ISLAMABAD (Internews): Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Jiang Zaidong delivered a speech on “SCO and the Global Governance Initiative” seminar, stating that the current international landscape is marked by transformation and turbulence, with global challenges becoming increasingly pronounced.
While addressing a seminar, themed “SCO and the Global Governance Initiative,” provides a good opportunity to review the important outcomes of the SCO Tianjin Summit hosted last September and think about the relevance in today’s context, adding that the timing of the Conference cannot be more appropriate.
Addressing changes and turbulence, he said hegemony and the law of the jungle are undermining the international order, while protectionism and decoupling are disrupting global economic and trade stability. He noted that the international community has realized that division, confrontation and zero-sum games lead nowhere and regression to the law of the jungle is contrary to the will of people. He emphasized that the only viable path forward is solidarity and cooperation.
He said that over the past 24 years since its establishment, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has consistently embodied the “Shanghai Spirit” of mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diverse civilizations and the pursuit of common development. He said this spirit emphasizes sovereign equality and dialogue, advocates mutually beneficial cooperation and openness, opposes bullying and coercion and serves as an effective remedy for promoting democracy in international relations and resisting hegemony and power politics.
Speaking on global governance, he said the current global governance system suffers from insufficient representation, eroded authority and lagging effectiveness. He said countries, especially small and medium-sized states, widely aspire to participate equally in global affairs and uphold the international system with the United Nations at its core and the international order based on international law.
He referred to President Xi Jinping’s Global Governance Initiative, centered on the principles of adhering to sovereign equality, abiding by the international rule of law, practicing multilateralism, advocating a people-centered approach and focusing on taking real actions, saying it offers a systematic approach to building a more just and equitable global governance system.
He said that as the largest regional organization covering nearly half of the global population, the SCO, composed mainly of emerging markets and developing countries, represents the collective rise of the Global South. He added that China and Pakistan, as all-weather strategic cooperative partners and key members of both the Global South and the SCO, serve as cornerstones of regional peace, stability and champions of multilateralism and are ready to work together to strengthen the SCO platform and advance the Global Governance Initiative.
