China's Assistant Foreign Minister Nong Rong delivered a speech at the 10th Beijing Xiangshan Forum on October 31, 2023. Photo: Liu Xuanzun/GT

Global Security Initiative (GSI) has been supported and commended by more than 100 countries and international organizations since it was put forward by China, and has been included in numerous bilateral and multilateral documents on China's interaction and cooperation with other countries and international organizations, said Nong Rong, the assistant foreign minister, noting that China will hold a high-level event on the theme of GSI at an appropriate time.
 
Nong made above remarks during his speech at an activity marking the 10th Beijing Xiangshan Forum on Tuesday. He outlined the progress made by China over the past year in promoting the implementation of the GSI in terms of participation in multilateral security cooperation, promoting the political settlement of hot-spot issues, carrying out cooperation in the field of non-traditional security, and promoting the improvement of the platform and mechanism for international security exchanges and cooperation.
 
The GSI was first proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping during his keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2022 in South China's Hainan Province on April 21, 2022. The initiative stresses a commitment to the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security and to reject a Cold War mentality, group politics and bloc confrontation.
 
In his speech, Nong said that the concept of GSI has three distinctive features: it emphasizes common security, openness and inclusiveness, and pragmatic cooperation.
 
GSI upholds the principle of indivisibility of security and advocates that members of the international community view global security issues from a more comprehensive and integrated perspective, and guard international common security with a stronger sense of responsibility and mission… GSI also advocates joint consultation, instead of engaging in a closed "small bloc," said Nong.
 
According to Nong, the GSI Concept Paper proposes 20 key directions for cooperation, including traditional security areas such as promoting political solutions to international and regional hotspot issues, peacekeeping operations under the framework of the United Nations, safeguarding the nuclear non-proliferation regime and the arms control process for conventional weapons, as well as non-traditional security areas such as climate change, information, biology, outer space, artificial intelligence and public health.
 
It demonstrates China's willingness to join hands with all parties and to cooperate in addressing the various security risks and challenges facing humankind, Nong added.
 
He noted that China leads among the permanent members of the UN Security Council in contributing peacekeepers, with over 2,200 Chinese officers and soldiers actively engaged in eight peacekeeping mission areas.

The Chinese official also detailed Beijing's efforts to promote the political settlement of hotspot issues.
 
China has issued position documents on the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis and on the Afghan issue, standing firmly on the side of peace, and has successfully brokered reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Iran, thus contributing to the efforts of regional countries to resolve contradictions and differences through dialogue and consultation, said Nong.
 
"Since the outbreak of the latest Palestinian-Israeli conflict, China has actively communicated and coordinated with all relevant parties, dispatched special envoys to visit regional countries and provided humanitarian assistance to Palestine at the first opportunity to push for the situation to cool down, stop the war from expanding, avert a humanitarian catastrophe and create conditions for a political settlement, he noted.
 
According to the senior diplomat, China will continue to engage in various forms of dialogues and exchanges with all parties on global security issues, and opposes the use of ideology to create small blocs and incite division and confrontation.
 
China will organize high-level events with GSI as the theme at an appropriate time, strengthen conceptual exchanges with all parties, deepen policy communication, and further forge a consensus on cooperation in the international community to address challenges and maintain common security, Nong added.