Photo: Li Hao/GT

 China's determination to safeguard national sovereignty, territorial integrity and fundamental interests of the Chinese nation is unshakable and rock solid, and on the new journey in the future, China's diplomacy will continue to carry forward the fighting spirit and improve the ability to fight, said a senior Chinese diplomat at a press conference on the sidelines of the ongoing 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Thursday.

The press center for the 20th CPC National Congress held a press conference on the topic "Under the Guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy, Forge Ahead and Strive to Break New Ground for Major-Country Diplomacy with Chinese Characteristics" in Beijing, with Shen Beili, vice minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, and Ma Zhaoxu, vice minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, both in attendance.

Chinese analysts said strengthening China's ability to fight on the diplomatic front means it understands the country faces an unprecedented threat from the outside world, especially from US hegemony, which aims to contain China's development on all fronts. In the future, China will no longer just reactively respond to the provocations and attacks launched by the US and its followers, but will more proactively shape the international environment to unite more friends and isolate those extremely hostile to China. 

More and more countries around the globe that have been suppressed, bullied and harmed by the US are also expecting China to be more active in contributing to the international anti-hegemony campaign, said experts. 

Guiding thought

Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy is an important part of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and the latest theoretical outcome of the Marxism of contemporary China in foreign-related work. It embodies the best of the Chinese culture and ethos in our times. It is a fundamental philosophy and guide to action for China's diplomacy in the new era, Ma said. 

In the past ten years, Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy has guided China's diplomacy to new success. China has taken historic strides in its relations with the world and made historic contributions to the international community, Ma remarked.

Shen outlined the CPC's international exchanges and communications with other countries' political parties and civil organizations. The CPC will not point fingers at the internal affairs of political parties in other nations, nor will the Party seek to export the Chinese model or require other nations or parties to emulate its practice, Shen noted, stressing that "the CPC will not accept the sanctimonious preaching or blindly borrow the political systems of other nations."

Shen noted that it is important for political parties of different nations to seek common ground while reserving their differences and step up mutual learning, which is instrumental to promoting progress in human civilization.

Shen said political parties, whether they are the ruling party or not, should treat each other as equals, respect each other and refrain from interfering in each other's internal affairs, regardless of their history, number of members or strength.

Warplanes of the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) conduct operations during joint combat training exercises around the Taiwan Island, Aug. 7, 2022. The Eastern Theater Command continued its joint combat training exercises as scheduled on Sunday in the waters and airspace around the Taiwan Island. Photo: Xinhua

Fighting spirit

Under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi at its core, we maintain the strategic focus and carry forward the fighting spirit, safeguarding the country's dignity and core interests and taking the initiative in taking the right of development and security of our country in our hands, Ma said. 

For instance, we took resolute countermeasures against the provocative visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the island of Taiwan, firmly opposing  "Taiwan independence" secessionist moves, resolutely containing interference of external forces and further consolidating the international consensus on one-China principle. Also, we resolutely implement the One Country, Two Systems, putting in place the National Security Law for Hong Kong and taking targeted countermeasures against unreasonable sanctions imposed by the US and other Western countries, the Vice Foreign Minister said. 

We have also exposed lies through presenting the truth and thwarted some political attempts to contain China by using Xinjiang affairs and we have steadily advanced the negotiation on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea in safeguarding the overall stability of the region.  

Ma said that over the past 10 years, the number of countries that had established diplomatic relations with China has increased from 172 to 181, while 149 countries and 32 international organizations have decided to participate in the Belt and Road Initiative, he said.

China, in the past decade, has established diplomatic ties with nine countries that used to be so-called "diplomatic allies" of the Taiwan authority, he said. 

While answering a question from the Global Times at the press conference on Thursday about how Chinese diplomacy will reflect "fighting spirit", a term that has been frequently seen in recent key documents on Chinese diplomacy, in the future, Ma said, "Having the courage and ability to carry on the fight is a fine tradition and distinct characteristic of Chinese diplomacy," and China "opposes any type of hegemony and power politics. We have unshakable and rock-solid determination to safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country, and the fundamental interests of the Chinese nation."

Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on Thursday that with China getting closer or entering the center of the international arena in the past 10 years, the "counter-acting force" released by the hegemony that resists such change will increase, and this is why the fighting spirit is becoming increasingly important for China's foreign affairs.

Lü Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Thursday that from former US president Donald Trump's term to the current president Joe Biden's term, there have been many examples that show the US is strengthening its containment and hostility against China. 

"The launching of the trade war, stigmatizing China on the issue of tracing the origins of the coronavirus, and the current comprehensive and systematic containment on all fronts including ideology, political systems, as well as science and technology… all of this shows that the US is using a 'Cold War-style' strategy to try to divide the world into blocs that confront each other," even though the US always refuses to admit that it's seeking a new Cold War, Lü said.

Biggest threat

Ma said, "There are some forces acting to resist the trend of history, to tightly embrace the Cold War mentality, zero-sum game, and are keen to form small cliques and launch a 'new Cold War,' to split the world with ideological conflicts, to incite bloc-to-bloc confrontation, and practice hegemony and bullying. This is the biggest threat to the world order."

Analysts said this kind of threat, which comes mainly from the US and some of its followers, is not only affecting China, but also disrupting world peace and bringing harm to many countries. The expansion of US-led NATO resulted in the Russia-Ukraine crisis in Europe, and the following unilateral sanctions have ruined the global supply and industrial chains and caused serious energy and food crises and the US presence in the Middle East and Afghanistan has already brought serious damage and endless chaos to these regions.

Othman Nisreen, a journalist from the Syrian Arab News Agency who attended the press conference, told the Global Times on Thursday that her country has long suffered from threats such as terrorist groups and anti-government extremist militias which are in fact supported by some foreign forces, including the US, and the Western-launched military intervention. 

Recently, the US military has even robbed oil from Syria, which is a shameless and hegemonic act that shocked the international community.

Wang said, "There are many countries, from the Asia-Pacific region to the Middle East, from Europe to Africa and Latin America, which share a similar feeling, as they found the US in the decline is becoming increasingly shameless and ruthless in practicing hegemony. There is no need for reticence. The world has suffered from US hegemony long enough, and it's time for change."

Ma said, "In the new journey, Chinese diplomacy will keep carrying forward its fighting spirit and improve the ability to carry on the fight, and will always stand at the forefront of safeguarding the national interests and dignity."

Wang said, "The US is forcing China to make change. In the future, Chinese diplomacy will be more proactive and take more decisive actions to shape the international environment and unite countries worldwide as much as possible to oppose hegemony. The international community, especially the developing countries, is also expecting the international order to be fairer and have more justice, and this is also the will of the Chinese people."

Upcoming issues

Responding to a question about the upcoming G20 summit in Bali from an Indonesian journalist at the press conference, Ma reaffirmed China's support for Indonesia in holding such a significant international event, and with regard to whether Chinese leaders will attend the summit, Ma said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will release the information in due course. 

Ma also called on all Chinese nationals still in Ukraine to get in touch with the Chinese embassy as soon as possible and evacuate the country, in response to a question on how Chinese diplomacy will protect Chinese nationals overseas.