| Zhao, Jianglin, editor.Title: China’s belt and road initiative and building the community of common destiny / edited byLinggui Wang Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, China and Jiangl
Series on China’s Belt and Road Initiative Print ISSN: 2591-7730 Online ISSN: 2591-7749 Series Editors:ZHENG Yongnian (National University of Singapore, Singapore) Kerry BROWN (King’s College London, UK) WANG Yiwei (Renmin University of China, China) LIU Weidong (Chinese Academy of Sciences, China) This book series showcases the most up-to-date and significant research on China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) by leading scholars from inside and outside China It presents a panoramic view on the BRI, from the perspectives of China’s domestic policy, China’s foreign investment, international relations, cultural cooperation and historical inheritance As the first English book series on the BRI, this series offers a valuable English- language resource for researchers, policymakers, professionals and students to better understand the challenges and opportunities brought by the BRI Published: Vol China’s Belt and Road Initiative and Building the Community of Common Destiny edited by WANG Linggui and ZHAO Jianglin Vol Belt and Road Initiative: Chinese Version of “Marshall Plan”? by FENG Da-Hsuan and LIANG Hai Ming Vol Silk Road: The Study of Drama Culture by LI Qiang translated by GAO Fen Vol China’s Belt and Road: The Initiative and Its Financial Focus by YU Xugang, Cristiano RIZZI, Mario TETTAMANTI, Fabio E ZICCARDI and GUO Li Vol The Political Economy of China’s Belt and Road Initiative by ZOU Lei translated by ZHANG Zhiping Published by World Scientific Publishing Co Pte Ltd Toh Tuck Link, Singapore 596224 USA office: 27 Warren Street, Suite 401-402, Hackensack, NJ 07601 UK office: 57 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9HE Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Wang, Linggui, editor | Zhao, Jianglin, editor Title: China’s belt and road initiative and building the community of common destiny / edited by Linggui Wang (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, China) and Jianglin Zhao (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, China) Description: New Jersey : World Scientific, [2019] | Series: Series on China’s belt and road initiative, vol Identifiers: LCCN 2019008593 | ISBN 9789813278714 (hc : alk paper) Subjects: LCSH: Regional economics China 21st century | Economic development China | Infrastructure (Economics) China | Transportation China | China Foreign economic relations- -21st century Classification: LCC HC427.95 C45554 2019 | DDC 382/.30951 dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019008593 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Sponsored by B&R Book Program Copyright © 2019 by World Scientific Publishing Co Pte Ltd All rights reserved This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without written permission from the publisher For photocopying of material in this volume, please pay a copying fee through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA In this case permission to photocopy is not required from the publisher For any available supplementary material, please visit https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/11224#t=suppl Desk Editors: Anthony Alexander/Ser Kei Vong Typeset by Stallion Press Email: enquiries@stallionpress.com Printed in Singapore Preface The National Institute for Global Strategy (NIGS) of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) and University of International Relations jointly held the International Think Tank Forum was held from 18th to 19th November 2016 in Beijing The theme of the forum is “Building the Community of Common Destiny between China and Its Neighbors: Challenges and the Future” After the event, participants made further explorations into the theme of the forum This review volume is the selection of these further studies and represents the outcome of joint study by NIGS and major foreign think tanks Recently, while exchanging ideas with foreign think tank scholars, I was surprised by one of them who mentioned two facts He said that, the world at large, especially those developed economies, have formed their impression of China from different materials and sources, 80% to 85% of which was written or reported in English by scholars from western countries Conversely, among China’s materials and sources for learning about neighbouring countries, 85% to 90% of them are from the similar origin, which is quite narrow As one think tank that supplies products of policy studies, if we refer to homogeneous sources for research, will they help us learn about other countries and serve for formulating foreign policies? Will they help us reach more consensuses and increase mutual interests? The answer is negative The foundation of diversified civilizations is the diversification of thoughts and ideas, because humans mind always craves for various knowledge and truths The idea “Community of Common Destiny” has been mentioned by Chinese President Xi Jinping in various major events and the concept of “Raising Awareness about Human Beings Sharing a Community of Common Destiny” has been elaborated in details Dating back to May 2014, on the 4th Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia, President Xi addressed that “Asia today is home to 67% of the world’s population and accounts for one third of the global economy”, that “Peace and development of Asia is closely connected with the future of the mankind, and Asia’s stability and revival is the blessing of peace and development of the world”, and Asian countries should “jointly build a road for security of Asia that is shared by and win–win to all” In March of the following year, President Xi delivered a speech titled “Towards a Community of Common Destiny and A New Future for Asia” at the opening ceremony of Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference During the speech, President Xi indicated that community of common destiny was the “new future for Asia” and he believed that as long as China and other Asian countries kept their goal and work together, they would bring about common prosperity Facing the fast changing international and regional landscapes, we must see the whole picture, follow the trend of our times and jointly build a community of common destiny, which is not all about sharing common interest, but also include of sharing responsibility In that sense, building a community of common destiny does not equal to establishing an institutional arrangement that transcends ethnicity and nation By establishing acknowledgement of interest and obligation among Asian countries on the foundation of mutual beneficial cooperation, we can have the opportunity to build win–win and multi-win partnership from in-depth interaction Aiming at co-consultation, co-construction, sharing, and co-prosperity, the Chinese government is making great effort to advance the development of Asian Community of Common Destiny that embraces toleration, interaction and integration When it comes to Asia, it has been known that this continent is home to multiple cultures, whose coexistence have been relying on mutual respect and tolerance Over the past several decades, Asian countries have gradually transcended their differences in ideology and social system Mutual trust and toleration, accumulated throughout the history, allow us to resolve serious crisis and tackle major challenges, and serve as the theoretical and practical foundation for joint studies on “Community of Common Destiny” Today, we propose the establishment of Community of Common Destiny is not only because the interests of Asian countries become intertwined, but also need a new dynamic to be explored for countries to coexist in this multi-polar world The theories and practices learned from the establishment of Asian Community of Common Destiny may well form a new example for resolving conflicts worldwide which is also likely to be a public model Wang Linggui Senior Research Fellow, Executive Vice Chairman of Board of Directors & Secretary General of National Institute for Global Strategy (NIGS), Chinese Academy of Social Sciences