Opinion | Chinese President's leadership legacy turning Afghanistan crisis into rebirth of UN

By Augustus K. Yeung

Introduction

Once the first generation of a new People's Republic of China (PRC)--a born princeling, a humble pupil in an elite school, a quiet farm worker, a no-nonsense foreign student in Iowa, America, a political apprentice, studiously learning how to do Mao Zedong's bidding to "SERVE THE PEOPLE" (為人民服务)--President Xi Jinping is now faced with an opportunity to bolster up the sagging UN, and to uphold world peace. Will the Chinese leader grab it?

As a man of peace, as the leader of CCP, as a soft-spoken person, President Xi Jinping had suffered the first pain, when caught up in the cog-wheel of the ten-year Cultural Revolution, is presently able, willing and ready to dedicate himself to world peace—a step closer to the dream of cosmopolitanism. How is the Chinese leader going to do it?

The challenging situation in Afghanistan call for an urgent help in terms of foreign aid, human rights upholding, women's concerns etc., the security need for Afghanistan's neighboring countries, and the need to save the European countries from being flooded with refugees, all these challenges precipitate the scenario for a group approach to solving the crisis that a divided world is now facing.

How's Beijing going to handle this crisis, turning it into an opportunity?

As the Afghan Taliban bemoaned their sad fate in Beijing, and asked the latter to work as mediator, the US was frantically making efforts to exit Kabul, leaving behind tens of thousands of "friends of America", many of them females and children—a desperate move out of the Kabul Airport that contradicted the spirit of the Titanic which extols the cherished Western value of upholding the weaklings.

Britain, once America's staunch ally in Afghanistan, felt the fury to kick the American president's butt for not discussing with the allies the pull-out plan.

Countries in the European bloc, too, have complained that they are disappointed with their American partner who was behaving like a one-man band, without consideration for all allies but America's self-interest.

(Losing a war, they say, is understandable; however, losing credibility is unacceptable to a nation that issued the world's first credit cards.)

Given the fears of refugees flooding into their countries, which had happened before during the Syrian war, their bad memories are still unforgettable. They have voiced their concerns, explaining their limits. They've all said: "No more refugees!"

Faced with this potential humanitarian disaster, the UN is feeling helpless. So far, no country has volunteered to take over this responsibility, except communist China—a gallant UN Security Council member, who fears not, who knows how to tap the big data that China's ancient culture and civilization has to offer.

Tapping a Wise Ancient Approach and Uniting Nations

During the "Spring and Autumn Period", one of the Warring States' Jung Wen Kung (one of the principalities' leaders) called for a united way to resuscitate the waning Zhou Empire, whose emperor was frequently slighted by the hegemonies, except the state of Jung amid the nation's crisis of facing foreign foes invading the Central Plain (China) from outside (the Great Wall of China).

His slogan was: "Extol the Emperor of Zhou while resisting the invading barbarians." This is one integral part of the national cultural mosaic known as "Chinese characteristics" that the CCP leader has in mind--for solving contemporary politico-economic issues/challenges—given the world's warring factions.

UN Sliding Towards Irrelevance; China Quietly Trying to be Savior

The Chinese leader, as exemplified by his counterpart in China's ancient history, has no intention of calling the shots; he merely wants to assist the UN, already on the brink of collapse if America continues to adopt Donald Trump's attitude of alienating the world body, and antagonizing China--simply because we are a "communist country", banking on Marxism/socialism "with Chinese characteristics" to change China's destiny.

"Here's one section in former UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon's important, realistic and at times riveting memoir, just published, that's especially telling," said Tom Plate, author of Conversations with Ban Ki-moon. The former South Korean foreign minister (2004-06) recalls an insider's moment at the 2015 peacekeeping summit organized by the Obama administration in New York," recalled Professor Tom Plate.

"President Barack Obama, insouciantly ignoring the fact that US personnel contributions to UN peacekeeping missions are so few, was outperformed by President Xi Jinping, who stood up to pledge a trained standing force of 8,000 deployable peacekeepers and funds to train African peacekeepers. The dramatic offer drew applause from the summiteers; Ban writes: 'I was overjoyed.'"

(Resolved: Uniting Nations in a Divided World is not a joyful book, however. The two-term secretary general (2007-16)…despairs over the primacy of big power politics at the Security Council and national-interest pettiness in the General Assembly.")

And furthermore, notwithstanding Xi's 2015 surprise, China otherwise gets scant mention in Resolved despite its prominence and permanent post of the Security Council. "

China's Problem is Being Docile and Low-profiled

China's way of communication is quite ineffective, to say the least. For example, until this book was published recently, none of the nations have talked about it, not to mention giving Xi Jinping or China credit for its selfless contributions to the UN. And China took it stoically.

China's response to foreign agitation has always been one of tolerance and patience. For example, the U-2 American aerial intrusion into China's airspace during the Mao Zedong era numbered thousands of times. And China kept counting--until the reconnaissance plane was shot down as a serious warning.

A Case of "Effective Communication--First and Last"

Whether it is in diplomatic circles, China's foreign ministry or the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China's communication skills may have to be fine-tuned: The so-called "Wolf Warrior" style of communication has not been successful, neither is bluntly telling foreign countries during press sessions to: "Stop meddling; this is China's internal affairs!"

The fact is, China under CCP is rising too rapidly, and the world finds it difficult to catch up. Therefore, foreign people fail to understand; unlike in the era of Mao Zedong, when China was poor but red (and pure in ideology, and no corruptions).

The point is: China must strive to communicate frequently, patiently, effectively and above all, multidimensionally. For example, my wife and I have been watching CCTV movies such as "Mother, Mother", "My Parents' Love Relationships" and "Era of Awakening" in recent years, and we have found that we better understand, appreciate and love China—past and present—much more than before: We can now relate to China sentimentally, leading to jaw-dropping admiration, appreciation and patriotism.

Qin Gang, China's New Ambassador to US, Sets an Excellent Example

"Qin struck an optimistic tone as he arrived in Washington to take up his post, saying he would try to bring the deeply strained relationship between China and the US under control.

He wished the US and President Joe Biden victory in their efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic and revive the economy.

He also congratulated the US on its performance in the Tokyo Olympics, and outlined several areas of potential cooperation, including the production of electric vehicles," reported the Post at length. ("Diplomats look to build on Sherman's Tianjin talks," South China Morning Post, August 13).

Conclusion

Given Afghanistan's dire situation, China is ready to help UN and do a good job, except that the Taliban must show its sincerity, commitment and keep their promises. President Xi Jinping and his Russian friend President Vladimir Putin are waiting in the wings.

And China is in talks with the US, getting President Joe Biden to jump on the bandwagon—in an unprecedented and unparallel joint venture to build a beautiful country out of Afghanistan--based on the foundation of America's twenty-year efforts.

Until then, UN is given a rebirth; by then CCP's cosmopolitan dream of "uniting peoples of the world" will be a reality (世界人民大团结萬歲).

The author is a freelance writer; formerly Adjunct Lecturer, taught MBA Philosophy of Management, and International Strategy, and online columnist of 3-D Corner (HKU SPACE), University of Hong Kong.

 

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