On July 3, 2021, the 9th World Peace Forum was held at Tsinghua University. State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi was invited to attend the opening ceremony of the Forum and delivered a keynote speech titled "Safeguarding World Peace and Promoting Human Progress".

Wang Yi said, China has just celebrated the centenary of the Communist Party of China (CPC). General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered an important speech, summarized the great achievements Chinese people have made under the leadership of the CPC in the past century, and solemnly announced that China is marching toward the second centenary goal of building China into a great modern socialist country in all respects after achieving the first centenary goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. General Secretary Xi Jinping reviewed the history and looked ahead to the future, stressing the CPC cares about the future of humanity, and wishes to move forward in tandem with all progressive forces around the world.

For a century, the CPC has always adhered to peaceful development, tirelessly upheld world peace and stability, and never sought hegemony, expansion or spheres of influence, striving to develop itself by upholding world peace and to uphold world peace through its own development.

For a century, the CPC has always adhered to fairness and justice, unremittingly promoted the freedom and liberation of human beings, insisted on equality among all countries, irrespective of their size, strength and wealth, and opposed to any country imposing its own will on other countries, or interfering in the internal affairs of other countries, or the strong bullying the weak.

For a century, the CPC has always promoted win-win cooperation, and common development of all countries, pursued a mutually beneficial strategy of opening-up, and replaced confrontation and zero-sum game with cooperation and mutual benefits, using China's new achievements in development to provide the world with new opportunities.

Wang Yi pointed out, the root cause of various confrontations, conflicts and difficulties in governance in the world is that multilateralism is not effectively maintained, and the international norms based on the UN Charter are not fully respected. Upholding and practicing true multilateralism is the right direction to solve complicated problems in today's world and effectively respond to various traditional and non-traditional security challenges. It is also the only way to break zero-sum game, resist unilateral bullying, and truly achieve lasting peace and common security.

First, we should work together to jointly cope with imminent global challenges. What is pressing now is to build a "great wall" against the COVID-19, champion the vision of building a global community of health for all to eschew political division and strengthen international anti-virus cooperation. China initiates and firmly acts on the pledge to make vaccines a global public good. It will do its best to promote the accessibility and affordability of vaccines in developing countries. We should work together to address the major challenge of climate change, foster a community of life for man and nature, and promote harmonious coexistence between man and nature. China will strive to peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. The disposal of the nuclear contaminated water from Japan's Fukushima Nuclear Plant Accident concerns the global marine ecology, and the lives and health of the people around the world. The Japanese government shall fully listen to the legitimate concern of the international society, and refrain from wantonly discharging the wastewater before reaching consensus with all stakeholders and international agencies through consultations. In view of the increasingly prominent non-traditional security challenges such as terrorism, the international community needs to step up coordination, fully implement the UN's counter-terrorism strategies and resolutions, and root out terrorism. The practice of double standard should be avoided in counter-terrorism and de-radicalization and there should be no linkage between terrorism and a certain country, ethnicity or religion.

Second, we should jointly promote the political settlement of global hotspot issues. On the Afghan issue, the most pressing task is to maintain peace and stability and prevent wars or chaos. As the culprit of the Afghan issue, the United States should take responsible measures to ensure a smooth transition of the Afghanistan situation instead of shifting blame. On the issue of Myanmar, the core is to promote internal dialogue and realize political reconciliation. China firmly supports the ASEAN in securing an early "soft landing" for the situation in Myanmar in the ASEAN way. China stands ready to jointly provide Myanmar with anti-pandemic and economic assistance, and it will strengthen communication and mediation through leveraging its friendly relations with all parties of Myanmar. The most important of the Peninsula nuclear issue comes down to the commitment to the general direction of equal dialogue and political settlement. The fundamental principle is dialogue and negotiation and peaceful settlement, and the inevitable approach is phased and synchronized steps. The right way is to advance the denuclearization of the Peninsula and establish a peace regime. On the Palestine-Israel issue, the most fundamental is to uphold the delayed fairness and justice to the Palestinian people, and restart peaceful talks based on the "two-state solution". On the Iranian nuclear issue, what matters most is the earlier return of the United States to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and the complete lifting of all illegal unilateral sanctions against Iran and other third parties.

Third, we should jointly oppose the dangerous acts of deliberately creating divisions and provoking confrontations. The Cold War has been over for nearly 30 years. There is no winner in the Cold War. All the people in the world are suffering from it. History and reality have made it clear, time and again, that we cannot tackle common challenges in a divided world, and confrontation will lead us to a dead end. We must resolutely resist inciting confrontation and stoking division, and remove all barriers threatening international and regional peace and security. Thus, we must categorically reject bloc confrontation, power politics, and interfering in the internal affairs of other countries.

Wang Yi expounded on China's principled position on the issues related to Hong Kong and Taiwan, stressing that China is not the same as it was 100 years ago. No one or no force should underestimate the strong will and the extraordinary ability of the Chinese people to defend their national sovereignty, security, and development interests.

Wang Yi added in the end, the motto of Tsinghua University "self-discipline and social commitment" reflects the entrepreneurship and broad mind of the Chinese nation, and it also echoes China's ambition to contribute more to mankind as a responsible major country. Faced with common challenges of all humankind, China will carry forward the common values of mankind, adhere to true multilateralism, actively practice the new security concept and work with other countries to safeguard world peace and security and build a world of lasting peace and universal security.

The 9th World Peace Forum themed with "International Security Cooperation in the Post-Pandemic Era: Upholding and Practicing Multilateralism" was attended by more than 500 Chinese and foreign guests either online or offline.