Focusing on shared future can promote global change

In May, I visited the insular region of Guinea-Bissau, the Bolama/Bijagos region and the islands of Bolama and Bubaque, where I saw several ruins of architecture dating from the colonial period.

At that time, Western countries asked the United States for an arbitration regarding the domain of the island of Bolama and obtained a decision in favor of Portugal. The history has passed. However, hegemonism and unilateralism have not yet been overcome in today's world, and power politics and extremism continue to exist.

There are countries that interfere in the internal affairs of other countries with their power and their own philosophy of values, and there are countries that regard certain regions as their backyard, making uncertainty, instability and insecurity increasingly prominent in the international situation.

Where is the world going under these circumstances? The proposal presented by China is the construction of a community of shared future for mankind.

This community, as the term implies, means that the future of all nations and all countries is closely intertwined, and that is why we must unite to face difficulties and share glories and woes in order to transform the planet into a great harmonious family and make the expectation of all the people of the world for a happy life come true.

President Xi Jinping has consistently presented the concept of a shared future for mankind, not only at the 70th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in 2015, but at other major international occasions since then, proposing to build a clean, beautiful, open and inclusive world with lasting peace, universal security and common prosperity.

Promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind has already been defined as a basic general plan to defend and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, and has been inscribed in the Constitution of the Communist Party of China as well as in China's Constitution.

With the proposal to build a better world with lasting peace, universal security and common prosperity, China offers a solution to the world and a way to form a new international order.

Over hundreds of years, the replacement of great powers has been accomplished via wars. Some Western academics believe that when the dominant position of the current power is threatened by an emerging country, war will be inevitable.

With this in mind, Western countries are concerned about China's rapid development, and the so-called "China threat" theory has been circulating for more than 20 years. However, as the second-largest economy in the world, China continues to adhere to the "Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence", which were presented in the 1950s.

Proposing the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, China has promoted the formation of a new international order under the guidance of the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. In addition, it has expressed its desire for the development of human society through the common values of humanity, which are peace, development, equity, justice, democracy and freedom.

Today, the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind continues to develop. In September last year, President Xi proposed the Global Development Initiative at the United Nations General Assembly, calling on the international community to pay more attention to the issue of development, strengthen international development cooperation and accelerate implementation of the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

In April, during the Boao Forum for Asia, the president introduced the Global Security Initiative, which comprehensively and systematically answered the question of what concept of security the world needs and how countries can achieve common security.

As important public products provided by China to the world, these two global initiatives are exactly the living practice of the concept of the community of shared future for mankind in the areas of development and security, and offer Chinese wisdom and a driving force for the improvement of global governance.

The government of Guinea-Bissau has given strong support to the two global initiatives, and like most other countries, it has supported China several times in inscribing the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind in United Nations resolutions.

As good brothers and partners, these are the joint contributions of China and Guinea-Bissau to world peace, development and security.

Last year, China and Guinea-Bissau signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative. As a significant platform for the practice of building a community with a shared future for mankind, the initiative aims to share with other countries the opportunity offered by China's development, jointly expand the development space and face the challenges hand in hand.

China is willing to increasingly strengthen cooperation with Guinea-Bissau on this platform in order to realize common development. Despite the challenges and conflicts that still exist in the world, China believes that this has not changed the theme of the era of peace and development, nor the pursuit of all peoples for a happy life and the historic mission of international society to jointly overcome the difficulties that they face and share successes through win-win cooperation.

Promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind is the overall objective of Chinese diplomacy in the new era. I sincerely hope that with the joint efforts and practical actions of all countries, we can promote peace and development, defend equity and justice and promote democracy and freedom, contributing to the realization of the good desire for building a community with a shared future for mankind.

The author is Chinese ambassador to Guinea-Bissau.