The meetings of China\u2019s top legislature and top political advisory\nbody convene against a backdrop of deepening global turbulence. As\ngeopolitical rivalries increasingly flout established rules and\nconflicts escalate in the Middle East, the international order faces\nunprecedented strain.<\/p>\n
Policy choices of China \u2013 the world\u2019s second-largest economy and home\nto 1.4 billion people \u2013 reverberate far beyond its borders. The\ndirection set at this year\u2019s \u201ctwo sessions\u201d will therefore be closely\nwatched, particularly as many look to China for signals of stability in\nan increasingly uncertain world.<\/p>\n
Currently under legislative review, the draft 15th Five-Year Plan\nmaps out how China will advance over the next five years toward the goal\nof basically achieving modernization by 2035. A distinctive feature of\nthis modernization is its emphasis on peaceful development.<\/p>\n
In the next five years, China is expected to work with neighbors to\nadvance integrated development and maintain overall stability in its\nrelations with major nations, according to the draft plan.<\/p>\n
At a press conference on China\u2019s foreign policy held on the sidelines\nof the legislative session, Foreign Minister Wang Yi reaffirmed that\nChina will not pursue hegemony as its strength grows, nor does it\nsubscribe to the logic that the world can be run by major countries.<\/p>\n
Analysts say that China\u2019s preference for peace stems in part from a\ndeep-seated cultural and historical instinct.<\/p>\n
For much of its millennia-long history, China ranked among the\nworld\u2019s leading nations. Its influence tended to travel through\ncommerce, ideas and cultural exchanges, rather than through conquest or\ncolonization.<\/p>\n
The ancient Silk Road carried caravans across continents, while\nadmiral Zheng He\u2019s maritime voyages in the 15th century reached as far\nas Africa, leaving behind silk, tea and porcelain \u2013 not forts, colonies\nor cannon fire.<\/p>\n
This restraint was a deliberate choice, integral to classical Chinese\nstatecraft. \u201cThe Art of War\u201d elevates victory without battle as the\nhighest strategic ideal, and ancient thinkers warned that powers\naddicted to conflict would ultimately exhaust themselves.<\/p>\n
Modern history reinforced the national psyche more brutally. After\nthe Opium War of 1840, China endured invasions, bullying and humiliation\nat the hands of Western powers. Japan\u2019s invasion, beginning in the early\n1930s and continuing through World War II, left deep and lasting scars\non the country.<\/p>\n
These experiences hardened an aversion to war and fostered a\nconviction that recovery and rejuvenation must come through internal\neffort rather than external expansion.<\/p>\n
The decades since the founding of the People\u2019s Republic of China in\n1949 have validated this path. The country has not initiated a war or\nseized an inch of foreign territory, yet it has grown into the world\u2019s\nsecond-largest economy and maintained that position for more than a\ndecade.<\/p>\n
This stance reflects not only the cultural continuity of the Chinese\nnation, but also the founding philosophy of the governing Communist\nParty of China (CPC).<\/p>\n
Peaceful development is no diplomatic platitude; it is embedded in\nthe country\u2019s institutional fabric \u2013 explicitly codified in both the\nnational Constitution and the Constitution of the CPC.<\/p>\n
By proposing to build a community with a shared future for humanity\nin 2013, China\u2019s message has been clear: In an era fraught with\nchallenges, humanity\u2019s enemies are not one another, but war, poverty,\nhunger and injustice.<\/p>\n
No one can fight these battles alone, nor can any hope to carve out a\npath by only looking after their own interests. Instead, the world must\ncome together to build a common future.<\/p>\n
On a deeper structural level, China\u2019s reassurances for the world come\nfrom the fact that the country maintains its ties with the wider world\nthrough trade and production networks.<\/p>\n
The country boasts all the industrial categories listed in the UN\nindustrial classification. As the world\u2019s largest goods trader and one\nof the largest consumer markets, China trades extensively with more than\n160 countries and regions.<\/p>\n
Such interdependence is arguably one of the most effective safeguards\nfor global security, as mutual economic stakes can help mitigate\ngeopolitical rivalry.<\/p>\n
The upcoming 15th Five-Year Plan is expected to carry this model of\nglobal engagement into the next phase. It will likely see China open its\ndoors wider, promote balanced trade, and improve the overseas layout of\nits industrial and supply chains.<\/p>\n
Amid these extensive economic linkages, China has maintained a\ndefensive military posture. Its defense spending remains modest across\nkey relative indicators, including the share of GDP, per capita defense\nexpenditure, and defense expenditure per military personnel member.<\/p>\n
For instance, China\u2019s defense spending has consistently stayed below\n1.5 percent of GDP for many years. By contrast, NATO members have\ndecided to ramp up their defense expenditure to 5 percent of GDP by\n2035.<\/p>\n
To the east, Japan\u2019s defense spending per capita in the 2025 fiscal\nyear was three times China\u2019s, while its spending per defense personnel\nmember was more than twice that of China.<\/p>\n
China adheres to a no-first-use policy on nuclear weapons. It is the\nsecond-largest financier of UN peacekeeping operations, and the leading\ncontributor of troops among the permanent members of the UN Security\nCouncil.<\/p>\n
The country aspires to peace, yet it recognizes that maintaining\npeace requires vigilance.<\/p>\n
There are a plethora of ways to defend peace, uphold security and\ndeter war, but military capability remains the ultimate backstop. China\nis unequivocal in defending its sovereignty, security and development\ninterests. That resolve must never be underestimated.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/china-reaffirms-peaceful-development-amid-heightened-global-volatility-1773161902", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }