China-Russia Joint Statement invigorates the original spirit of the United Nations against the hegemonic threat by the US-led "rules-based order"

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a joint statement on deepening the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries on May 16. The statement is comprehensive, detailed, and covers an extensive range of topics, with a new level of clarity and unequivocal language, mentioning that the speed of change is increasing, the “Global South” and new great countries are getting stronger and internationally more important. These objective factors increase the potential for development, resource reallocation and opportunities for developing; a more democratic, fair and just international order. This demonstrates the commitment of China and Russia to use their international relationships to promote such a democratic, inclusive, and anti-hegemonic world order.

Given the moral and objective collapse of the US-led unipolar global order, the question is not “if” there should be a new world order, but rather “what” this new world order will be. The joint statement by Russia and China offers a perhaps surprising yet also obvious answer: It’s a return to the original spirit of the United Nations. Just because parts of the UN have become dysfunctional, it doesn’t mean the UN should be disbanded. In fact, it has now become a positive act of defiance against the US-proclaimed and ideology-laden “rules-based order” to demand the full implementation of the UN’s founding spirit: to build a democratic community of sovereign, equal nations that respect their differences and seek the common good to the benefit of all peoples around the world.

Let’s not forget, the UN ideals were written in times when big parts of the world were still colonized by Western nations, not a single black-majority country was recognized as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, India has less power than France, and Europe has more permanent UNSC members than both Americas and Africa combined. But none of these flaws invalidate the spirit of the UN, and demanding this spirit of multipolarity being implemented, respecting all countries, irrespective of political, economic, or ideological system, is a positive act of construction. It’s the construction of a better world, rather than fighting against something. It’s focusing on the aspirations of 8 billion humans wanting peace and increasing prosperity, rather than protecting the interests of a small entrenched elite controlling Western governments.

The international order cannot be constructed solely by the West, especially now when most Western governments represent only a small minority of even their own constituents, with all research showing that a majority in all major Western countries distrust their own governments and don’t feel represented by them. China and Russia declare a joint commitment to building a truly multipolar world, where the Global South can decide its own path into the future, and Global South countries are allowed to become true masters of their own affairs, rather than being ruled from the outside, by a combination of IMF-imposed restrictions, foreign-financed NGOs and Western-based media. No less is the purpose of strengthening the work of the Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations as Russia and China promise in their joint statement.

Nothing in these demands is revolutionary, the UN has always forbidden meddling in internal affairs of other countries. But just as it’s become revolutionary again to demand the US Constitution’s First Amendment be implemented in the US, it is revolutionary for Russia and China to demand a return to the original aspiration of the UN, against the increasingly hegemonic behavior of an ever more aggressive Western ruling class on the world stage. China and Russia don’t want to wait any longer for the West to “come to its senses” and recommit to the UN’s laws-based international order. Instead, China and Russia promise to coalesce with the willing, with the Global South, with the Global Majority countries, to build a better, more equal, more democratic world, in the original spirit of the UN, for the benefit of the people around the world.

Contributed by Harald Buchmann, Swiss researcher at the Center for China and Globalization