Global Times: China's modern thoughts inherited wisdom of ancient strategy for sustainable peace

BEIJING, Dec. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Sun Tzu, one of the greatest strategists in human history, lived during China's Spring and Autumn period (770-476 BC). His book The Art of War remains one of the world's most influential works of military strategies and tactics, and has affected both Western and East Asian philosophy and military thought.

On February 21, 2023, China released "The Global Security Initiative (GSI) Concept Paper" which received international attention as it contributes China's sincerity and wisdom to call for every member of the international community to avoid wars and safeguard peace and stability as the world is suffering from great turbulence. 

Recently, senior military representatives, scholars and experts from all around the world who came to China for a symposium on Sun Tzu's The Art of War shared their insights on the connection between the Chinese timeless masterpiece of military strategy and the GSI, which was first proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Boao Forum for Asia in April 2022, for the modern world, as they both showed the core value of "cautious war" or "avoiding war," which is greatly significant for the world which is experiencing multiple wars in different continents at the moment. 

At the core of the GSI are the six commitments: stay committed to the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security; stay committed to respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries; stay committed to abiding by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter; stay committed to taking the legitimate security concerns of all countries seriously; stay committed to peacefully resolving differences and disputes between countries through dialogue and consultation; and stay committed to maintaining security in both traditional and non-traditional domains. 

These six commitments embody the diplomatic approach of an Eastern nation that considers the future of humanity and prioritizes the well-being of all people.

Symposium of timeless masterpiece 

More than 350 delegates from nearly 30 countries gathered in Beijing last week to draw inspiration from the ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu and his The Art of War, the world's oldest military treatise. 

The two-day International Symposium on Sun Tzu's Art of War aimed to promote traditional Chinese military culture and offer a platform for global dialogue on bridging divides, resolving conflicts through mutual learning, and fostering equality in peaceful development.

Participants from China and abroad shared their insights through keynote speeches and group discussions on topics, including the contemporary significance of The Art of War, and Sun Tzu's stratagems in the era of artificial intelligence.

The symposium comprises keynote speeches, plenary sessions and special sessions. The six special sessions focus on various topics including "Exploring Ways of Civilization Coexistence by Applying the Wisdom of Sun Tzu," "Contemporary Cultural Value of Sun Tzu's art of War," according to the organizer. 

The Global Times reached out to the attendees and asked about their favorite quotes from the Art of War. Many experts on international relations, military and security, as well as Chinese studies, said their favorite parts are closely related to the thought about "peace" or "avoiding war" as they believe the wisdom of Sun Tzu's masterpiece is far beyond teaching ideas about how to fight and win a war.

The Art of War could also be titled "the Art of Avoiding War," Spyros Katsoulas, assistant professor of International and European Affairs at the American College of Greece, told the Global Times on the sidelines of the symposium, quoting a line from the Sun Tzu's book that "a sovereign must no launch a war out of anger, nor must a general fight a war out of resentment."

"A destroyed country cannot be restored; the dead cannot be resurrected," Joseph Kahama, secretary general of Tanzania-China Friendship Promotion Association, shared the quote from the book that impress him the most at the symposium with the Global Times, saying that after reading Sun Tzu's work, he finds that this is a book that warn people about how dangerous and destructive war could be, and then teaching people how to win and minimize the loss when the war is unavoidable. 

The world today is evolving into an increasingly complex web of interdependence, cooperation, and competition, with pressure mounting on states to effectively employ the tools of statecraft to attain their political objectives, said Harold Raugh, vice president of the International Commission of Military History, in his speech delivered at the opening ceremony of the symposium.

This is an era in which Sun Tzu's timeless and wise precepts of "Cautious War" and "Defeating the enemy without fighting," emphasizing conflict prevention over warfare, are particularly needed and relevant, Raugh said.

Ancient and modern wisdom

"I find that the GSI  is very much related to my favorite part of Sun Tzu's work, especially the notion of 'Cautious War,' as prudence and cautiousness are what we need the most today," said the Greek expert Katsoulas.

The GSI Concept Paper stated that we should be "committed to peacefully resolving differences and disputes between countries through dialogue and consultation. War and sanctions are no fundamental solutions to disputes; only dialogue and consultation are effective in resolving differences."

"We call on all countries to strengthen strategic communication, enhance mutual security confidence, diffuse tensions, manage differences and eliminate the root causes of crises. Major countries must uphold justice, fulfill their due responsibilities, support consultation on an equal footing, and facilitate talks for peace, play good offices and mediate in light of the needs and will of the countries concerned," said the concept paper. 

Bertel Heurlin, a professor from Department of Political Science at University of Copenhagen, told the Global Times that now China is a master of soft power as it's bringing the world "a new kind of diplomacy" that is not only engaging with developed major powers but also uniting the emerging powers among the Global South to seek solution via cooperation and development.

Brigade General Patrick Norbert Songea, senior director staff of Tanzania People's Defence Force Army and National Defence College, echoed that "especially in African countries, China is there just to promote development, and with development, we are able to avoid war."

The GSI Concept Paper further reads that countries must "stay committed to abiding by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter" and stresses "The Cold War mentality, unilateralism, bloc confrontation and hegemonism contradict the spirit of the UN Charter and must be resisted and rejected."

Rok Zupancic, a professor at Faculty of Social Science of University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, told the Global Times about his thought on the bloc confrontation in Europe. The quote that impressed him the most from The Art of War is "one cannot enter into alliance with neighboring states without knowledge of their design," because "it seems nowadays that many countries are entering different kinds of alliances without actually thinking what these alliances will bring to them." 

Zupancic said many countries only see the interests that they can receive from the alliances, but ignore or downplay the burdens and costs, in terms of damages to their economies and national mentality, which might not be very visible during peace time but extremely detrimental during the time of war. 

In addition, experts said the GSI has also noticed the importance of international cooperation to deal intertwined traditional and non-traditional security threats, while The Art of War also called for cooperation even between enemies when dealing with significant common challenge. 

The GSI Concept Paper stated that countries should "stay committed to maintaining security in both traditional and non-traditional domains," and "security is more interconnected, transnational and diverse. Traditional and non-traditional security threats have become intertwined. We encourage all countries to practice the principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits in global governance, and work together to address regional disputes and global challenges such as terrorism, climate change, cybersecurity and biosecurity."

"The GSI proposed by President Xi is very important in today's world ... We have many wars around the world today, and we have expansion of military spending in many countries," Cord Eberspacher, a professor at Sinological Department of Bonn University in Germany, told the Global Times on the sidelines of the symposium.

"I hope the GSI will not just remain an initiative by China itself, but receive warm interests from other sides around the world,'' Eberspacher noted. 

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202412/1324837.shtml