China’s efforts to foster a new global security dispensation has made significant strides with growing consensus among the majority of countries of the world.
The Global Security Initiative, proposed by Chinese leader Xi Jinping in 2022, rallies the world on a number of security issues from the traditional to non-traditional or emerging domains from military conflict, food and energy security to cybersecurity and artificial intelligence.
The key issues concern all countries, big and small, including Africa, with Zimbabwe among the key nodes of the new security order that may revolutionise the world’s response to the security-challenges.
A report titled, “Report on the Implementation of the Global Security Initiative 2024” published by the China Institute of International Studies (CIIS) this July, details the success of the initiative and China’s diplomatic power in building a consensus towards new thinking in global security and support received from across the world.
“In the past two years, the GSI has garnered support and acclaim from over 100 countries and regional and international organizations, and the initiative and its core concepts have been written into more than 90 bilateral and multilateral documents on China's cooperation with other countries and international organisations,” the report says.
“The initiative has also been lauded and reported on by numerous prominent international figures and esteemed media outlets, successfully mobilising the consensus and synergy of the international community for tackling security risks and challenges.
“Consequently, the initiative has evolved into an important international consensus of global influence that it is in conformity with the trend of the times and the fundamental interests of people of all countries, and it has injected more stability and certainty into an era of turbulence and changes.”
Last year, in July, Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa expressed support for the GSI when he met a top envoy from China, Yang Jiechi in Harare.\
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Zimbabwe also received an assortment of military hardware worth millions of dollars, which Harare said would be crucial in securing the country, especially in light of instability and terrorist threats in the neighbouring Mozambique, with which Zimbabwe shares a 1423km border.
The discovery of natural gas and energy resources in Mozambique in recent years has spawned terrorist activities in the northern Cabo Delgado region, rekindling fears of a civil war. For Zimbabwe, this raised the spectre of destabilising conflict that could affect its economic corridor, a situation similar to what happened in the 1980s.
Among the earliest supporters of the initiative are U.N.Secretary General António Guterres who hailed China's “firm commitment to upholding multilateralism”.
A distinct characteristic of the initiative is China advocacy for principles of mutual respect, openness and inclusiveness, multilateralism, mutual benefit, and a holistic approach.
The GSI seeks to unite the international community in a cooperative effort to tackle security challenges and provides an effective solution for the international community to address security challenges.
The report explains: “In this process, China and all its cooperation partners respect each other's core interests and legitimate security concerns, and sincerely welcome the participation of all partners that are genuinely dedicated to global peace and development, promote synergy among security concepts though consultations on an equal footing, continue to expand the convergence of interests with all stakeholders, and jointly seek lasting solutions for sustainable security.”
When he proposed the initiative in April 2022, Xi said the world was undergoing accelerated changes unseen in a century amid turbulence and transformation.
“After two years of dedicated work,” the report says, “the GSI has achieved significant progress across multiple areas of cooperation.”
Xi has also introduced other key initiatives, the Global Development Initiative (2021) and last year’s Global Civilisation Initiative, which commentators say are part of a coterie of ideas China is seeking to sell to the world as it primes for global leadership in a so-called new order.
The Belt and Road Initiative, for example, is the world’s largest infrastructure, trade and connectivity project.
The World Bank estimates that by 2030 the Belt and Road cooperation will have value of US$1.6 trillion or 1.3 percent of the global Gross Domestic Product.
