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The Global Governance Initiative has drawn strong endorsement from world leaders.
China's BYD is on the rise, surpassing Tesla in Europe market for the first time.
And in the second half we'll take a look at global reactions to the 80th anniversary commemoration of China's victory in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the Road Anti-Fascist War.
Welcome to Road Today, a news program with a different perspective.
I'm Gaena in Beijing.
To listen to this episode again or to catch up on previous episodes, you can download our podcast by searching Road Today.
The global governance initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping has drawn strong endorsement from world leaders.
UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, said the initiative is anchored in multilateralism and underscores the importance of safeguarding the international system, with the UN at its core and the international order underpinned by international law.
Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has said Russia supports the initiative and is eager to engage in a substantive discussion of the proposals presented by its Chinese friends.
Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim wrote in a social media post that Malaysia fully supports the initiative, which he said is based on justice compassion, humanity and cooperation, with multilateralism at its core.
Other world leaders have also voiced their support, describing the initiative as both timely and essential for building a more just and equitable international order.
The initiative put forward by President Xi Jinping at the SCO Plus meeting highlights five principles – adhering to sovereign equality, abiding by international rule of law, practicing multilateralism, advocating the people-centered approach – and focusing on taking real actions.
It's the fourth global initiative proposed by the Chinese leader in recent years, following the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative.
For more on this.
Joining us on the line is Einar Tengen, Senior Fellow of Taihe Institute and Chairman of Asia Narratives Substack.
Einar, to start off, what do you make of the timing and the significance of this initiative?
You have to look at it.
This is the 80th anniversary of the U.N.'
's founding and World War Two victory.
So this is a time indicating that there's change necessary.
The United States is retreating.
The global order is changing.
U.S. has one idea.
And I think the rest of the world has another idea.
So that's very important.
It's also a strategic platform for reform.
You know, this was the largest SCO summit, and China used it to basically repeat or use a lot of the same language that it's been using at BRICS and also at the BRI, and that is this kind of sustainable world, a world of shared humanity and future, one that's based on security of countries, that is not based on the insecurity of another country, development which cannot be stopped by other countries, and also respect for the existing countries as they stand.
Many of these countries are not put together naturally.
They're not civilizations.
They're in many respects accidents of history in terms of monarchs and ravages of war, and then also colonial drawing lines in the sand and saying this country is this.
So they have very complex mosaics of languages cultures groups ethnicities, and they have to be understood the way they are and respected in terms of their sovereignty and making choices about their future.
So a very different kind of perspective than the us who says you know, just do as we tell you to do, you will support us and we will keep peace in the world.
That model is not playing well right now because people, I see a lot of the things that are happening in the US as very unilateral, very much aimed at making America great but not anybody else.
Please elaborate more on this.
The GDI rolled out by President Xi at the SCO Summit in Tianjin comes after his global development, security and civilization initiatives.
Looking at this four together, how does the GDI address the key gaps in overcoming the global governance deficit and in what ways does it complement and reinforce the other three?
All the initiatives I just talked about, and those are part of it.
But you also have three entities that I talked about in terms of the SCO, which originally started for about security issues.
You have a Belt and Road Initiative, which is really about economic development.
And then you have the BRICS, which is really about creating a global fabric.
But these are not alliances in the way that the US creates alliances with.
This is about mutual development sharing.
And it's the three principles, the three initiatives I mentioned security, development and civilization which equates to respect, in my opinion.
These are all things that have to be brought together.
Now, this is not a new idea.
China has been walking the walk for the last 12 years, especially when it comes to the Belt and Road Initiative.
And they say, look, we've tested this.
Let's start using this as a basis for reforming the UN, which right now, as we all know, is kind of paralyzed.
The United States does not wish to exceed to the wishes of everybody else.
They are being very recalcitrant, obviously, over Gaza.
But there are a number of issues there, including the WTO, which was very, very prominent in terms of globalization.
And this was a period since 2001 when developing and emerging countries actually did better in terms of their growth than the developed nations.
Now we're having a kind of a pendulum swing against them.
But these nations represent the majority of the world's people resources land, markets and manufacturing.
And they're no longer desire to be subservient to other interests.
The key is you have to build a new framework that works for everybody.
And it has to be driven in a different way.
It's not about people dictating.
It's about arriving at consensus.
But the only way you can do that is to have a set of shared values.
I believe that the three initiatives are all about.
Rising consensus is the key.
This initiative actually puts sovereign equality front and center and calls for a bigger voice for developing countries.
Where do you see the under-representation of the voices from the developing nations in global governance?
And how might the GGI's call for equal participation, decision-making and benefits actually change that?
We see it everywhere in the developing emerging world.
You know, you look at South America.
It's often divided by issues that were created during colonial times.
You see it in Africa.
You see it in Southeast Asia.
There is always room for conflict, unfortunately.
So the question is how do you create a framework that can deal with conflict so that, instead of fighting, they sit at the conference table and figure out how to get this done?
Now, part of that is this concept of peer pressure.
When it's one country against another country, it is very easy to fall into this kind of tit-for-tat.
You did this, or historically, this was my land, or whatever.
But when you sit in a group of your peers of nations, kind of like ASEAN, it's much harder because you're not against all your neighbors.
What you are is you are part of a neighborhood.
As a result, you have to kind of accede to the wishes of the community as opposed to just saying individually i want to, i want to do what i want to do, and this is one of the sharp contrasts between the united states and places like india and china that have civilizations.
They've learned over the years that community is absolutely vital if you're going to have peace, continuity And sustainability.
The U.S. is still a young nation.
It still believes itself as an empire.
It solves its problems by taking things from other people.
And that has to change if it's going to transition to this kind of civilization model.
But right now, the rest of the world wants to move on.
The U.S. wants to stay behind.
And we'll have to see how it works out.
Mm hmm.
I think earlier you made a very good point that the world should be ruled by international order, not the increasing insecurity of certain nations.
President Xi also said today's confrontation and injustice stem from the UN Charter not being fully carried out.
And the GGI stresses rule of law and rejects double standards and rejects imposing some nations' own rule on others, for block politics for example.
So what do you make of GGI's role on such matters today?
I think it proves itself.
The issue is how do you implement this, especially when you have a very powerful nation that does not want to go along with it?
They believe that they should be supreme, that they should dictate what is necessary and good for everyone else.
And that somehow that what is good for America is somehow good for the world.
And I think right now we're at this kind of watershed moment where countries are looking at the different policies.
Do they want a shared future where they have a voice?
They're not ignored.
Situation where, you know, you want to see some example that exemplifies that.
Under Joe Biden, he had a summit of Americas.
He didn't invite a number of the countries.
Other countries felt that this was silly.
Why have a summit of the Americas when you're not going to invite a number of the countries who are part of it?
And then when the ones that did go They did not get an individual reception and a talk with Biden.
What they got was a group 30 minute lecture by Biden in the Oval Office telling them what they should do.
Very different from China.
You see, at the SCO there was an effort to make everybody extremely welcome, despite the fact that there are a huge number of guests.
There are countries that carry more weight.
But every country was respected and every leader was given time to voice what was important to them.
It wasn't a situation where China was dictating what it is.
China listens.
And then they try to create a consensus and see what can be done, as opposed to dictating what has to be done.
The initiative also advocates a people-centered approach, emphasizing that all peoples should jointly participate in and share the benefits of governance.
So, thinking of the North-South development gap or global issues like climate change, how do you see this idea shaping development worldwide?
Well, there has to be changes.
There are a number of very positive things that could happen.
One of the greatest unrecognized or unleashed economic drivers in the world is medium-small businesses.
And these are the predominant businesses throughout the global south, Central Asia.
They don't have these huge conglomerates like you can unleash them using digital tools.
All of a sudden, they can take what they do very well and they can take it to the, to the world.
They can get more money for it, and this will ease the flow of.
You know the difference between north south east, west.
The second part of that is this is this equation that for years, many of these countries have been, in essence robbed, and what i mean by that is that, For instance, coffee 70 of all the coffee in the world that is exported is grown in four countries.
But the coffee trade itself is controlled by four companies that are based in Europe and America.
They don't grow a single bean.
All they do is they determine what the price is.
And ironically, when prices go up, it's the farmers in these developed, in these resource nations which field of pressure and they actually get less money.
And this, this is counterintuitive.
It is time to have something that's more fair, to have the countries that produce setting the price, creating bourses where they can actively trade and get fair value, and by fair value i mean they have to have enough so that their farmers can get a decent wage, so that they can develop their own countries, so that they can address climate change.
You know, we've all heard all of the wonderful promises that developed nations have made, but they haven't followed through.
And quite frankly, it's a drop in the bucket as compared to what is necessary.
So it's time for countries to have the ability to pay for what they need to take care of, whether it's climate change development, social services, and they're basic people.
Building on that, and as you earlier mentioned, the world is in need of a new framework.
But the GDI, this initiative explicitly states it's not about tearing down and starting anew, but about innovating and improving.
So what's your take on this?
How does that answer doubts some might have about China's global governance approach, especially compared with the talks of small yards and high walls elsewhere?
Yes.
Okay, so what I meant by that is that you have to have new assumptions, and those are assumptions that countries are equal.
It's assumptions about what we're talking about in terms of security, development, and respect.
But you're not trying to tear down the institutions.
It's the other way around.
It's the United States is withdrawing from these institutions, whether it's the WHO WTO, the United Nations itself, anything to do with culture.
These are things where the United States says we don't value those and we're not going to be part of it.
China is saying the opposite.
We have to come together on the important issues.
We have to use the institutions we have, but we have to reform them and make the assumptions not based on the will of five countries, even though technically, China and Russia are part of that.
They see it as something where you have to have a truly democratic UN where countries are all respected as equals in terms of sovereignty, but they can contribute more or less based on their economics and size.
Einar, one last question.
This year marked the 80th anniversary of the victory of China's war of resistance against the Japanese aggression and the road anti-fascist war.
This initiative was tied to safeguarding the gains of World War II.
So how did today's GGI draw on and update the post-war global governance system?
In a time when some countries are downplaying the history of the Second World War, what historical caution does the GGI convey?
Those who decide to ignore history are doomed to repeat it.
And that's an old saying, and it's true today as it has ever been.
The fact is, people look at the atrocities.
For instance, how was it that you had the Japanese army, over a period of time, kill 36 million Chinese?
How did they go into Nanjing and, in the space of a few weeks, kill 300000 people, in addition to raping, looting and robbing?
If you go to Japan today, you're not going to meet somebody on the street and say oh, they're an animal.
They're just like the people who did terrible things to my grandparents.
What you see are ordinary people, but ordinary people can be turned into animals by monsters.
That is what the Nazis did.
That is what Imperial Japan did.
They convinced their people that other people were inhuman.
They took away their respect, their empathy for others.
And this is the real message behind This idea of equality.
Once you recognize that countries are equal and people are equal and they need to be treated with respect, very difficult to dehumanize them.
And if you can't dehumanize them, you can't send people out to wholesale, slaughter them or engage in warfare.
So the real enemy.
It's fascism.
It is those people who seek to gain power and hold power using the idea that they should kill others, that the others are less than human.
So many of the things that we learn today are about the past. have to be kept in mind.
But it's important that countries not just keep statistics about what happened.
That is vital.
You have to keep the facts, because there are many countries out there that are trying to rewrite history or deny the facts.
You have to make it relevant to the people.
And, as we have seen with these blockbuster hits that have talked about the individual stories of people who were involved during the time, like the Nanjing Massacre and other places, You can make it relevant to people.
History does not fall in a book.
It is recreated in your mind and is something that you keep at forefront, so that you don't dehumanize people.
I mean.
Many people think that in Gaza, that people they have met in Israel who are shooting children in the head.
So the monster is out there.
Part of it is within us.
We have to resist it.
The only way we can resist it is to remember and understand.
That was Einar Tengen, Senior Fellow, Neftaihe Institute.
Europe's car sales just had their best month in over a year.
New car sales in Europe rose 5.9% in July.
The real headline is that Tesla's market share keeps shrinking, while China's BYD is rising fast and, for the first time, is ahead of Tesla in Europe.
So how has BYD overtaken Tesla in the European market?
What does it say about the global auto landscape?
For more on this, my colleague Zhao Yang spoke with Li Lun, Assistant Professor of Economics at Peking University.
So, Professor Li Lun, China's EV maker, BYD's market share has just overtaken Tesla in Europe for the first time.
Could you tell us what are the main factors contributing to it and how significant is this milestone in the global EV race?
Yeah, so recent data has shown that in Europe Tesla's sales share just dropped by 40, which makes its market share drop from 14 a year ago to 08 now.
So if you look at BYD, on the opposite, basically BYD's share jumped 200, which gives it 12 of the market.
So right now, BYD is ranking number 13 of all the car makers in July, which place it above Mazda and Jaguar.
So this is, I think, pretty significant because when we think about EV, especially the leader in the industry Tesla, is definitely the biggest player.
That's hard to ignore.
But right now we're seeing BYD is overtaken tesla in europe for the first time and maybe for the foreseeable future, and i think there's multiple reasons uh that contributes to it.
First it's, you know, the momentum in europe's total.
You know new car market, especially the you know uh, the ev market.
So the new car market in Europe has grown 59 year on year in July.
So it's a fast growing industry.
And also in terms of the gaining market share.
BYD is having generally lower entry prices and is also offering different car brands and also car makes.
So compared with Tesla, which usually offers higher level brand with higher price tag.
I think BYD, the reason that BYD is gaining so much market share in such a short time.
I think it's significant and it also reflects some success in its marketing strategy.
And tell us more about the global landscape of EV industry, China, Europe and the United States.
What's the current situation of EV development in these different economies?
Yeah, so if you look at globally, China is definitely the world's largest EV market.
So basically it accounts for over 50% of global EV sales and also over 70% of global EV production.
Europe currently, I think it's fast growing.
So if you look at the new car registrations from January to July in 2025, over 60 of all new cars are either battery, electric or plug in hybrid or some sort of hybrid or EV vehicles.
So this is already over half of all the new vehicles in Europe.
But overall, I think the market penetration is not that high.
Only 15% of cars in EU are EVs.
So in the United States?
Well, I think If you look at the first half of 2025, there's not that much EV sales, only around 600000 in the first half.
So EV?
I think in the EV market in the States Tesla is still the dominant player, taking around 45 of EV market share.
So that's basically all the big markets.
So I think, in terms of the industry, China definitely, you know, takes a lot, a lion's share of the, you know, the world's production especially, you know, batteries.
And because there's you know cost advantage.
So this gives China a huge you know competitive advantage edge, basically for its own brand like BYD.
And BYD's Yangwang U9 became the world's fastest production-based EV.
So how does this reflect China's progress in the EV technology?
And what has been driving China's rise in the EV industry?
Yeah.
So I think this example showcased, you know, China's technology and its production capacities, both in the lower price range but also in the cutting edge in the most advanced technology.
Because BYD right now basically, is able to produce a test car which hits over 470 kilometers per hour.
This is definitely the fastest EV car that exists on the planet.
So this showcase that BYD, for example, as a Chinese car maker, is not only able to make mass production, lower priced cars, but also being able to hit the technology boundary and make innovations for the future generation cars.
And this speed is already approaching the fastest cars in petrol and diesel cars.
So I think in the future There's definitely going to be a lot more progress in EV technology, not only showcased by BYD, but also Xiaomi and other players.
So as to the second part of your question, how does this reflect China's progress and what's been driving China's rise in EV industry?
So I think definitely one of the reasons is competition.
So we're seeing that the EV market is a hugely competitive area.
So we're seeing a lot of players in China, a lot of companies making these EV cars, and this healthy competition definitely drives the innovation.
Also, I think at the back end of this is China's, you know, production capacity because, you know, without this ability to make these batteries and make these car parts, I don't think, you know, the industry can prosper like, you know, the way it is right now.
And the European carmakers say the EU emissions targets may no longer be realistic.
So why do they say so?
And does that open more space for Chinese EV makers to grab the market share over there?
Yeah, so if you look at the current regulation, it basically requires in EU that all the new cars and new vans needs to be zero emission by 2035.
And also there's a CO2 target that a lot of car maker eu car makers are are thought that's no longer feasible because right now there's a lot of dependence on battery and there's uh, you know, not not sufficient charging pods for for the ev.
So i think this opens up definitely opens up some space for chinese ev makers, but it also, you know, depends on how much the policy makers, how serious the policy makers, want to achieve that target.
So right now the carmakers in Europe are mostly in the process of transforming from petrol or diesel-powered cars to EV cars.
So it still gives EV carmakers some advantage.
And for the whole industrial supply chain, how far ahead is China in EV battery technology?
What made the CATL such a success?
As I mentioned, China makes over 75 of global batteries, which is three quarters, but CATL alone accounts for around 38 of global EV battery installations in the first half of 2025.
So it's definitely a key market player in the EV battery technology.
And I think the secret to success is not only in terms of technology but also in terms of price, because the batteries often account for one of the most expensive parts in these vehicles.
For example, in China's case, the batteries can be made 20 to 30 cheaper than in Europe and North America.
Of course, it brings a huge price advantage for Chinese EV cars and also tends to lead a higher market share.
So, in terms of globalization, I think CATL is also visioning to expand in Europe, also providing supply for Tesla, BMW and also car makers.
So it is very hard to get around CATL or China's EV battery production in the whole supply chain.
And I don't think right now it's cost efficient to do so, because setting up a new brand in terms of car batteries and achieving the same cost efficiency in a short period of time is not very realistic.
That was Li Lun, Assistant Professor of Economics at Peking University.
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The commemoration ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the victory of China's war of resistance against Japanese aggression and the road anti-fascist war has drawn wide attention and extensive international media coverage.
On the bilateral front, numerous foreign leaders attended the ceremony, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and heads of states from several neighboring countries that had also suffered under Japanese aggression.
Global media outlets also focused heavily highlighting China's efforts to honor history, showcase its military modernization and reaffirm its commitment to world peace.
CNN notes that the event underscored China's contribution to ending the war in the Pacific as a key allied partner, a sacrifice too often overlooked in historical narratives.
So what deeper impact might this parade have on bilateral relations, and what signal are foreign media sending through their coverage?
We are joined today by Liu Zhijing, Senior Fellow of Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China.
Welcome.
Good evening.
And Andy Mock, Tech Analyst and Senior Research Fellow at the Center for China and Globalization.
Thanks for joining us, Andy.
My pleasure as always, Anna.
To start off Andy, we've seen continued international discussion of China's commemoration ceremony on the 3rd.
In your view, what kind of message was China sending to the world?
Well, first of all, I think it's important to acknowledge what a phenomenal public relations who this was for China.
Because, as you mentioned, every media outlet in the world has been focused on this.
Talking about it.
And I think, as Donald Trump has shown so well, the ability to capture the world's attention and drive the news cycle for better or worse is very, very important for any objectives a government or a company is looking to accomplish.
So I think this is a phenomenal achievement for China from a soft power perspective.
Now, what is the message that China is sending?
I think it's a very sophisticated message.
So of course I think people in China, all around the world, marvel at and are astonished by just the pageantry and the spectacle, and rightly so.
But this really is only a stage.
So commemoration of the victory of the war against Japanese aggression is only the stage.
The message really is modernization.
So we see here a combination of both stagecraft and statecraft.
And I think this sent a very powerful signal to every country around the world.
And, of course, I think the meaning of this message is very different if you are a country that is looking to foster antagonism hegemony, zero-sum games.
You know, the message is received very differently than if you are a country looking to move up the ladder of economic development while maintaining domestic political stability.
So again, I think this was a triumph of public relations, as well as a very effective integration of both stagecraft and statecraft.
Andy, you used the public relations coup to describe this phenomenon of international coverage.
Mr. Liu, what's your take?
What message did the ceremony send, in your opinion?
I think I fully agree with the remarks made by Mr. Mock.
As he mentioned, this parade and this event send a very important signal, a message to the world.
In my opinion, I would like to express from another angle, from another point, that the message is also quite simple to be understood by the rest of the world.
That means that China shows, demonstrates its desires for peace.
I think from this whole event, we show three points.
The first point is that the unity of the whole country, the whole nation, shows its unity to the rest of the world, that how China united together to fight for the modernization, also to overcome all difficulties we will confront.
And secondly, it shows the very strong confidence in our future, no matter from the military, but also from spiritual.
We can see the people, the army themselves, that they show their very strong emotion and their spiritual power.
This is very important because all of this comes from the confidence in the party, in the future in the country.
And the third also issue.
We can see that this event showed the very strength that China has developed in the past years.
Because, as we know today, this year is 2025.
We remember we have very good, nice plan that is scientifically special for technical target for 2025.
Now this is the year to testify, to demonstrate whether we have already achieved all the goals and the target we have set 10 and 15 years before.
Nowadays, the answer is here that we have fulfilled all commitment and we achieved all the goals, what we have promised and have planned.
Remember and commemorate the history to better safeguard peace.
Andy, let's delve this into further.
Earlier you mentioned U.S.
President Donald Trump.
He described China's event as a beautiful ceremony and noted that the US had given China tremendous help during World War II.
In fact, China has long sought to present the true history of its resistance movement war against Japanese aggression, including US support, like stories of the flying tigers in China are well known.
And also their descendants are invited to this commemoration ceremony.
So how do you view China-U.S. relations through this historical lens?
And do you think this parade might influence the trajectory of bilateral ties?
Well anna, i think, a couple of points here.
First, i you know, i think, as we all know, president trump says many, many things.
Uh, sometimes they are contradictory.
So you know, i think what he is correct in saying is the us certainly helped china.
Now, whether it provided a decisive amount of help, I think, is another question.
You know, if we look at the historical record, China was fighting against Japan long before Pearl Harbor.
We could also look at the Soviet Union as well with Nazi Germany.
So I think what this shows is actually a kind of white privilege when it comes to understanding the history of this very tragic event time in human history, in that it is largely US-UK centered.
And I think it overlooks very, very important aspects of this.
And we've seen in some Western media outlets and some experts in the West in the Anglophone world saying that what China is doing with this 80th anniversary is revisionism, in that they're trying to change the true historical record.
And again I think that this is very misguided and it really comes from a colonial legacy of white privilege, where what happens in the Anglophone world matters.
What happens with the colored peoples of the world, the yellow people, the brown people, the black people are really a footnote.
And i think again, this is perhaps not intentionally, but what china is showing is that it is no longer hiding its strength, biding its time, but it is in broad daylight saying we are a modern country, we are a strong country, we have an advanced, sophisticated military, We are not afraid to fight.
We will not tolerate being bullied.
And we offer the world a choice, peace or conflict, right?
And China, of course, stands on the side of peace.
And I think this again is going to have repercussions, as some, maybe many people in the Anglophone world will again have to change their understanding of what is in some sense a very foundational aspect of the, if I may call it, the white identity.
That's a very good point.
Mr. Liu, what's your assessment of U.S.
President's remarks and the American reaction to the commemoration?
I think this event has shown this long-term relationship between the people of the two nations because there's been an American side from the government the official side, at the very beginning of the invasion by Japan to China, has not very clearly declared to take actions to prevent and against Japan.
But I think some civilians, many military volunteers, they stand up and try to take part in the war in China to fight against the Japanese invasion.
So only years after, especially after the event in Bo, that I think the United States has officially declared a war against Japan, that we have received more official stronger, effective support.
But anyhow, from people to people's help and relations are still there.
They helped each other very often.
Also, Chinese people are deeply impressed and moved by the event actions taken by the american people, american military, of course.
We know the world well-known flying tigers and all the other people that are, especially for professionals in education, professors and students.
In the united states also, they expressed their voices against the invasion of japan to china.
So all this can show that the relation between China and the US is very solid and long history.
We hope these relations and the military support can continue in the time to come.
Mr. Liu, how do you think nations from the global south will evaluate the commemoration ceremony?
Actually, Global South are very proud of the event they have seen.
I received some emails from my friends in the Global South countries, especially from Brazil and from other Asian nations.
So they expressed that they took this event or victory or these achievements as their own.
So they said that China is growing up and stronger.
So that could very good encourage the global south to unite together and also to fight all this uneven policies imposed by Western countries.
Nowadays, global shops have more confidence and more strength to deal with all the difficulties and problems they are facing, especially when they are having more military pressure or some bullying from other Western countries.
They all now try to learn from China's spirit and China's way to develop their own economy and the military force.
So I think that China will have more chances and channels to have close cooperation with the global south.
Mm-hmm.
Gentlemen, let's turn to China's defense technology, because many of the weapons showcased in the military parade, such as the Dongfeng-5C liquid nuclear missile, a strategic weapon in hand to safeguard the nation's peace through strength.
So Andy, let me start with you first.
How do you assess China's progress toward its goal of building a world-class armed forces by 2027?
Well, and I think certainly the public revelation of new capabilities is certainly important.
But I think what's perhaps even more important is what China has demonstrated both through the parade as a symbol for this, but I think the clear implication is something called jointness, which is a concept that the American military uses, but all that means is the ability for the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force, the cyber forces, the space forces, to act as one integrated combat organization, not having the Air Force fight the air war, the Navy fight the sea war, the Army fight the land war, but to integrate this.
And this is seen as the gold standard or the holy grail of military effectiveness.
And I think this is something again that is a real challenge, public milestone for China in that September 3rd we saw not only new units that have never been publicly disclosed before, but also you mentioned new capabilities as well.
But I think the most important point, that the message was very clear, that these all can be integrated into one coherent combat organism that can work towards victory.
Andy, a very intriguing phenomenon.
A next account called the Pentagon Pizza Report, which tracks pizza orders near US government agencies like the Pentagon and the CIA, showcased a spike during the event.
How do you interpret this?
And what, in your opinion, do they study closely from the parade?
Well, you know Ana, this is not surprising at all because again, the former Joint Chiefs of Staff said that China is the pacing challenge for the United States.
And you know it's useful to remind our audience that how the US views the world from a national security perspective is that one.
It's a very sensible thing.
If you can do this is that you never want to fight a war on your own Right.
Because again, wars are tremendously destructive enormous tragic collateral damage property, lives lost.
You always want to fight the wars on someone in someone else's country.
And you can never let another country rise to the level of even being a regional hegemon, which again is why it sees Iran as a threat in that part of the world.
But it's recognized now that it sees China as the only country.
Now I'm not saying China has the intention to do this, but from the US perspective it sees China as the only country capable economically, technologically and militarily to challenge the United States.
And I think, as a result, I would be very surprised if pizza orders did not go up dramatically during this event.
Andy.
Western media once portrayed China as copying foreign technologies, but the parade displayed many domestically developed systems.
And this time, some Western media outlets say China has surpassed the West in defense innovation.
How do you respond to this claim?
Do you agree with such a statement?
I think partially I do.
And I think again, we can see this as a kind of a deep seek moment for the US military establishment.
Because again, you know clearly the US spends a lot of effort in understanding what undisclosed capabilities China has.
But to make it public for all the world to see, I think certainly sends a very powerful and clear message.
And again, I think that this is really going to, I believe, cause a reset in how the US thinks about its military options today regarding China.
That being said, of course, there's always this question.
There's capability and there's the actual combat effectiveness.
And Clausewitz.
Carl von Clausewitz, who wrote on war, said one of the things about war is that it's so unpredictable and you never know How things will turn out.
So I would hesitate to go as far to say, you know, that it is some sort of decisive military moment.
But I think certainly it's a very, very important milestone.
And I would call it perhaps a kind of a deep seek moment for the U.S. military.
Mr Liu, what's your take on this and your view on Western concerns and especially their criticism of China's nuclear arsenal expansion?
Yes, I think I heard some different views from the Western media.
Especially, some media said that China would take this chance opportunity to fill in the gap that left by the United States, for example, political power, military power vacuum.
I think this is not true because this is not China's policy fundamentally.
China's policy is very simple and it's very easy to understand that Chinese policy.
Militarily or scientifically, even Technically, the only purpose is to safeguard China's sovereignty and try to make Chinese people to have a better life without the threat imposed from the West.
This should be very clearly declared to everybody from the rest of the world.
We've developed all these latest weapons nuclear weapons and laser weapons and also the drones and unmanned driven vehicles in different situations.
This is only for defense, only for safeguarding our country.
Because I told my American friend, I said, you have population only 300 million. a little bit more.
We have 1.4 billion.
We should have an average fee or the budget for everybody to figure out how much China should have.
But China has less, far less than the United States for the defense, the budget.
So that's only to show china's intention to is to safeguard, to protect our homeland and our people in more safe and more healthy and more sustainable way, to develop our own goal, that is, China's modernization.
This is the only one thing we are concentrated to do and to realize, not others.
And China is also the only country among the nuclear weapons states to make a non-first use commitment and is also the only major country in the world to have written peaceful development into its constitution.
That's true.
Andy.
Mr Liu mentioned the nature of horse vacuum and many Western media say this parade is a moment for China to announce its arrival as a security provider, filling political economic, military and diplomatic vacuums.
So do you believe China has such an intention?
Yeah, that's a great question.
So you know, I want to say that.
You know there's certainly a lot of discussion and debate around the world on this.
You know, I had a conversation with a senior think tank executive for a Make America Great Again aligned US think tank.
And you know from this person's perspective, you know his.
His argument was that this is frightening countries in the global south.
But, you know, my point was this.
You know I agree with Mr Liu that.
You know we look at Chinese rhetoric but more importantly behavior.
You know which behavior.
This major country has attacked other countries engaged in assassinations or at least played a key role in assassinations, like Salvador Allende in Chile, Gaddafi in Libya and, more recently, Soleimani in Iran.
So we need to look at deeds and not words.
And I think so.
I agree that China is a force for peace.
That being said, with great power comes great responsibility.
Right.
And I believe that China is actually the largest contributor to peacekeeping forces at the UN.
So certainly to say fill political or security vacuums is a difficult question to answer.
But it seems pretty clear that the trend is that as China grows in resources, in capabilities, that it would not be surprising if it took a bigger role in supporting global security in different ways.
Andy.
At the SCO Summit in Tianjin on September 1st, President Xi proposed a global governance initiative.
Some argue that the international system is at a turning point where developing countries need a fairer voice and Western double standards are eroding existing norms.
Do you agree?
Well, I look at this as from a very practical perspective.
I think many countries in the world are very frightened of what the existing system has done.
Russian assets have been seized.
Countries like Iran have had numerous sanctions imposed upon them that have imposed a tragic cost on many, many innocent people.
Iranians.
We can discuss whether Venezuela truly is the cause of the drug problems in the United States.
But again, the US recently just blew up a small boat coming from Venezuela, I believe.
So I think many countries around the world, even some European ones, feel they would like a safer, more predictable alternative, whether we're talking about payment systems, whether perhaps we're talking about security providers.
And, you know, I think it's very clear.
This is the other point you know I was talking with this think tank executive from Make America Great Again aligned think tank is that there's a common misperception.
I think that's very dangerous right in the US and in the UK and some parts of Western Europe that China's looking to replace the US.
And I think, you know, really nothing could be further from the truth.
I think China wants a better, fairer, more transparent system.
But that doesn't mean replacing the US.
So I think that's a very important distinction that ought to be made.
Mr leo, what's your thoughts on this?
Do you think this is a turning point?
Yes, i should understand that this is a time turning point for developing countries that to further develop their economy, because only by enhancing our own capability and ability, especially the industrialization, and also increase their strength technically, that we can have a better position and a treatment with the Western countries.
So this is a very important point that China shows their successful experience how to go further, how to get their own country stronger, better and faster in developing their own economy.
But anyhow, China will take its own responsibility to protect to safeguard the world peace.
Because, as we mentioned always, especially in these two days, to safeguard the world peace is our sole goal, of our behavior, of our policy.
Also try to get all the world united to serve all interests.
That's all the time for this edition of World Today.
Thank you, gentlemen.
Hello, my name is Alessandro Golombievski Teixeira.
I'm a professor of public policy and management at Tsinghua University in Beijing.
I am a great listener of The Wall Today.
In my opinion, The Wall Today is one of the best China radio programs.
In The Wall Today, we can get the best news and analysis in what is happening now in the world.
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