DIPLOMACY IN 2021 AND BEYOND
The year 2021 brought numerous developments in international and regional arenas, from the COVID-19 worldwide spread and climate change, to the hasty withdrawal of the U.S. from Afghanistan and the renewed attention to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. From the faltering of supply chains, to the debut of the AUKUS deal, which will enable Australia to build nuclear-powered submarines with technology provided by the U.S. and Britain. Some 84 million people around the world have been forcibly displaced from their homes during the year. The persistent impact of the pandemic, setbacks in global economic recovery and widening North-Southgap have all created new areas of global weakness and instability.
What all these things have in common are their crucial impact on the security and wellbeing of each and every country and the fact that no one country can handle any global challenges alone. The world is in a battle for ideas, values, and the protection of sovereign democracies from outside influence and interference, resulting in global governance undergoing profound changes.
Under the firm guidance of President Xi Jinping’s broad vision and overall leadership, China has conducted diplomacy with a global vision to serve the nation and its people, and fostered an enabling external environment through struggle and cooperation. Underlying everything China has done is one clear theme: to serve national rejuvenation amid a complex situation and advance peaceful development in a fast-changing world.
Head-of-state diplomacy
The most dynamic guide of action is head-of-state diplomacy. China’s head-of-state diplomacy has effectively deepened the world’s understanding that China’s development is a global benefit and a common source for enrichment, promoted the overall stability of the relations among major countries and enabled China to build a more comprehensive and solid global partnership network.
President Xi, out of his keen understanding of the changing international dynamics and the trends of the times, has put forward a number of major initiatives, including building a global community of health for all, a community of life for humans and nature, and a global community of development with a shared future. In his 79 meetings and phone calls with foreign leaders and heads of
