The year 2022: Breaking waves, forging ahead

By Wang Xinyuan

Wang Yi, State Councilor and Foreign Minister of China, released an article titled "Striding Forward Holding High the Banner of Building a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind" on Jan. 1, 2022.

"The year 2022 will be an important one for global developments, with both crises and opportunities," the article noted.

"We will keep both the domestic and international imperatives in mind and endeavor to foster a more stable and favorable external environment for the great cause of the Party and the country," it said.

Here are the highlights regarding the year 2022:

First, we will make every effort to ensure the success of major and important events. The 20th CPC National Congress will be a most important event in the political life of the Party and the country in 2022. We will endeavor to do a good job on the external front in all directions, present the CPC story to the world, and forestall and defuse external risks and challenges in preparation for the successful convening of the 20th National Congress of the Party. The Beijing Winter Olympic Games, a big event for winter sports, will draw worldwide attention. We will promote the Olympic spirit of “mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play”, warmly welcome friends from around the world while rejecting the politicization of the Olympics, and work to bring the world greater confidence, joy, courage and strength with a streamlined, safe and splendid Games. Head-of-state diplomacy is the highest form of China’s diplomacy. We will strengthen political planning and ensure good services for home-ground diplomacy and multilateral summits including the BRICS Summit and the CIIE, so that head-of-state diplomacy will fully play its guiding role.

Second, we will take proactive steps to tackle the challenges in the post-COVID era. The only way for the world to emerge from the pandemic is by working together. We will continue to promote the spirit of solidarity in fighting COVID-19 and advance the building of a global community of health for all featuring both robust COVID response and heartwarming cooperation. We will actively promote cooperation in vaccines upgrade and drug research, and take effective measures to close the immunization gap. We will uphold global solidarity against the pandemic, improve global public health governance, and work with all other countries to build lines of defense against the virus and create global synergy for responding to pandemics.

Third, we will work for the implementation of the two major initiatives on development and cooperation. The Global Development Initiative is a public good for the world. We will work closely with UN agencies and other countries to align the Initiative with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and follow through on cooperation in the eight key areas of the Initiative. We will champion a development-first vision, reinvigorate global development cooperation, promote global economic recovery, and help other developing countries achieve leapfrog development. The Belt and Road Initiative provides the biggest platform for open cooperation. We will work with BRI partners to further deepen and substantiate high-quality Belt and Road cooperation with hard connectivity as the direction, soft connectivity as the support, and people-to-people connectivity as the bond.

Fourth, we will expand and deepen global partnerships. We will continue to deepen shoulder-by-shoulder, back-to-back strategic cooperation with Russia, making it a pillar of global stability, a bedrock for peace, and a force for fairness and justice. We will strengthen high-level strategic communication with the EU, focus on the mainstream of dialogue and cooperation, stick to the keynote of mutual benefit, and continue to be partners and not adversaries. We will pursue integrated development with our neighbors and deepen convergence of interests and people-to-people affinity to jointly build a peaceful, safe and secure, prosperous, beautiful and amicable home. We will remain a sincere and reliable partner for other developing countries, support them in building capacity for self-generated development, and defend their legitimate rights to development.

Fifth, we will make efforts to bring China-US relations back on the right track. The year 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of President Richard Nixon’s visit to China. The two countries should review the spirit of that ice-melting trip, follow through on the common understandings reached between the two presidents, observe the three principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, abide by the three China-US Joint Communiqués, steer America’s China policy back to reason, and bring China-US relations back on the right track. The two sides need to jointly explore how two major countries with different systems, cultures and development stages can coexist in peace, for the good of the people in both countries and around the world.

Sixth, we will firmly safeguard China’s core interests. We will resolutely fight off any attempts to infringe upon China’s sovereignty, security and development interests, and we will firmly and effectively repulse any moves to undermine the Chinese people’s legitimate rights and interests. We have never been subordinate to anyone, we have never plundered others, and we will never give in to any coercion or blackmail. Taiwan has always been part of China’s territory. China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are not to be infringed upon. The general trend toward China’s complete reunification is unstoppable, and China’s resolve to oppose any attempt to create “two Chinas” or “one China, one Taiwan” is unshakable.