(Xi's U.S. Visit) Spotlight: China, U.S. share common interests in strengthening UN role in global governance

China and the United States share common interests in strengthening the United Nations' (UN) role in global governance and there is ample scope for the two countries to cooperate on a broad range of issues within the UN framework.

Analysts said that more "investment" from China, the United States and other major powers is required to enhance the United Nations' governing power, which in turn would benefit its members and galvanize relations among those cooperating within its framework.

It is in line with their own interests for the major powers to "give space to the Secretary-General and to the institutions of the UN to be able to do the things which you know the world needs and which those powers also need," Bruce Jenks, a former UN official, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"I think that's the most important thing that a great power can do vis-a-vis the UN," said Jenks, former assistant secretary-general for the UN Development Program, who currently is an adjunct professor at Columbia University.

As the UN's biggest developing and developed member, respectively, cooperation between China and the United States is essential in enlarging the influence of this organization, whose establishment marks one of the most significant achievements of humanity's triumph in World War II seven decades ago.

"The United Nations has been the single most important world organization so far, which has been ensured by its legal status," said Jin Canrong, vice president of the School of International Studies at China's Renmin University.

China and the United States, as well as the other three permanent members of the UN Security Council, have a vital obligation to play a positive role in the organization, Jin said.

Although differences may remain between Beijing and Washington, it is highly feasible for them to carry out cooperation and forge a type of partnership within the United Nations, which is also important for the proper function of the organization, experts said.

Jenks cited climate change cooperation between the United States and China as an example, which he believed served as a "very good example" to push forward collaboration between the two sides in the UN framework.

CHINA-U.S. INITIATIVES FOR UN CLIMATE AGENDA

The attitudes of the United States and China, the top two greenhouse gas emitters, are "decisive" in the overall battle against climate change, said Da Wei, director of the Department of American Studies at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR).

During President Barack Obama's visit to Beijing last November, a U.S. emissions cut of 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025 was announced, while China said it would cap its emissions by around 2030.

A report by Reuters in August mentioned that China's bold decision for a cap "may change the dynamics of the UN negotiations." China's decision may put significant pressure on other large emerging economies such as India, South Africa and Brazil, the report said.

In an action plan submitted to the United Nations at the end of June this year, China promised to cut carbon dioxide emissions per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) by 60 to 65 percent from the 2005 level by 2030 and expand the share of non-fossil fuels in its primary energy consumption to around 20 percent from the 11.2-percent ratio in 2014.

"This is a major milestone in the U.S.-China relationship," Obama said during his visit to Beijing on Nov. 12 last year when a historic joint climate announcement was made. "It shows what's possible when we work together on an urgent global challenge," he said.

Hours later, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon praised the bold pledges by China and the United States and called on the rest of the world to follow suit.

The joint China-U.S. efforts marked "an important contribution to the new climate change agreement to be agreed to in Paris," Ban told reporters.

By taking the lead in the global efforts to fight climate change, China and the United States will also see benefits to their own economies apart from better living environments for their peoples.

"For China, we are suffering a lot from climate change," Xie Zhenhua, China's special representative on climate change affairs, told Xinhua at the China-U.S. Climate Leaders Summit in Los Angeles earlier this month.

China faces great challenges in environmental protection as Xie noted that climate change causes more than 2,000 casualties annually and has cost the country over 200 billion yuan (31.4 billion U.S. dollars) every year for the past decade.

Yet this problem has also created opportunities as Xie said that up to date, China's new energy industry employs around 39 million people, and the number will top 69 million in 2030.

UN PEACEKEEPING, SECURITY EFFORTS

As two major founding members of the United Nations, which was an outcome of victory against fascism in World War II, China and the United States share a joint postwar legacy.

"China made a huge contribution to the victory in the world anti-Fascist war, which is the core reason for China's selection as one of the permanent members of the UN Security Council," said Qian Wenrong, executive director of American Studies Center at the China Foundation for International Studies.

It was former U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt who suggested China assume the vital UN role, said Qian.

Seven decades after Word War II, peace and security remain elusive in certain parts of the world, and their pursuance forms one of the major tasks for all UN members, including China and the United States.

"China has sent some 3,000 UN peacekeepers, and it provides 500 million U.S. dollars annually for the UN peacekeeping efforts, ranking the sixth among all UN members," said Zhang Guihong, executive dean of the UN Studies Center at Fudan University in Shanghai.

Zhang said that the United States also attached great importance to UN peacekeeping by contributing 1.5 billion U.S. dollars a year despite its modest contribution of peacekeepers.

"As permanent members of the UN Security Council, it's a shared duty and obligation for the U.S. and China to make contributions to world peace," Zhang said.

A huge amount of U.S. resources has been allocated to fight terrorism as the protection of U.S. citizens and properties both at home and abroad has topped the agenda of all U.S. administrations since the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001.

Meanwhile, the Chinese leadership has also repeatedly stressed the importance of a peaceful environment to fostering economic development in China.

Zhang said both China and the United States are confronted with terrorist threats though they have different goals and priorities in the anti-terror war.

"China and the United States are also protecting their own interests through active involvement in peacekeeping and conflict-eliminating efforts within the UN framework," Zhang said.

"We can say anti-terror cooperation between China and the U.S. is successful in certain specific fields," said Teng Jianqun, director of the Department for American Studies at the China Institute of International Studies.

Teng cited a cooperative announcement signed between the two sides years ago on the Container Security Initiative (CSI) that is designed to detect and deter terrorists from exploiting the vulnerabilities of containerized cargo, which he said had been very effective in curbing smuggling and contributed a lot to the fight against terrorism.

POVERTY REDUCTION, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

It is widely agreed that efforts to eliminate poverty have been the most important endeavor worldwide in the postwar era, and have been embodied in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set by the United Nations in 2000 with a deadline in 2015.

"Cutting back on poverty is a UN goal set for 2015, which has regrettably fallen short of its designed targets," said Chen Shiqiu, vice president of the United Nations Association of China.

To continue the fight against poverty, a Post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda has been created. The 2030 Agenda represents the United Nations' commitment to ease suffering today while getting it right for succeeding generations, UN chief Ban said.

China has made a huge contribution to the global efforts to fight poverty and it has accumulated a lot of experience which could be shared with other developing nations, said Zhang.

Experts believed that the concept of a "Community of Common Destiny," as put forward by President Xi, is China's proposal for the future welfare of Asia and even the world, highlighting the noble cause of human common development in the era of globalization.

Zhang said the United States has allocated a huge part of its resources to eliminating conflicts, yet it needs to develop a better understanding of the relations between poverty and conflicts and those between development and security.

Teng called for more cooperation from the United States on development initiatives by China.

"The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Belt and Road initiatives are open and inclusive," Teng said. "These are very practical proposals for helping eliminate poverty worldwide."

"China is using its excessive production capacity to improve the livelihood of people both at home and abroad so as to achieve common development," he said. Enditem

Xinhua reporter Shi Xiaomeng in New York contributed to the story.

Editor's note:

Chinese President Xi Jinping is on his first state visit to the United States since taking office in 2013. Xinhua is wiring a series of in-depth stories on China-U.S. relations and the historic visit.

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