ABSTRACT
Two months after Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, Chinese President Xi Jinping proclaimed the “Global Security Initiative” (GSI, 全球安全倡议), a Chinese proposal for reforming global security structures and solving international security challenges. Since then, the concept has been increasingly promoted across various platforms, alongside other new “initiatives”, such as “Global Development” and “Global Civilisation” initiatives. Although the concept does not introduce anything completely new compared to China’s earlier ordering vision concepts (e.g. “Community of Shared Future for Mankind”, 人类命运共同体), the timing and intensity of its promotion warrant closer examination. This chapter focuses on the GSI and with it, on the security aspects of an ideal world order envisioned by China. In its essence, the GSI advocates an international order centered on the United Nations and its core principles, emphasising sovereignty and territorial integrity. At the same time, the GSI highlights “legitimate security concerns” (正当合理安全关切) of states, thus ambiguously supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine, and possibly, China’s own military ambitions. The chapter sees the GSI as an expansion of China’s domestic and regional security priorities. At its core, the GSI represents an attempt to reshape the liberal order, stripping it of its liberal underpinnings, to secure and legitimise the Communist Party’s authoritarian system. Moreover, the GSI reflects China’s increasing anxieties about Western efforts, especially by the United States, to develop alliances and minilateral groupings to counterbalance China’s rise.
