By Philip Yeung
Meet a great diplomat from a small country
The Chinese have a famous adage: "A weak country has no diplomacy." Once in a blue moon, there are exceptions. Once in a blue moon, the tail manages to wag the dog. In China's case, it happened at the Paris Peace Conference that wrapped up the First World War. Wellington Koo, a Columbia U-educated diplomat, was a shining star in the diplomatic firmament, but his prodigious talent was ultimately not enough to turn the tide for China. His gutsy defense of his country's dignity and territorial integrity, however, made a mega-splash and unleashed a tidal wave of national anger that changed the course of modern Chinese history. His principled refusal to knuckle under to imperial bullies made him a household name in his home country.
Fast forward to the 21st century. Another outstanding diplomat from a seemingly inconsequential country was born. He is Vuk Jeremic of Serbia, a nation of just 6.6 million people. He is credited with owning three records in his career: the youngest foreign minister of Serbia, at just 32, the youngest president of the UN General Assembly at 37, and the foreign minister from a small country with the most air miles traveled, boarding over 1000 flights and chalking up visits to more than 100 countries during his tenure. That non-stop diplomacy is unheard of for a geopolitical minnow. These jaw-dropping statistics speak volumes about the unconquerable spirit of a man who eats and sleeps diplomacy.
Diplomacy is his home. As a born diplomat, he sees every problem as an opportunity, skillfully navigating the treacherous geopolitical waters.
Despite Serbia's small global footprint, Jeremic nevertheless puts his faith in dialogue and diplomacy to defend the vital interests of his country. His grit and silver tongue have dramatically improved relations with neighbors of his country, with the EU lifting its visa requirements on Serbia and Jeremic himself becoming the first Serbian citizen to cross into an EU country visa-free.
The pinnacle of his diplomatic career is no doubt presiding over the 67th session of the UN General Assembly. The product of a cross-pollination between hard sciences and soft management arts, he has the disciplined mind of a physicist (his education at Cambridge) and the acumen of a master strategist (his education at Harvard's Kennedy School), with his big-picture thinking leavened by his attention to detail.
These days, when you mention Serbia, the name of its other famous son often pops up: the world's number one tennis player Novak Djokovic. Like Jeremic, he is known for his court generalship and "never-say-die" determination. In fact, there is something uncannily Djokovic-like about Jeremic: lean, gritty, unrelenting and ultra-smart. Serbia's national character is etched into its two famous sons.
Students and staff were mesmerized by the Jeremic magic last week at the University Forum sponsored by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou). There he held court on current geopolitics in a keynote speech. Trump is tearing up the international rulebook left and right. Every country, big and small, is scrambling to face the Trump factor. But Jeremic smells opportunity amid the bombast and the chaos. The US is a superpower by virtue of its technology, military might, and the greenback. China is a near-equal. Europe is fading, technologically overtaken by China. The West should wean itself off the bias against China whose only sin is its breathtaking technological and economic transformations now perceived as a threat to US supremacy. When China joined the WTO, America harbored the wishful thinking that it would gravitate towards the Western model of government. But Jeremic is right to question why a major power with an ancient civilization should be shanghaied into embracing a foreign system. China writes its own destiny. No self-appointed moral guardian should come between it and the China dream.
Jeremic's strategic brilliance is very much on display in an era where countries are busy swimming against the tide of unilateralism. Being small but nuclear-armed keeps a country untouchable. Just ask North Korea. Ukraine made the fatal mistake of giving up its nuclear arsenal. Without a protective umbrella, it has become a tempting target for the Russian bear hug.
The Russian economy, as Jeremic correctly points out, is being kept alive by the war machine. When peace returns, the crucial question is what to do with the ammunition stockpiled. Weapons produced will inevitably be used.
As HKUST(GZ) President Lionel Ni said in his welcome remarks, Jeremic has come through the diplomatic "baptism of fire" at the highest level. Students at HKUST(GZ) are excited at the prospect that he will soon join its faculty as a glittering academic. This is electrifying news for a young university laser-focused on educating innovative and strategic thinkers. Chinese diplomats, too, have a thing or two to learn from this masterful player of the geopolitical chess game on the art of the possible. To the Chinese, he is a modern-day grand strategist worthy of Sun Tzu, the more so since such a huge talent hails from such a small country, which, in the words of President Ni, is "a trusted friend of China in Europe."
The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.
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