Expert: China seeks reform, not revolution, of current int'l order

A famed China expert said Tuesday that China is seeking to reform the current U.S.-defined international order, rather than revolutionize it.

Zheng Yongnian, director of the East Asia Institute of National University of Singapore, said in a column on the local Lianhe Zaobao newspaper that what China has sought is the improvement of the existing international framework instead of radical revolution of the system.

China has implemented the reform and opening up policy to blend into the U.S.-defined international order, Zheng said, adding that the East Asian nation has played an increasingly important role in it.

However, the vested interests of the current system, especially the United States, have seemed not ready to provide enough room for the world's second-largest economy, as can be seen by the U.S.-proposed limits on China's role in the International Monetary Fund, Zheng argued.

More regrettably, Washington, convicting that China is to challenge and ultimately overturn the current world system, has kept a vigilant eye on Beijing's bids to initiate and establish the regional order, such as the Belt and Road initiative and the Asian Infrastructural Investment Bank (AIIB) and the BRICS Development Bank, all of which are aimed to safeguard China's interests and carry out more international duties.

In this context, the Singaporean scholar said, time has ripe for China to mull a more effective way of interaction with other countries, including the apprehensive United States, to replace its past passive response to Washington's misgivings.

Zheng suggested that China continue to play its due role in the international system and make it clearer to the outside world, especially the United States, that the China-proposed regional order is to supplement rather than substitute the current world system, and what it has sought is to realize sustainable development, and to commit more regional responsibilities for common development.

Facts have proved that China has walked its talk, as the regional arrangements it initiated have served as a more open and inclusive supplement to the current mechanisms, Zheng argued, saying the projects like the AIIB, ever since its founding, have assumed the duties that are impossible for the World Bank and Asian Development Bank to take considering their mandate limits.

He also suggested that to lessen the pressures from Washington, China, during the founding of the new order, should promote its relations with some of U.S. traditional allies that have no direct geopolitical interest conflicts and wish to deepen economic relations with China's inviting market.

"The establishment of the new model of major-country relations is of key importance, as it decides whether the world is heading to peace or war," Zheng said.

"To make Washington change its mindset, China could start with countries like the United Kingdom and Canada. Like in the case of the AIIB, the institute was originally met with strong resistance from the U.S. and Japan. But after the joining of its Western allies like the UK, Washington has downgraded its opposing tone, and even turned to cooperating with China in such international agencies as the World Bank," Zheng added.

In his article, Zheng also criticized the United States for having suppressed countries that have deviated from its interpretation of the international order, and repelled those who dared not to follow its steps.

In terms of international responsibilities, the same situation also occurs, he said, as "the U.S. does not recognize the efforts by countries like China to shoulder their responsibilities. Instead, nations with their own understandings of the international responsibilities have been pressured by the U.S. for holding dissent perspectives."

"The notion of sovereign state stems from the West. Technically, sovereignty means that countries should stand on equal foot and their domestic affairs should not be interfered by others," said Zheng.

Zheng also accused the United States for "inducing color revolutions in other countries for years with the goal of replacing their governments with ones that are more favorable to Washington, under the disguises of human rights and freedom."

To support his arguments, Zheng quoted sentences from World Order, a book written by U.S. veteran diplomat Henry Kissinger, as saying that instead of only one international order, there are multiple orders existing in the world and applying to different civilizations. Endi