Danilo Türk, president of the World Leaders Alliance, served as Slovenia** from 2007 to 2012. In an exclusive interview with the Global Times a few days ago, he said that the stability of China-EU relations is of great importance to both sides and the world, and China can help the EU as a valuable partner in many aspects. Reflecting on China's role in global issues in 2023, Turck said he believes the path opened by China is beneficial and will lead to success.
Pictured is the former Slovenian ** Danilo Türk. (*From Global Times).
Global Times: Looking back on 2023, what of China's diplomatic achievements have left you most impressed?
Türk: China's diplomacy has been very active this year. The first is the February document "China's Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukrainian Crisis", which is a very good and valuable document. Then, China has been active in the Middle East this year. China, for example, helped broker an "important incident" between Iran and Saudi Arabia in March. In June this year, when the Chinese leader received the Palestinians, he reaffirmed the principle of the two-state solution, which may not have been noticed at the time, but which later proved to be quite important. We have also seen that during China's presidency in November this year, the UN Security Council adopted the first resolution on Gaza since the outbreak of the current round of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. While this is not a very strong resolution, it is still an important first step.
So, looking back at 2023, we can see that China is not only very active, but also very successful. A lot of things are not yet finalized, but diplomatically it is impossible to rush to conclusions. Perseverance is key, and I believe that the path China has blazed is beneficial and will lead to success.
Global Times: What are the contributions of China's Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative and Global Civilization Initiative to global governance?
Türk: I think these three initiatives are very helpful because they build a powerful common platform. In September this year, China issued a global governance document ("China's Plan for the Reform and Construction of Global Governance") based on these three initiatives, which is a very precise and mature diplomatic document. I see this being done by very capable people. The United Nations will hold a future summit in September 2024, and China's document could be of great help in this regard. I think it is good to regularly review and reiterate the basic ideas of these three initiatives.
Global Times: What does the stability of China-EU relations mean for both sides and the world?
Türk: I think the stability of China-EU relations is of paramount importance for both sides and for the world. The EU should understand that China is an important factor in world stability, and there is no need for China to undermine the stability of anything or anyone, and the EU should recognize and respect this fact. I believe that objective conditions exist for partnership, but they are not always expressed in terms of actual political positions. This still requires further efforts on both sides. In addition, there must be more dialogue. China and the EU should understand that each other is an important factor in global stability, and that the two sides must work together to ensure global stability.
Global Times: What are the future directions of cooperation between China and the EU?
Türk: The EU was built more as an economic project, so it is not easy to incorporate certain political priorities into the project, because it is difficult to form a common position on many things within the EU, and this needs to be understood. I think the EU's decision-making should be improved, and China can help the EU as a valuable partner in many ways. For example, both China and the European Union have a big role to play in strengthening the role of the United Nations. A joint meeting based on China's September document on global governance would help the two sides jointly formulate policies and make proposals that make the Future Compact, the outcome document planned for adoption at next year's Future Summit, more meaningful. (ENDS).
Written by Xia Wenxin.