Global Times: GGI resonates with common expectations of the global majority

BEIJING, Sept. 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- In this pivotal year of 2025 - commemorating both the 80th anniversary of the victory in the World Anti-Fascist War and the founding of the UN - Chinese President Xi Jinping put forward the Global Governance Initiative (GGI), offering China's wisdom and solutions to further strengthen and improve global governance. The Global Times (GT) has launched a series of interviews, "China's vision on global governance,", to share international scholars' insights into the spirit, contemporary relevance and global significance of the GGI.

In the first installment of the series, Ong Tee Keat (OTK), president of Belt and Road Initiative Caucus for Asia Pacific and former Malaysian minister of transport, told GT reporter Li Aixin in an interview that when the compromised global order is attuned to serving certain countries' unilateral interests at the expense of the global majority, calls and actions to reset the ailing order are absolutely necessary, relevant and laudable.

GT: From your perspective, what stands out as the key practical significance of the GGI, and why does it carry necessity, particularly in the present historical context?

OTK: The GGI is rolled out when global governance comes to a crossroad characterized by increasingly fragile peace and incoherent leadership in the face of existential challenges, alongside denial of the global majority's aspirations by rising protectionist and hegemonic unilateralism. It coincides with the 80th anniversary of the founding of the UN which saw the increasing untenability of rules-based world institutions, rendering global governance dysfunctional in face of common challenges.

It serves as a clarion wake-up call to alert the international community of the imperative to reflect and reset the existing global order before further decadence.

The GGI presents a multi-dimensional agenda for resetting global governance with actionable and deliverable initiatives which are entailed in the Global Development Initiative (GDI), Global Security Initiative (GSI) and Global Civilization Initiative (GCI). The GDI and GSI form the mutually-reinforcing duo which promotes peace through development, and the dividend of peace in return will further provide a conducive environment bolstering development.

Parallel to this, the GCI provides a Chinese solution to breaking the civilizational silos that impede inter-civilization interaction and understanding, thereby pre-empting the prophecy of clash of civilizations. Now, the GGI calls for the world to take real actions in addressing the prevailing woes derailing global governance. It's not that the major shortcomings remain unidentified but it's the lack of collective global resolve in resetting the skewed order for fear that the reigning hegemon might have its primacy hamstrung.

GT: How do you view the five core concepts of the GGI? Could you share your perspective on the world China envisions through them?

OTK: The set of five core concepts portrays an ideal model of global governance that the world should rightfully be striving for. They align with the contemporary needs and aspirations of the global majority. Yet it remains a tall order as the reigning hegemon stays recalcitrant in upholding its "exceptionalism," mounting a naked challenge to "sovereignty equality" and "international rule of law."

Meanwhile, promoting multilateralism is central to fostering globalized cooperation which is crucial to mitigating common challenges concertedly. Conversely, protectionist unilateralism only catalyzes the fragmentation of our "global village," rendering the international community impotent in face of exigencies.

The ideal of committing to a people-centered approach is virtually rooted in inclusivity that involves all stakeholders who ultimately deserve to be rewarded with a fair share of dividends of any human endeavor. This is a tall order amid the world of diverse polity and political systems but it's an egalitarian model.

To go for an action and result-oriented approach in resetting global governance is absolutely relevant and imperative to command the delivery of the deliverables.

Ultimately, as the GGI is gaining traction with more countries coming on-board, it is envisaged that the privileged minority which has been holding sway in global matters for far too long will gradually have its clout eroded, thus paving way for the potential emergence of a more egalitarian order.

GT: From the GDI, GSI, GCI, to today's GGI - which together form a more comprehensive set of "four initiatives" - how do you see the connections among them?

OTK: The "four initiatives" are interrelated and mutually complementary. Comprehensively, the "4 in 1" set envisions fostering a new model of global governance underpinned by an egalitarian and multilateral order characterized by inclusivity and symbiosis, alongside being grounded in development-driven peace and civilizational understanding, thus leaving no space for exceptionalism and hegemony.

The successive roll out of "public goods" in the form of "global initiatives" as the Chinese solutions to the ailing global governance is a clear manifestation of China's commitment to playing a more prominent global role as a major power. No other nation should ever frown upon it, more so when the incoherent global governance is getting increasingly untenable in the present evolving order.

GT: Looking to the future, what are your expectations for the prospects of the GGI?

OTK: Knowing that the GGI is set to be confronted with a rough international terrain ahead, the initiative needs to garner sufficient support worldwide to gain the desired traction. The GGI must go in unison with the other three global initiatives to make it actionable. To this end, partnership engagement with regional and sub-regional groupings is to be prioritized with specific programs rolled out under the framework of the four initiatives. All these have to go in tandem with the full cooperation of such alternative multilateral development banks as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the New Development Bank, which are tasked to address the potential gaps in development finance.

GT: How do you see Malaysia and ASEAN engaging with the Global Governance Initiative? What unique roles could ASEAN play in connecting regional development with broader global governance?

OTK: In view of the prevailing China-ASEAN dynamics and the enduring ties, ASEAN member states including Malaysia look receptive to the GGI. Such optimism stems primarily from the bloc's positivity toward the various Chinese-led initiatives, such as the Belt and Road Initiative, China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 and the ideal to build an ASEAN-China community with a shared future.

In advancing the GGI, ASEAN - the top trading partner of China - could provide a good template in linking regional development with broader global governance. The three key pillars of ASEAN Community Vision 2045, in political security, economics and social culture, constitute ready dimensions for collaboration with China in pursuit of a "Resilient, Innovative, Dynamic and People-Centred ASEAN." This collective vision of strengthening regional peace, economic integration and social development aligns well with the four Chinese initiatives designed to reset global governance.

To this end, the existing China-ASEAN partnership offers an ideal platform to extend beyond mere trade. Its leverage to engage with other regional groupings for broader cooperation is to be given full play.

SOURCE Global Times