China has a “huge responsibility” to shape the future world order, as cracks in existing international systems reveal a dire need for reforms, envoys to Beijing told a multilateral forum recently. The German ambassador to China, Patricia Flor, said a “more efficient multilateral system” was needed to tackle the multiple crises facing the world, including climate change, the Ukraine war and the weakening of human and women’s rights.
Addressing these challenges would require greater cooperation and integration between countries, and a “peaceful adaptation” of global institutions, from the World Trade Organization to the UN, Flor said at the annual forum of the Centre for China and Globalisation (CCG), a Beijing-based think tank.
“The way should be to look at a reform that makes our global order fit for purpose, for the tasks and the challenges that we confront,” she said.
“We need to address some of the inefficiencies [of current global frameworks],” Flor added, citing how the UN Security Council was “less able to act” in a time of heightened geopolitical tensions and crisis. The more we have conflicts with China and among us, the weaker our ability to collectively address some of these issues.” The war in Ukraine has revealed cracks in the Security Council, which has repeatedly failed to act swiftly and fulfil its responsibility of maintaining international peace and stability.
To that end, China – as a global power and a permanent member of the UN Security Council – had a “really big responsibility” to shape future changes, Flor said. “Whatever China does matters for the multilateral order as a whole and for our ability to steer reforms in the multilateral system, because the more we have conflicts with China and among us, the weaker our ability to collectively address some of these issues.”
Flor was among ambassadors to China who had gathered for a round-table talk on multilateralism as part of the annual CCG forum in Beijing. Her views were echoed by Turkish ambassador Ismail Hakki Musa, who said China had a “huge responsibility” to drive reforms of international institutions, which he described as “not representative at all”. While the existing liberal international order may have prevented a third world war, it had “fallen short of offering sustainable peace and security for all”, he said, adding: “Current global governance mechanisms are unable to address global challenges timely, fairly and effectively.”
Calling for a robust global system based on solidarity rather than polarity, Musa noted that Turkey had continued to call for a reform of the United Nations and other multilateral institutions to create a “just and fair new order”.
Calls for UN reform, particularly for restructuring the Security Council, have grown louder in recent years. The council’s five permanent members – Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States – represent the victors of World War II, and countries including Brazil, Germany, India and Japan have been pushing to join them. The political, economic, environmental and technological challenges facing the international system indicated the “pressing necessity and inevitability” of a transformation, Musa told the forum, also attended by envoys from New Zealand, Argentina and Estonia.
“I think we almost agree on some inefficiencies of the current system. Let’s not wait for a major conflict in order to reform it,” he said, pointing out that new systems were previously established after such conflicts.
Jorge Toledo, the EU envoy, highlighted the shift from globalization to fragmentation, urging reinforcement of the multipolar system by adhering to the UN Charter’s principles. He emphasized China’s responsibility as a UN Security Council member to uphold these rules. Siyabonga Cwele, South Africa’s ambassador to China, noted that the current world order faces challenges like unilateralism and geopolitical rivalries, eroding international trust. He called for modernizing the UN to be more effective and inclusive. Cwele stressed that multilateralism, guided by the UN Charter, is crucial for addressing global challenges and requires renewed political will to strengthen multilateral relations.
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