China's Global Governance Initiative: A Just Cause Gains Worldwide Support

September 1 marks one year since China launched its Global Governance Initiative. China plays the long game. When the initiative was first proposed, many scratched their heads. Some even called it empty talk.

It took time. But eventually, the strategy became clear.

Rewind to November 2012. Xi Jinping had just become General Secretary. He led the new Politburo Standing Committee to the National Museum of China for the 'Road to Rejuvenation' exhibition. There, he unveiled the 'Chinese Dream' and the goal of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. At the time, most outsiders shrugged.

Fast forward to today. Chinese electric vehicles are everywhere. Its large AI models top the global charts in token usage. Its robots just set a world record of 8.64 seconds in the 100-meter dash, smashing the 9.58-second human record set by eight-time Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt in 2009. The message is clear: China wasn't just blowing smoke.

The Global Governance Initiative is one of four major initiatives China has put forward. Its purpose: to turn the sweeping vision of  ‘a community with a shared future for mankind' into reality. And it all started in 2013.

Xi had just been elected President on March 14, 2013, at the first session of the 12th National People's Congress. Nine days later, he delivered a speech at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. There, he first proposed the concept of ‘a community with a shared future for mankind'.

He was tackling a fundamental question: where is humanity headed? It was China's systematic response to an even bigger puzzle: what kind of world should we build, and how?

But this vision is rooted in China's own ambitions. President Xi has set clear goals: realize the 'Chinese Dream' and build a great modern socialist country in all respects.

As China rises, friction with the old hegemon, the United States, is inevitable. That tension is a defining feature of the 'major changes unseen in a century'.

A Community with a Shared Future

World War II ended in 1945. What followed was not peace, but a 40-year Cold War between two blocs led by the United States and the Soviet Union. History keeps repeating this pattern: established powers clash with rising challengers.

China wants to break that cycle. Its answer is 'a community with a shared future for mankind.' The idea is to ditch the old hegemonic mindset. It's the mindset where a single country sees itself as supreme. It rejects zero-sum games between nations. Instead, it pushes for win-win cooperation and common development.

There is a deeper strategy at work. China is aligning its own great rejuvenation with the major changes unseen in a century. The goal? To erase the false choice between the Chinese Dream and the world dream. Instead, it weaves them together. The result: Chinese solutions for global challenges, and a fresh blueprint for international relations.

But a shared future is a big, abstract idea. How do you make it real? China's answer: four major global initiatives.

Four Pillars for a New World Order

First, the development crisis. In September 2021, President Xi took the stage at the United Nations General Assembly and put forward the Global Development Initiative.

Second, the security tangle. As the international security landscape grew more volatile, President Xi proposed the Global Security Initiative at the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference in April 2022.

Third, the civilization question. To advance human progress, President Xi launched the Global Civilization Initiative at the CPC in Dialogue with World Political Parties High-level Meeting in Beijing in March 2023.

Fourth, the governance breakdown. With the global governance system failing, President Xi unveiled the Global Governance Initiative at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Plus meeting in Tianjin in September 2025.

China has rolled out four major global initiatives, almost one per year. They tackle the development struggles of nations, the lopsided international security order, the advance of human civilization, and the paralysis of global governance. Each comes with a concrete action plan.

What's Wrong with Global Governance—and How China Plans to Fix It

So how does the Global Governance Initiative, proposed last year, fix a broken global governance system?

It zeroes in on three core shortcomings of the current international mechanisms.

First, a severe lack of representation.

Global South countries account for over 80% of the world's population. Yet their representation and voice in international organizations don't match their status.

Second, the erosion of authority.

The United States frequently withdraws from organizations and breaks agreements. It imposes unilateral sanctions and arbitrarily wages wars. This severely undermines the international system centered on the United Nations.

Third, effectiveness urgently needs to be improved.

Global governance has been slow to respond to, or even absent in addressing emerging challenges like climate change and artificial intelligence. This has led to serious delays in the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Action, Not Just Talk

Don't assume China's Global Governance Initiative is just another empty talk. It has rapidly evolved into a practical system: concepts, mechanisms, and concrete actions.

Since its launch, the initiative has racked up support from a wide range of countries and international organizations. Even some Western nations have expressed recognition.

France, the United Kingdom, Spain, Canada, and others have shown a positive attitude or explicitly endorsed multilateralism.

To turn the Global Governance Initiative into action, China has delivered on several major milestones over the past year.

First, the Group of Friends of Global Governance. Think of it as the initiative's operational core. Launched in New York last December with 43 founding member states, the group held a high-level meeting in the same city this May.

Second, the International Mediation Court was set up in Hong Kong. And Hong Kong has played a crucial role in the Global Governance Initiative. The court is the world's first intergovernmental organization designed to resolve international disputes through mediation. It was established in Hong Kong last October.

Within just over half a year, it successfully mediated its first international maritime dispute. That marks a substantive step forward in the peaceful resolution of international conflicts.

Third, the push to create a “World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization.” In July this year, President Xi proposed the initiative at the Global Artificial Intelligence Conference.

Representatives from 29 countries signed an agreement in Shanghai to establish the organization. This is a direct action on governance in emerging fields under the Global Governance Initiative.

A Just Cause vs. Confrontation

The United States advocates confrontation. China advocates peace. America’s actions are exclusive. China’s actions are inclusive.

Consider this: China is preparing to establish a World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization. It already has 29 member countries, including Kazakhstan. That same Kazakhstan is also a member of the U.S.-led “Pax Silica.” That American initiative aims to build supply chains in semiconductors, AI, and critical minerals—all designed to shut out China. Foreign media reports say the United States pressured Kazakhstan to choose between the two.

A small example, but it reveals a stark divide. China and the United States have fundamentally different attitudes toward international cooperation.

When the Great Way prevails, the world is shared by all.

A rising nation should cooperate as widely as possible. It should not try to eliminate the existing hegemon. And it should operate within accepted international rules. That is the kingly way to peace and fewer wars.

As the saying goes, a just cause enjoys abundant support; an unjust cause finds little. China’s Global Governance Initiative was proposed just a year ago. The positive response it has received is clear proof: a just cause can prevail in the world.

Lo Wing-hung

Bastille Commentary

** 博客文章文責自負,不代表本公司立場 **

The world is a mess, and everyone has to fend for themselves.

A lot happened last weekend. China-EU trade talks reached a preliminary agreement, finally bringing a measure of stability to turbulent international trade relations.

The crisis in France kept heating up. Student riots raged on, and the damage showed no sign of stopping.

On another front, the Saudi-led coalition had earlier backed the Yemeni government's counteroffensive and at one point claimed to have recaptured the coast along the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait. The move ended in disaster.

The Houthis struck back at Saudi Arabia, unleashing four consecutive attacks on Saudi airports and inflicting heavy casualties. Riyadh airport in the Saudi capital was completely shut down.

But none of it was as shocking as what came next. After US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone on October 9, the United States announced that Russia would immediately supply 300,000 tons of diesel to the United States and global markets.

The about-face was dizzying. Not long before, Trump had just signed a bill tightening sanctions on Russia. But the US midterm elections were looming, and diesel prices stayed stubbornly high because of the two wars in the Middle East and Ukraine.

Trump had no other choice. He struck a deal with Putin, and after hanging up the phone even said he wanted to thank him.

The US-Russia agreement left Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky furious. He publicly slammed Trump's move as a weak decision and warned that lifting sanctions would give Russia the funds to attack Ukraine.

Trump did not back down. He first leaked to the media that the reason he had to reach an agreement with Russia was that Zelensky had repeatedly ignored US calls to stop attacking Russian oil refineries.

Then Trump stepped in personally. He told reporters at the White House on October 10 that Ukraine should get a new president. He blasted Zelensky for continuing to attack Russian oil refineries, accused him of trying to make trouble for the whole world, and warned that Zelensky had "better damn well stop".

A day later, Donald Trump turned to social media with a fresh claim: Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an energy ceasefire. Neither the Russian nor the Ukrainian side has confirmed it so far.

The energy price chaos gripping the United States is, basically, self-inflicted. The entire Russia-Ukraine war disaster erupted during the Biden era, with US backing. And the Iran war? That was orchestrated single-handedly by Trump.

Two wars have cooked up a giant global mess. Yet the United States can suddenly change face and strike a diesel supply agreement with Russia. That raises several questions.

First, where are the principles?

When the mood suits, the US sanctions Russian energy, convinced this can cut off Russia's war funding.

But when its own livelihood is squeezed and votes are on the line, the country can suddenly loosen those sanctions and freely buy Russian diesel. America's logic here is pretty messy!

In the "justice versus evil" narrative that the US has long championed, the US and the West embody the alliance of justice, while Russia, Iran, and North Korea are all evil regimes.

When others do not support US sanctions against these "evil regimes," the US will sanction those third parties. That is how the United States extends its long arm, imposing secondary sanctions on people around the world.

Back then, the US even asked Canada to arrest Huawei's CFO, Meng Wanzhou. The accompanying charge: that Meng had failed to comply with US orders on Iran sanctions.

These unilateral US sanctions never had United Nations authorization, and they have always lacked a legal basis. Now the United States can scrap them at any time, purely to suit its own needs. Sanctions pop in and out with zero logic, and the only explanation behind it all is these words: "American interests."

Anyone who still believes in America's democracy-lighthouse narrative is an absolute idiot.

Second, what happens next?

Ukraine has bombed Russia's own refining facilities hard, and the country's refining capacity is already down at least 20 percent. Even if Russia truly reaches a deal with Ukraine to pause mutual strikes on energy facilities, the diesel Russia can supply will remain quite limited.

A US-Russia deal can offer only a brief dose of psychological comfort. As long as the two wars have not truly stopped, the global energy crisis will keep worsening.

Rising energy prices push up inflation. Inflation pushes up bond yields. And yields stuck at high levels could at any moment bring the economies of heavily indebted countries such as France crashing down. That is where the real danger of the war trigger lies.

Third, stability is opportunity

There was a time when both Dubai in the UAE and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia counted as hubs of the Middle East and paradises for investment.

But after Trump ignited this Middle East war, it took barely half a year to send them plunging from heaven into hell. They lost their security, and they lost everything.

Their examples speak the truth: safety and stability bring opportunity. And Hong Kong is fortunate enough to be seizing exactly that kind of opportunity right now.

We can’t  save the world or stop these two wars. All we can do is mind our own house, get our work done, and brace for whatever risks come next.

Lo Wing-hung