities, principles, platforms and mechanisms for global cooperation and China’s resolve to take some responsibility for safeguarding world peace and defending global security. Peace is the prerequisite and guarantee for development, and security is a universal concern for all countries.
While many countries are faced with challenges and risks, South Africa and the African continent are confronted by unprecedented risks to their development goals with the threat of sanctions for taking a neutral stand in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
South Africa, in particular, is faced with an extreme dilemma as it prepares to host the BRICS Summit in August 2023 and welcome the heads of state of the BRICS countries. How will South Africa handle its obligations to the BRICS heads of State and its obligations as a signatory to the ICC that has issued a warrant of arrest for President of Russia Vladimir Putin, a BRICS head of State? Will China’s Global Security Initiative be able to assist South Africa in this regard?
Josie is a visiting Professor Zhejiang University International Business School (ZIBS) and Professor Adjunct, University of Venda
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