Speaking to the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, Hormoz Jafari, referring to the Chinese President’s request to Iran to participate in the “Global Development Initiative” and “Global Security Initiative” led by Beijing, in a meeting with the President of our country and on the sidelines of the Shanghai Summit, said that the Global Development Initiative was proposed last year by the President of China and at the United Nations General Assembly meeting with the aim of contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals until 2030 to help developing countries recover from the economic shock caused by Covid-19.

He stated that the “global development initiative” was presented with a focus on sustainable development and the President of China welcomed Iran’s joining this plan, adding that the “Global Security Initiative” this year was presented by Xi Jinping at the so-called Asian BOAO Summit. This initiative should be analyzed in the framework of the competition of great powers and at the macro level; Because these plans are rooted in the macro and strategic goals of the emerging superpower China, and this country is trying to introduce itself as an alternative or competitor for the management of global affairs, especially in interaction with developing countries.

This international affairs analyst said that the Chinese insist that global governance under the leadership of the United States and based on American values ​​and structures has problems and has not reached its goals based on sustainable development, especially in relation to developing countries and sustainable security, and now China wants to provide a solution and help to achieve these goals and convert these plans to policies and find necessary structures. In this process, China can institutionalize the role and position of leadership that it seeks at the international level.

“So far, China has presented several plans, including the “One Belt – One Road” plan and the new plan, which is referred to as global development, is a supplement to that plan; With the difference that the new plan is based on development and is software-oriented and puts people and scientific and technological assistance in the center of attention. In fact, the Chinese are looking for a better organization to the past plans to clearly define the goals. They want to better formulate China’s macro policies in the world ahead and finally provide the conditions to advance their national interests and ensure their national security at the international macro level and in competition with America”.

This expert of the Presidential Technology Studies Center stated that China’s plans are close to the strategic approach of the Islamic Republic of Iran regarding international governance and emphasized that if we pay attention to the discussions of the President of China at the BOAO meeting, when he deals with the agenda and principles of global security, he emphasizes respect for national sovereignty, non-interference in other countries, opposition to unilateral sanctions, application of internal laws at the international level and opposition to unilateralism and emphasis on the approaches of the United Nations Charter are considered.

Stating that China is trying to announce that the American model of security is not the only model presented at the international level, regarding the regional and international consequences of the implementation of China’s development and security ideas in opposition to the United States, Jafari said “The President of China, while presenting the “global security” plan, emphasized that the Cold War thinking should be abandoned; Because in the current structure of the international system, Cold War thinking, in the sense of blocking the West against the East, is not acceptable and there are no indicators for it. In this situation, the Chinese have the highest level of economic and commercial interaction with the United States, and America’s undisputed allies, such as the Zionist regime, Saudi Arabia, and the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf, have more economic and political interactions with China than the United States.

“In the current situation, due to the emergence of a new superpower named China, alternative and competing models are presented for development plans and models and political management and political governance models, and different countries will choose according to their national interests and security in which field to work with China or with other countries”.

Explaining the principles of the “idea of ​​global development”, Jafari listed the provision of financial aid, digital and cyber governance, economic development, energy security, and economic issues among the topics of interest in this idea and noted that the guidelines of these plans can theoretically bring Iran macro and strategic input.

Jafari reminded that “in any case, China seeks to secure its national interests. It is true that it presents national interests in the framework of beautiful sentences, about international responsibility and efforts to help other developing economies, but in any case, they also examine the capacities of the target countries. In Iran, there are plenty of mineral resources, cheap and rich energy, and Iran has a cheap labor force and a market of 85 million people, which is significant for Chinese goods and technology. On the other hand, there are opportunities in these Chinese mega-plans for Iran, whose exploitation should be carefully examined according to the relevant political, security and economic consequences”.

At the same time, this expert on international issues emphasized that these cases are still at the level of ideas and it should be seen how they will proceed in the implementation stage.

This analyst of international issues explained that Iran should consider the positive aspects and unique opportunities that can exist within the framework of these plans, and include them in possible agreements, including the agreements under the 25-year cooperation agreement between Iran and China, and by observing the principle of balance to be pursued in the field of foreign policy. As a developing regional power, we should consider which ideas can serve our interests.