/ world at the moment information/ The politician and political scientist Petar Klisarov is the Chairman of the “Direct Democracy” Occasion and the writer of a number of books and quite a few publications.
We speak with him about KMG on the event of the tenth anniversary of the Chinese language megaproject “One Belt, One Street”, which he is aware of nicely and has had the dignity and alternative to take part in a variety of initiatives associated to it.
Q. Mr. Klisarov, as a well known Bulgarian politician and political scientist and because the writer of a variety of books and publications associated to the problems of democracy and its types, please inform us what, in your opinion, is the importance of the Chinese language President Xi’s mega-initiative launched 10 years in the past Jinping “One Belt One Street” – each within the context of shared advantages for the taking part international locations, and for the event of China’s international coverage and financial relations with the international locations included in it? As we all know, on the coronary heart of the megaproject is the connectivity between all taking part international locations, and the chance it gives for this interconnection.
P. Klisarov: This Chinese language initiative was introduced internationally 10 years in the past throughout Xi Jinping’s visits to Indonesia and Kazakhstan, however its idea was proposed by him already throughout the XVIII Congress of the CCP held in 2012, and after this – developed in his speeches within the following years. Xi Jinping’s imaginative and prescient is predicated on the clear consciousness that the earth is the house of all humanity, that it’s at an necessary stage in its growth and has a number of fundamental choices between which it should select. In reality, it’s a query of whether or not to proceed the present course, characterised by the unrestrained dictates of a world superpower and the de facto finish of the nationwide sovereignty of different international locations, or whether or not to comply with the trail provided by China, particularly the pursuit of harmonious interplay, coexistence , mutual advantages and customary growth.
Thus, China proposed a brand new mannequin of worldwide cooperation and growth by strengthening the present regional bilateral and multilateral mechanisms and buildings for the interplay of different international locations with China. Persevering with and growing the spirit of the traditional Silk Street, the Belt and Street Initiative is growing new mechanisms for regional financial partnership, selling the financial prosperity of taking part international locations, strengthening cultural exchanges and ties in all fields between completely different civilizations, and selling of peace and sustainable growth. We will additionally see this within the College Alliance of the New Silk Street (New Silk Street College Alliance), established on Could 22, 2015 and already together with 128 universities from 31 international locations and areas, within the Tourism Union of “One Belt and One Street” Cities “, now together with greater than 45 cities in Eurasia, in addition to in a variety of different ventures.
In keeping with China’s official figures, the Belt and Street covers most of Eurasia and connects growing international locations, together with “rising economies”, with developed international locations. The territory of the megaproject is wealthy in assets, it’s residence to 63% of the world’s inhabitants, and the estimated financial scale is 21 trillion US {dollars}.
Though the West tried to minimize the Chinese language initiative, describing it as a modernization of the transport corridors connecting China with Western Europe (ie the primary producer with the primary consumers) and as an effort to deliver the encircling international locations underneath Chinese language dependence, issues are a lot deeper. The concept is to deliver the precept of equality and mutual growth to a brand new stage – one thing utterly completely different from the thought of Western domination.
With this, China makes its monumental contribution to the development of a brand new world order primarily based exactly on the equality, independence and freedom of growth of every nation.
Q. May you additionally touch upon the elevated significance, particularly lately, of the BRICS initiative, which is one other alternative for cooperation between a variety of international locations?
P. Klisarov: Undoubtedly, the BRICS initiative is the idea of the longer term free growth of countries and rejection of globalism. I particularly wish to draw the excellence between globalization, which is a pure course of because of the growth of expertise and results in international interplay in financial system, commerce, tradition and human change, and globalism, which is an ideology.
Globalization is the dramatically elevated skill for folks to maneuver by means of area and talk in actual time, irrespective of the place they’re, which appears to shrink the planet and unite it. We might name this phenomenon ‘pure globalization’ or ‘planetary interconnectedness’.
Nevertheless, globalism, as an ideology, implies a major renunciation of nationwide sovereignty and the switch of a variety of nationwide powers into the fingers of supranational buildings not chosen by anybody, principally related to banking capital and transnational firms (TNCs). He advocates for a brand new, post-industrial order of the world, a brand new political and financial order subordinated to the world’s energy elites, through which, if carried out, there can be too little room for democracy and above all for independence and free growth.
In globalization there’s a place for robust international locations with their very own identification, historical past and tradition, in globalism such a factor can’t exist.
Now the folks’s eyes are fastened exactly on BRICS and on the intensive growth of this group. The adoption of a brand new worldwide reserve forex, new safety ensures backed by the army giants Russia and China, and new alternatives for speedy growth freed from international dependence will even be extraordinarily necessary. It’s no coincidence that greater than 20 international locations, together with massive economies reminiscent of Turkey, Indonesia, Argentina, Mexico, Iran, and so forth., try to grow to be full members of BRICS. Paradoxically, French President Macron additionally wished to take part within the August summit. That is the event that can put an finish to the worldwide dominance of the Western world that has lasted for greater than 500 years (roughly for the reason that age of the Nice Geographical Discoveries) and can set up a brand new egalitarian system in worldwide relations.
And this can be an unprecedented political and financial revolution, primarily based not on violence, however on cooperation.
Q. As we all know, Bulgaria is among the first international locations to acknowledge the PRC and for a few years has maintained excellent cooperation in numerous spheres of financial system and commerce. How do you assess the significance, alternatives and views that the “One Belt, One Street” initiative gives for the event of Bulgarian-Chinese language relations?
P. Klisarov: It is extremely unlucky that Bulgaria doesn’t take enough benefit of its relations with China, doesn’t search to deepen them, and quite the opposite – follows the disastrous course of the USA and the EU for confrontation with China. Even simply the attention that this can be a nation with nearly 5,000 years of steady growth, which no different nation on the planet even comes near, ought to immediate us to be pals and cooperate with it.
We within the “Direct Democracy” social gathering are of the opinion that within the inevitable large-scale political adjustments that can comply with very quickly, we can have the chance to place our relationships with the PRC on a very completely different foundation and to deepen our cooperation in parameters incomparable to at the moment’s.
If we return to the “One Belt One Street” initiative, it’s primarily based on the mixed tasks of the Silk Street Financial Belt and the twenty first Century Maritime Silk Street. The time period “belt” refers to land routes of street and rail transport, whereas “street” refers to sea routes of water transport. Inside the Silk Street Financial Belt challenge, three trans-Eurasian financial corridors are being shaped: northern (China – Central Asia – Russia – Europe), central (China – Central and Western Asia – Persian Gulf – Mediterranean Sea), and southern (China – Southeast Asia – South Asia – Indian Ocean).
Three worldwide high-speed rail cargo traces depart from the Chinese language metropolis of Chongqing. One route goes south to Singapore, the opposite north to Russia. The third rail takes the longest – approx. 10 thousand kilometers to the West, to the central a part of Europe. 14 international locations are crossed and the ultimate cease is within the German metropolis of Duisburg. A big a part of the Chinese language items exported to Europe depart exactly from Chongqing. Sadly, nonetheless, the high-speed railway from China to Europe bypasses Bulgaria: the road goes by means of Turkey, Greece and from there – west by means of Serbia and Hungary to the ultimate station in Germany.
Our nation, though essentially the most direct path to Central and Western Europe passes by means of it, is uncared for not as a result of we’re in dangerous political relations, however due to the standard of the present railway. infrastructure in Bulgaria. It is a established order that we’ll try to vary. Furthermore, we wish to be an integral a part of the initiative not only for high-speed, however for ultra-high-speed railway, on which not solely items, but in addition passenger trains will go.
However that is solely a part of the issues we wish to do along with China.
In keeping with Bulgarian agricultural specialists, Bulgaria, with its super-fertile lands, can feed greater than 50 million folks, whereas we’re solely 6.5 million, and we import (in response to the admissions of two successive deputy ministers of agriculture) 80% of the meals. That is most likely a file worthy of the Guinness e-book. In brief, we’ve an enormous scope for cooperation with China in agriculture. The identical applies to schooling, medication, a number of industries, tourism and what not.
Q. Because the chairman of the Direct Democracy Occasion, whose principal activity is definitely the creation and growth of democratic processes, might you make some suggestions for the work on this mega-project within the subsequent decade?
P. Klisarov: Though we’re supporters of democracy, the roots of which come from Historic Greece, which has gone by means of numerous phases of growth and finds its completion and highest stage within the mannequin of direct democracy developed by us, we respect all fashions of presidency, so long as they don’t seem to be primarily based on violence and dictatorship. The one criterion for the success of a mannequin is its achievements and the well-being of the folks the place it’s carried out. On this sense, we additionally discover the Chinese language mannequin, primarily based on Confucianism and communist concepts with clearly expressed Chinese language specificity, to be extraordinarily efficient. Proof of that is the belief of contemporary China’s Confucian thought of ”xiaokan” (the average welfare of all), which, as reported in China, was achieved in 2020, in addition to the dizzying growth of the state in all respects within the final 30 years. It’s apparent that China has discovered essentially the most appropriate mannequin for inner growth and doesn’t want any classes that the International West is attempting to provide it.
As for the One Belt One Street challenge, I might say that I might not permit myself to make suggestions to the individuals who launched it and are implementing it, as a result of I would not have the mandatory quantity of data and data. I discover it extraordinarily helpful, large-scale and resulting in a greater world, primarily based on glorious ideas and having nice prospects.
The one factor I might want for is that the Chinese language management doesn’t deviate from the chosen path and follows the ideas and targets formulated by it. They may undoubtedly lead him to appreciable success.
#Petar #Klisarov #China #appropriate #mannequin #growth #classes #International #West
