Editor's note: Xiong Tong is an opinion editor with CGTN Digital. This article is based on the discussion within the 9th World Peace Forum, co-hosted by Tsinghua University and Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

The 9th World Peace Forum is being held on July 2-4 at Tsinghua University. This year's main theme is "International Security Cooperation in the Post-Pandemic Era: Upholding and Practicing Multilateralism." Multilateralism is the only way to promote and achieve peace, as leaders, diplomats and scholars made the consensus and deepened the definition of it in discussion panels.

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi pointed out in the forum that the world is still in confrontations and conflicts, mainly because multilateralism has not been fully implemented.

"Maintaining and practicing true multilateralism is the correct direction to solve the complex problems of today's world and effectively respond to various traditional and non-traditional security challenges," Wang Yi said, "It is the only way to break the zero-sum game, resist unilateral bullying, and truly achieve lasting peace and common security."

Versions of multilateralism

The severity of the COVID-19 pandemic pushed the nations to a crossroad, that is, in which direction should the world go next if all nations want to achieve common goals? The reality is - no one wants to go alone - including the United States.

Maybe that is the reason why U.S. President Joe Biden shared his world infrastructure plan "Build Back Better World" to his G7 club partners some weeks ago.

However, the American version of multilateralism is sort of a gang against other countries. As former Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand Surakiart Sathirathai remarked in a panel in the forum, "There are two types of multilateralism – the inclusive one and the exclusive one." Apparently, the U.S. version is of the latter.

The goal of multilateralism should be for world peace, not against it, or else it is an imperialist gang wearing fake multilateralist clothes.

China has shown the world what true multilateralism should look like. As Wang Yi argued in his forum speech that the purpose of it should be to stabilize the international order instead of making chaos, the framework of it should be based on United Nation's platform, and the type of it should be open and inclusive instead of closed to others and exclusive.

For example, after the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, China cooperated with the World Health Organization (WHO) to warn the world how severe the pandemic will be and this saved time for other nations to prepare for the disease. The multilateral organization WHO made the sanitization rules with China and other nations to prevent the spreading speed of it.

Rules of multilateralism

After Joe Biden came into office, the U.S. diplomatic agencies' officials told countries like China, Russia and Iran "to follow the international rules" or will "get punished" by the U.S. and its allies. This is a bullying act of how powerful nations punch other nations. The imperialism of a century ago made by the West has long gone. It is a river of no return.

It is rude that the U.S. after all these years still paints itself as the world policemen. The U.S. should know that the U.S. does not make the "international rules" alone, nor only made together by its allies. The rules that based in the UN framework are created by all nations that love peace including China and Russia.

Therefore, the U.S. should look into the mirror and see if it has followed the rules firsthand. It will find that it has violated once and again the rules when invading Afghanistan and Iraq in the past, and is continuing to abuse them when stirring in other nations' internal affairs.

At the forum, during a panel named "Geopolitics in the Digital Era," Barry Buzan, the emeritus professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science, urged that in a new era of outer space scientific advancing, the U.S., China and other nations should make new rules as the technology develops so fast that the old rules of territorial norms no longer apply.

When answering my question about the reasons for forming new rules, he said that imagine 50 years from now, there will be nations to put people on the Mars, just like decades ago people first landed on the Moon, which may cause a new space race between some competing rivals on Earth.

To avoid unrealistic competition in outer space, it is first and foremost similarly when compared to the geopolitical rivalry on the Earth – the answer should be multilateral cooperation. To make new rules, it is important to reaffirm multilateralism again, as in that way, all nations can benefit from the rules, be it new or old.

Multilateralism in a new era

John J. Mearsheimer, a distinguished service professor at the University of Chicago, praised China for being pragmatic. Although living in the U.S., he hopes that after the pandemic, he could visit China soon.

"China is to me as fish is to the water. I like to be with the Chinese people because many of them are realists," he said, "Every nation needs to be strong, because when a weak nation conflicts with a strong one, there is no higher authority to stop it. "

That's why we need multilateralism and multilateralism should be the only way to promote peace. Not only is it good for the stronger nations to feel like they're in a family in the global village, but it also builds firm bonds for the weaker ones as well.

Fifty years ago this July, Dr. Henry Kissinger visited China. 

He broke "the ice" between the two great nations. Half a century later, while "the ice" is shaping again, the two peoples need to embrace cooperation again in a new multilateral world. This is good for China and the U.S., and the whole world as well.

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