The Lanting Forum themed "International order and global governance in the post COVID-19 era" is held at China's Foreign Ministry in Beijing on Monday. Photo: Wang Wenwen/GT

Although the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the dilemma of global governance, the United Nations is still the most complete system in the international order, and international law is the most perfect legal framework, China's State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a keynote speech at an international forum in Beijing on Monday.

China will support the UN's core role in international affairs, and promote reforms in the UN and other multilateral institutions with other countries, Wang said.

The Lanting Forum, with the theme of "International order and global governance in the post COVID-19 era," was held at China's Foreign Ministry. 

The forum was held amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the 75th anniversary of the founding of the UN, and the intensifying competition between the US and China.

Wang criticized certain countries for shifting their responsibilities and pushing the world to a clash of civilizations and ideologies. He said any maneuver that drags the world back to the era of the law of the jungle will not succeed.

Wang called on countries to join the China-proposed global data security initiative to create an open, secure and fair digital development environment. 

To meet the demands of countries to defeat the pandemic, China will turn the Silk Road into a healthy, green and digital silk road, and build the Belt and Road into a road of cooperation, recovery and growth, Wang said. 

The forum was organized by the China Public Diplomacy Association and the Nizami Ganjavi International Center. 

Three sub-forums were simultaneously held, with the themes of "Global governance and multilateralism," "Economic recovery and international cooperation," and "Sustainable development and poverty alleviation."

Martin Jacques, a senior fellow at the Department of Politics and International Studies at Cambridge University, believes that COVID-19 has poisoned global relations and exacerbated tensions. 

"From the outset, China was the subject of a vitriolic and shocking attack in the Western media and by Western politicians for its 'secrecy' and alleged 'cover-up.' The United States and China are now much further apart than at the beginning of the year. A new kind of Cold War is underway. This will weaken global governance," Jacques said at a sub-forum.

Cui Hongjian, director of the Department of European Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, was one of the speakers for the sub-forum themed "Global governance and multilateralism." 

"Amid the COVID-19 pandemic and major power competition, the defects of global governance have been further exposed, and multilateralism that supports global governance has been challenged. But to beat the pandemic and maintain the balance of the international system, rejuvenating multilateralism is the necessary solution that the international community must rely on," Cui said. 

"Multilateralism is facing huge challenges, and is in crisis. It needs to be defended and upheld, and China is playing a critical role in it," Cui told the Global Times. 

"The unilateralism of some countries has posed a major challenge to multilateralism. If countries only go their own way and seek to decouple from others, multilateralism will lose its motivation and basis for existence," he added.