"America can't take it anymore!" was heard at the Beijing Peace Forum - the world must unite

Global security and development cannot be ensured without cooperation and mutual respect, participants at the 13th World Peace Forum in Beijing agreed. They denounced trade wars, hegemony and the inability of the US to face new realities.

During the three-day World Peace Forum in Beijing from Wednesday to Friday, leading Chinese and foreign leaders discussed ways to share responsibility for maintaining world peace and developing globalisation for the benefit of all.

Former Chinese ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai warned against "zero sum" in international politics. In his view, a path where states ensure their own security at the expense of others only leads to stalemate and intractable conflict.

Liu Jianchao, head of the International Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, pointed out at the luncheon that 80 years since the end of World War II is an appropriate moment for reflection: '80 years ago, the world hoped for lasting peace. Today, we face the return of traditional security threats. We need to rethink how to build a long-term and effective global security architecture."

Herman van Rompuy, former President of the European Council and Belgian Prime Minister, warned against trade wars, especially tariff wars, which he said were not good for anything and undermined trust between countries. "There are no winners in a trade war," he said.

Liu highlighted the principle of mutual benefit as the basis of international relations: 'It is not about one side winning and the other losing. The competition is not about leaving others behind, but about strengthening oneself."

Former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, a well-known advocate of friendship with China, has called for East Asian diplomacy to be independent of the United States. "America has changed and will not return to its former role," he said. He stressed the need for trilateral cooperation between China, Japan and South Korea.

At the same time, he called for Japan to come to terms more honestly with its wartime past and to reflect more on its actions during the period of aggressive expansion.

The forum, with the theme "Promoting Global Peace and Prosperity: shared responsibility, contribution and success", was co-hosted by Tsinghua University and the China Institute of Foreign Affairs.

CMG