DR. XU WENHONG

Join the One Belt, One Road Initiative

Dr. Xu Wenhong has a PhD in Law, and is the Associate Researcher and Deputy Secretary General of the Center for Belt and Road Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. This is a transcript of his statement at the Schiller Institute conference, “Dona Nobis Pacem—Grant Us Peace, Through Economic Development,” convened in New York City on Saturday, June 9, 2018.

Dear Mme. Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Dear participants of this event:

Ladies and Gentlemen, good morning. I’m very honored to be here to speak on One Belt, One Road topic. In 2007, when I met for the first time with Mme. Helga LaRouche, I got to know from her, that she and her Schiller Institute have been promoting the Third Land-Bridge Project for many years. She and the Schiller Institute still are one of the pioneers in this field. On top of that, you have so many achievements: Congratulations!

Actually, the One Belt, One Road Initiative is an updated version of the Third Land-Bridge Project. “One Belt” means the Silk Road Economic Belt. It was coined by Chinese President Xi Jinping in his speech on Sept. 27, 2013, at Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan. “One Road” means the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, which was first mentioned by the Chinese President Xi Jinping in his speech, addressing the National Assembly in Malaysia on Oct. 7, 2013. From that, we call these two terms, in short, “One Belt, One Road.”

Western people compare the One Belt, One Road Initiative to the Marshall Plan, but the Initiative is totally different from the Marshall Plan. It’s much more meaningful, it’s much bigger than the Marshall Plan.

The One Belt, One Road Initiative has three principles: consensus, win-win, and sharing. That means, although the framework of the One Belt, One Road Initiative should be based on well-recognized consensus, only with consensus could more be achieved. And all parties should have equal rights within the Initiative, and all parties could equally benefit from this Initiative.

The One Belt, One Road Initiative focussed on five factors, which are: policy coordination, transportation connectivity, unimpeded trade, finance cooperation, and the people-to-people exchange. When we’re talking about the policy coordination, we should at least be talking about four levels of coordination. That means we should be based on the common understanding of surroundings; common understanding of coming tasks; when we’re talking about transportation connectivity, we are talking about seaports, airports, gas pipelines, cable pipeline, and other infrastructure constructions. When we’re talking about unimpeded trade, we know that for many years, China has become the top trading partner to many countries. When we talk about financial cooperation, we know that within the framework of One Belt, One Road Initiative, we have built the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the Silk Road Fund, and other financial institutions. When we talk about people-to-people exchange, we know that at this time, in 2017 alone, we have had more than 100 meetings, with Chinese people going abroad for travel. At the same time, there are more and more tourists from all over the world coming to China.

Also, when we’re talking about the aims and goals of the One Belt, One Road Initiative we know that we are fighting for three communities: The community of common interest, the community of common responsibilities, and the community of shared destinies. These communities are not military alliances, but new forms for economic cooperation.

To sum up, with this Initiative, China is ready to join hands with all willing countries, to fight for a just, fair, reasonable world order, to make a better world, to make the global village full of peace and stability, to make the whole global village full of peace and prosperity.

I hope you all can understand the true meaning of One Belt, One Road Initiative, and join this initiative.

Thank you.