A World for Humans, Not Wolves: China’s Bid to Redefine Global Order

by Zhang Weiwei, Professor of Political Science; Director the China Institute of Fudan University [9-30-2025].

Chinese scholar Zhang Weiwei argued that a genuine multipolar world already exists but needs active effort to take shape. (The translation is not perfect).

The western ideas Divide and Rule, we think it’s very stupid. We should promote Unite and Prosper.

Thank you, Madame LaRouche. It’s such an inspiring speech that I’ve just heard. Hope our conference will do well in carrying out the ideas you have expressed.

My topic is Cooperation between BRICS and Europe: to Implement the Oasis Plan and the Agenda 2063 for Africa. As we all know, today, I think the world of multi-polarity is already there. It’s a multi-polar world. As we take BRICS as an example, its overall GDP by purchasing power parity is already much larger than G7, roughly close to 40% of the world’s GDP, compared with 33% of G7. But we should work hard to really create this multi-polar world order. I think our discussion today on this topic is part of this effort to build a kind of infrastructure, architecture. Multi-polar world is not easy, but we have to try hard.

Now, concerning BRICS and Europe, maybe I could focus on the troubled relations between China and Europe. Indeed, there are already some trilateral projects, China, Europe, Africa, in place. Some have been already completed. For instance, Madame LaRouche just mentioned this Ethiopian Renaissance Dam project, a huge one, it’s a success. But on the whole, we are not that optimistic.

So far, what we see from the side of EU, it’s deep rooted mistrust. And for all kinds of reasons, from Chinese point of view, Europe today is no longer that autonomous, not to mention independent, so become a kind of, even French President Macron mentioned, a kind of vessel status to the United States. So they try to serve American interests rather than real European interests. For people outside Europe, it’s so clear, it’s so evident, it’s common sense, you are not independent, you are hurting your own interest. I’ll give you an example, for instance. Thanks to China’s effort to make sure its own security, we have achieved energy self sufficient rate of 85%. But in Europe, it’s always around 40%, in Germany is below 40%. So for this kind of energy self sufficiency level, you can tolerate this kind of bombing destruction of the North Sea, and then no investigation. It’s just a shame, so this is unacceptable, and that of course undermines German industry and manufacturing sector, and Europe as a whole. Just a case of this example. But if you look at the Chinese BRI Initiative, Belt and Road Initiative, it’s already an investment of over $1 trillion, maybe 1/3 is for Africa. China has built or upgraded over 10,000 kilometers of railways, and we have built over 100 ports for Africa. So this infrastructure.

Yet, from the EU’s perspective, it’s about geopolitical rivalry, China versus Europe.

From Chinese point of view, it’s very simple. There is a huge infrastructure index for Africa develop, and China had this competitive advantage. So let’s have a discussion what we called

Three Togethers: discussing together, building together, benefiting together. It’s well received in Africa.

And from Chinese point of view, if we look at the Europe, at least two huge mistakes made by EU as a whole. One is this, in the year 2011 when the Arab Spring occurred, we in China, me included, predicted Arab Spring will become Arab Winter, it will undermine European interests and western interests as well. In the end, Arab Spring becomes Arab Winter and this refugee crisis which hurt so much European interests. And then if we look forward in the second case, is the rise of the African economy. This is a good, it’s on the whole positive. But another aspect we cannot ignore is this high population growth rate. In the 1950s, European population doubles African population. Now African population twice the size of European population. And in the coming years, it will be even higher. You must create jobs in Africa and help Africa develop its own domestic industries. This what China is doing for Africa, we are building actually a regional network of air, land, and whatever regional system for Africa.

In the past, if you want to travel from West Africa, say Ghana, to Kenya, in East Africa, you have to go via London because of the colonial system, it’s all metropolis deciding everything. But China said, Chinese philosophy is Unite and Prosper, not Divide and Rule, so let’s build this regional transportation network based on principle of discussing together, building together, and benefiting together. It’s working well, it’s on the way. So why not European companies do not join this project? It’s not about geopolitics, it’s about mankind and also what we said, profiting together, this is fine. It’s really consensus. You’re out of your own interest join BRI rather than we force you, compel you to join this project. Whether it’s with regard to European companies, Russian companies, American companies, or African companies, it’s all voluntary.

This is the trouble really. Everything now is looked at through this geopolitical rivalry perspective and from the so-called lens of democracy versus autocracy, I think it’s extremely stupid. It’s out of touch with the real world.

Now let’s try to be a bit optimistic when we look into the future, at least, what I’m thinking of what China has done and can do for Africa, and maybe for other Global South countries. Chinese philosophy is very much influenced by this tradition of what do we call the can-do spirit, get things done.

So I would say China acts and EU or Europe talks.

For instance, Europe is known for debating and discussing, raising this whole idea of Green Transition, Green Deal with a lot of fanfare. But in China, it’s done. It’s more or less completed. It is extremely good news for the whole world, for those who want to cope with climate change. By the year 2024, last year, China achieved its objective of carbon reduction. This quarter, the CO2 emissions began to drop by 1.6% last year. While China economy is already the largest by purchasing power party, it has maintained the increase speed of growth roughly 5% a year. It’s the largest manufacturing industries and trading nation in the world. Yet we still manage to ensure that overall CO2 emission dropped.

But China government is very cautious. They did not announce that, they are saying because it’s only 1.6%. So I’m not very sure say, by this year, it will maintain, but the objective is by the 2030, we reverse this trend, and by the 2060, it’s carbon neutrality. So we are doing this very honestly and down to earth spirit with one 5 year plan after other. So with this, what we can see is today China produces roughly 2/3 of solar panels, EV vehicles, and renewable energies, for China and for the world as a whole. China has became the largest exporter of EV cars. As a result, indeed, today’s climate whatever, this whole battle against climate change may be possible with the Chinese model. And in the first place, this whole, whatever facilities, equipment needed for combating this whole climate change, Made in China, it’s affordable for Africa, for many other countries. This is transformative. This change is revolutionary. But what we need is collective will to do that.

And the second good example I want to quote is the whole effort, I think Madame LaRouche has mentioned several times, the Oasis plan, which Schiller Institute has already made available, advanced back in the 1970s. Yet today, in terms of technologies and green financing for these fighting desertification in Africa or in the Middle East, from Chinese experience, can be achieved. I give an example, China completed a huge desert reclamation project called the Taklimakan Desert, it’s one of the largest deserts in the world, it’s the size of Germany, the whole desert, in Xinjiang. That has been encircled with the green belt. Huge effort. It’s the effort of 46 years’ continuous efforts. And within this green belt, we have what we call the photovoltaic farms, where millions of solar panels are installed to generate renewable energies, and underneath there are drought resistant vegetation. Xinjiang, because this desert is in Xinjiang, now is one of the largest producers of grains and wheat and corn in China. Unbelievable success. The most ridiculous story in the western media, including German media, is the story about Xinjiang. It’s so ridiculous for Chinese. You can only laugh at it. So we leave these medias in darkness, whatever they do.

Every year, at least 200 million visitors go to Xinjiang from China. So evident, on the whole it’s a very successful story. This also means if we have a security structure in Africa, in Middle East, Chinese equipment, Chinese technologies, and green finance, China is also doing very well, the world’s largest green financing market. We can work together, you know, put this Oasis plan into reality.

Finally, I just want to say that behind this, what I call very important Chinese ideas, of course the most famous one is Xi Jinping’s idea of building a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind, rather than, we reject this American formula “on the Table or in the Menu”. No, this is the world of wolf. It’s not a real human world.

And also the idea I mentioned, the western ideas Divide and Rule, we think it’s very stupid. We should promote Unite and Prosper.

We do this at home within China over the past decades. Now we are promoting this idea to the whole world.
So I think with all these hopefully positive news, we can make this conference a greater success. Thank you very much.