The chairman of the US-based Kuhn Foundation says that China is changing from reactive to proactive in international relations and that its one road, one belt initiative shows a grand vision of the county’s active engagement with the outside world.

Robert Lawrence Kuhn, who made the remark during a seminar on the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, in the city of Quanzhou, Fujian province, on Feb. 12, is a longtime friend of China, who showcases modern China and is the author of How China’s Leaders Think and The Man Who Changed China: The Life and Legacy of Jiang Zemin.

Speaking about China’s current leader, Kuhn went on to say, “Xi recognizes that China cannot compete for global leadership with power alone and that economic and military strength, while necessary, are not sufficient. There must also be a moral or ethical component to China’s rise. It needs to ride the high road, offering an alternative geopolitical vision that is in some sense superior to that of the West. Xi has said that it should ‘see to it that equal importance is placed on justice and benefits, faithfulness, friendship, and righteousness, and must foster ethics’.”

Kuhn says he believes that the One Belt, One Road program heads towards mutual benefits which will bring economic integration among the countries involved, promote infrastructure development and institutional innovation, create new economic and employment growth, and increase their capacity for endogenous growth and for protecting themselves against risks.

He concluded by saying, “China has become a leading nation by asserting, not by resisting, moral leadership, even if it involves problems. I applaud China for assuming more responsibility in global stability, from reigning in rogue regimes to providing humanitarian relief. In today’s world, the real conflict is not between opposing political systems but rather between the forces of modernity, competence and development and those of ignorance, exploitation and oppression. As such, China’s increasing engagement with global diplomacy should be celebrated.”

By Liu Xiaoyu from China Daily Fujian Bureau