摘要：A grand gathering to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Ag

ByPan Deng

A grand gathering to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War is held in Beijing, capital of China, September 3, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

In the first week of September, Chinese President Xi Jinping articulated a remarkably consistent vision for the world in two grand occasions. On September 3, speaking at the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, he reflected on the hard-won peace that emerged from global conflict. Just two days prior, at the "Shanghai Cooperation Organization plus" Meeting in Tianjin, he proposed a comprehensive Global Governance Initiative (GGI) designed to address the systemic challenges imperiling that very peace.

These two remarks, though distinct in occasion and tone, are not disconnected. They are two sides of the same coin, revealing a deep logical link between China's historical memory and its contemporary global vision.

The solemn pledge to peaceful development, born from the ashes of a brutal 14-year war, directly informs the principles of the GGI, which seeks to diagnose and remedy the root causes of global instability. Understanding this connection is crucial to grasping China's evolving role on the world stage – a role increasingly defined by the provision of ideas and frameworks for a more just and equitable international order.

A solemn vow from bitter ashes

To comprehend China's profound commitment to peace, one must first comprehend the scale of its sacrifice. The 80th anniversary commemoration is not a distant historical event; it is a living memory of a 14-year struggle that claimed 35 million Chinese lives. This immense national trauma underpins Xi's declaration that "the Chinese people will stand firmly on the right side of history and on the side of human progress, adhere to the path of peaceful development."

This is a recognition forged in the brutality of war, that peace is not a given but a treasure that must be diligently safeguarded and, at times, fiercely defended. When Xi asserts that historical tragedies can be prevented only when nations "treat each other as equals, live in harmony and mutually support one another," he is articulating a core principle derived directly from China's experience.

The "century of humiliation," culminating in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, was a period defined by inequality, subjugation and the catastrophic failure of a world order that permitted the strong to prey upon the weak.

China's advocacy for peaceful development, therefore, is intrinsically linked to its call for a more just international system where such predatory dynamics are rendered impossible. It is a promise to itself and the world that it will not inflict upon others the suffering it once endured.

From common security to global governance

The second, and perhaps most crucial part of China's strategic logic on peace is the extension of this historical lesson to the present day. The threats to global peace in the 21st century are not confined to military aggression alone. They fester in the deep cracks of a global governance system struggling to cope with myriad interconnected crises. This "governance deficit" is where the GGI finds its purpose.

The post-World War Two order, with the United Nations at its core, was a monumental achievement. Yet 80 years on, its promise is being eroded by profound imbalances. According to the UN's own 2025 reports, the statistics paint a grim picture: While global hunger has slightly declined, some 673 million people still faced it in 2024, and 2.6 billion cannot afford a healthy diet, with crises worsening in Africa and Western Asia.

The richest 1 percent of the world’s population now owns nearly half of all global wealth, while a large number of people remain in precarious, low-income conditions. This is compounded by a yawning digital divide, which UN officials have called "the new face of inequality," where 90 percent of young women in low-income countries are offline.

Villager Caroline is seen in a withered corn crops field in Kidemu sub-location in Kilifi County, Kenya, March 23, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]

It is this landscape of systemic inequality and developmental imbalance that the GGI aims to address. Its principles – adherence to sovereign equality, abiding by international rule of law, practicing multilateralism, advocating for people-centered approaches and focusing on taking real action – are presented as necessary updates to the software of the international system. Beyond these foundational principles, the initiative outlines the next steps for applying them to specific domains where governance is in urgent need and scant supply, such as the reform of the international financial architecture, artificial intelligence, cyberspace, climate change, trade and outer space.

By calling for the upholding of the UN Charter while simultaneously advocating for reforms that give greater voice to the developing world, the GGI seeks to reinforce the foundations of the post-war order while making it better fit for contemporary challenges. It posits that true security cannot be achieved in a world of such stark disparities; lasting peace requires not just the absence of war, but the presence of justice and development for all.

A quartet of initiatives for a new era

The GGI is the fourth pillar in a comprehensive conceptual architecture that Beijing has been building over the past decade. It logically follows and integrates the Global Development Initiative (GDI), the Global Security Initiative (GSI) and the Global Civilization Initiative (GCI). Understanding their interplay is key to understanding China's worldview.

The GDI focuses on the hardware of global stability, aiming to accelerate the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by tackling poverty, health and infrastructure deficits. The GSI addresses security software, advocating for a new path to security based on dialogue and partnership over confrontation and alliance, and rejecting cold-war mentalities. The GCI promotes a new cultural operating system, calling for respect for the diversity of civilizations and overcoming ideological prejudice.

Development cannot be sustained without a secure environment; security is meaningless without mutual respect between civilizations, and none of it is possible without a just and effective governance system to coordinate action. Together, this quartet of initiatives represents China's holistic answer to the question of how to build a better world. It is an ambitious attempt to offer a coherent, non-Western-centric vision, cementing China’s role not merely as a major economic power, but as a leading voice for the Global South and a provider of global public goods.

In conclusion, the line from the battlefields of the 1930s and 1940s to the global forums of 2025 is direct and profound. President Xi's speeches in early September were a powerful articulation of a worldview where historical consciousness shapes future action.

By grounding its proposals for global governance reform in the universal aspiration for peace, China is making a sophisticated appeal to the international community. It is an argument that safeguarding the future requires not only remembering the past but, more importantly, collectively addressing the systemic injustices that have too often led to conflict. It is a vision that invites the world to build the peace that is not merely an interlude between wars, but a permanent condition of shared security and common prosperity.

The author isa current affairs commentator.

来源：中国网一点号