Zhang Baijia, former Deputy Director of the Party History Research Office of the CCP Central
Committee, wrote an article captioned 'To formulate the correct foreign policy, three factors
are particularly important - to gain the initiative in the complex international game' in the
Beijing Daily (September 5). He listed the three factors as: "First, accurately judge the
international situation. Judging from the party's historical experience, the objective
international situation and the judgment of the international situation are two issues. Because
it is not the objectively existing international situation that directly affects or decides policy
formulation, but the decision-makers' judgment on the objective situation. Only when the
judgment is accurate and the subjective meets the objective can the correct policies be
formulated. Second, correctly handle the relationship between domestic affairs and foreign
affairs." "After the reform and opening up, a major change in the guiding ideology of China's
diplomatic work is to clarify that the main purpose of diplomatic work is to serve the central
work of the party and the country, and to create a favourable external environment for China's
modernization drive. This is a particularly big change in China's diplomacy. Third, know yourself and the enemy, and it is especially important to understand the limits of each other's
strengths and learn to think in empathy. In order to prevail in complex international games, one
must know oneself and one's enemy. An important aspect is to know the limits of each other's
strength, which is very important when gaming. Empathy cannot be simply understood as
thinking about others, including this element, but more importantly, to ensure the effectiveness
of our proposed policies. Only by learning to think in the position of others can we predict
which policies or plans we propose are acceptable or possible to the other party, and which are
impossible to accept. Only in this way can our proposed policies be truly targeted and truly
solve the problem." Discussing how to gain the initiative in complex international games,
Zhang Baijia said "The most basic difference between dealing with foreign affairs,
international issues and dealing with domestic affairs is that in foreign affairs, there are a lot of
factors that cannot be directly controlled, not unilateral actions, but interactions. This is very
different from formulating and implementing domestic policies". He said, "To achieve benign
interaction and gain relative advantages in international games, some form of united front is
inseparable". Quoting Mao, Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping at some length, Zhang Baijia said
" the "Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence" has an international character and is derived
from recognized international norms and the UN Charter, and none of them was initiated by
China", however, "these five principles also reflect the characteristics of the combination of
morality and law in traditional Chinese political culture. It is worth noting that there is also the
manner and timing of the "Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence". Although these five
principles were first proposed by Zhou Enlai in 1953 during the China-India (degree)
negotiation on the Tibet issue, they really aroused extensive international attention and had a
major international impact. The Joint Statement was jointly put forward by the Prime Ministers
of China and Myanmar. The timing and the way of presentation made the Five Principles an
unprecedented response in the Cold War era. Khrushchev pointed out in the report of the 20th
National Congress of the CPSU that if the United States and the Soviet Union can handle their
mutual relations in accordance with the "Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence" proposed by
China, India then bilateral relations can be improved, and world peace can also be achieved
and guaranteed. It is extremely rare for the Soviets to highly affirm the foreign policies of other
countries. The case of "Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence" can cause us a lot of thinking,
and it can also give us new inspiration today."
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