On May 21, the fourth summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) was held in Shanghai. Chinese President Xi Jinping presided over the meeting and delivered a keynote speech titled "New Asian security concept for new progress in security cooperation". Xi stressed that China will work with all parties to propose a common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable Asian security outlook. It also will promote the establishment of a new regional security cooperation framework to jointly build a shared, mutually beneficial road for Asian security.
The speech has sent the world a clear signal: China is committed to work with all countries to foster a new Asian security concept. Observers hailed the move as a "milestone" and it has drawn close attention from all parties.
Asia is almost a byword for "economic miracle". Since the end of the Cold War, Asia has basically maintained peace and stability with no large-scale conflicts. This has laid a solid foundation for Asian countries to actively participate in economic globalization and has led to great improvements in relations among countries in the region. Asian regional cooperation is still booming. Steps have been taken in major areas like free-trade zone construction, while interconnection and economic integration are accelerating. Asia has become an extremely important driver of a sluggish global economy.
However, Asia, home to complex geopolitics, faces many security challenges. Potential risks for conflict remain from history, including issues from World War II, Cold War grudges, "hidden reefs" for maritime peace and stability. There are increasingly more prominent non-traditional security challenges, like natural disasters, transnational crime, cyber security, and energy and food security. Particularly in recent years, as the United States announced a high-profile "pivot to Asia", some countries have hoped to gain by strengthening bilateral military alliances and Japan’s historical revisionism is intensifying. Peace and stability in Asia have been hit by great shock waves and maritime territorial disputes are rising.
In this context, Asia needs a new security concept to effectively control differences and frictions, expand common interests and cooperation, and maintain peace and security in the region. China's proposal for a new Asian security concept is a timely response to that need.
The new security concept is unlike the old zero-sum game of military hegemony and power politics. China has long pursued the security concept of "mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and cooperation". While China is deeply involved in regional security cooperation, it advocates dialogue and consultation, openness and inclusiveness, cooperation and mutual benefit rather than threats of force, mutual exclusion, and zero-sum games.
Common, comprehensive, cooperative, sustainable are the four keywords of the new Asian security concept:
Common security means respecting and ensuring the security of each country. In the large Asian family where interests and security are closely intertwined, countries are increasingly becoming a community of common destiny. Therefore, they should commit to building universal, equal and inclusive security.
Comprehensive security means upholding security in both traditional and non-traditional fields. Asia's security challenges are extremely complicated. Traditional and non-traditional security threats are interwoven. Security is a growing issue in both scope and implications. Asian countries should take into full account the historical background and reality of their security issues, and adopt a multi-pronged and holistic approach to enhance regional security governance in a coordinated way.
Cooperative security means promoting the security of both individual countries and the region as a whole through dialogue and cooperation. Asian nations should stay committed to resolving disputes through peaceful means, stand against the arbitrary use or threat of force, oppose the provocation and escalation of tensions for selfish interests, and reject the practice of shifting trouble to neighbors and seeking selfish gains at the expense of others.
Sustainable security means that Asian countries must focus on both development and security so that security is lasting. Development is the foundation of security, and security the precondition for development. For most Asian countries, development means the greatest security and is the master key to regional security issues.
All in all, China's proposed new Asian security concept is a product that conforms to historical trends and the urgent need of all parties for cooperation to meet security challenges. It is set to usher in broad prospects for Asian security cooperation.
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