Pure delusion, "China exception"

Since the beginning of this year, the concept of "Global South" has suddenly become one of the hot topics in the international public opinion field, and the influence of the group of countries referred to as "Global South" in international affairs has indeed shown a significant upward trend.

At the recently opened 78th United Nations General Assembly, the concerns expressed by countries from the "global South" have significantly influenced the agenda and agenda of the General Assembly.

Why did this concept suddenly become popular and receive increasing attention from all walks of life?

It is generally believed that the predecessor of the concept of "Global South" was the "Third World", which often referred to countries that were relatively poor or had historically experienced colonial rule. Geographically speaking, compared to developed countries mainly located in the northern hemisphere, these "third world" countries are mainly distributed in the southern and northern hemispheres, so the international community is accustomed to referring to them as "southern countries".

During the Cold War, the bipolar structure between the United States and the Soviet Union involved many "southern countries" in confrontation and hegemony. The "southern countries" that did not want to choose sides hoped to gain space for themselves by launching cooperation mechanisms such as the Bandung Conference, the Non Aligned Movement, and the Group of 77. With the end of the Cold War and the end of the bipolar system, the economic systems of globalization and neoliberalism began to integrate the world into one economic system. Southern countries also began to seek development opportunities within frameworks such as the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund. In this situation, "global" is increasingly appearing as a prefix to "southern" and expressed as "global southern".

The 58th Munich Security Conference held in mid to late February this year, as well as the G7 summit held in late May, have both invited many representatives from "global southern" countries for the first time. The former also set up a special discussion on "North South cooperation", but both excluded China.

Not long ago, Wang Yi, a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Director of the Central Foreign Affairs Office, also put forward China's four point proposal on strengthening cooperation among countries in the "Global South" during his attendance at the BRICS High Representative Conference on Security Affairs in Johannesburg, and emphasized that China is a natural member of the "Global South".

To some extent, the rise of this concept is due to both the historical reasons why the world situation has become increasingly unpredictable since the Ukraine crisis, as well as the structural elements of the accelerated evolution of unprecedented changes, deep adjustment and transformation of the world pattern.

Looking back at the historical evolution of the term "global south", its connotation and extension have always been unclear. What it identifies has never been an international organization or group of countries with clear members, clear strategic goals, and established institutional institutions.

But there is no doubt that most of these countries that have appeared on the global stage with a "global southern" appearance have suffered from colonial rule by Western countries in history, and are also basically victims of the current unfair and unreasonable international order. Therefore, their independent pursuit of their own survival and development rights is the distinctive background of these countries.

Since there is an inherent structural conflict between the unequal global governance mechanisms led by the West and the countries of the "Global South", it is evident that the United States and the West have frequently hyped up the concept of the "Global South" this year, attempting to compete for the right to define it and enhance their influence on the group of "Global South" countries.

From the current situation, it is precisely because a considerable number of "global southern" countries in the Ukraine crisis have maintained a neutral stance, passively responded or even actively opposed the Western isolation of Russia in international multilateral mechanisms, which has led to a sense of urgency for the West to win over the "global southern". Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has expressed this very clearly: "If the West is abandoned by the global South, it will become a minority and not conducive to solving policy issues."

From the perspective of power comparison, the global economic center of gravity is accelerating its shift from developed economies to the "global south". According to data from the International Monetary Fund, in 1990, emerging markets and developing economies accounted for only 36.9% of global gross domestic product; By 2022, this share has increased to 58.3%, 16.5 percentage points higher than the share of developed economies, and this trend is expected to continue in the foreseeable future. This change makes it difficult for developed countries to rely solely on their own strength to influence the world situation, and they need to seek cooperation from countries in the "global south".

From the perspective of operational means, the "China debt trap theory" fabricated by the United States and the West, and the "China exception theory" frequently advocated by Japan, "China does not belong to the global south", directly point out their intentions: "the global south" is the strategic catch they hope to create to contain China at present.

The division of the "global southern countries" between the United States and the West, as well as the instrumental manipulation of the concept of "global southern", is essentially an attempt to block the evolution of the international order towards a more fair and just direction. It is an attempt to maintain the existing world pattern through false promises that cannot be fulfilled, hoping that the past global capitalist distribution system will continue and continue to seize excess returns.

Nowadays, the United States and the West, who are constantly striving to cooperate with the "Global South," are precisely one of the sources of limited development opportunities and lack of international discourse power for countries in the "Global South.".

The United States and the West have long been wooing political support from developing countries, but they have always turned a blind eye to their difficulties in debt, food, climate change, and other issues. Moreover, they often ignore the differences and cultural differences between different countries and try to shape the development model of the "global South" using the so-called "Washington model".

This speckled misdeeds is precisely the biggest reason why "global southern countries" insist on getting rid of Western capital and external political interference, building an independent political model, and choosing the path of independent development.

China, on the other hand, not only sets a model for the development of "global southern" countries through its own development process, but also continuously increases its investment in South South cooperation. The continuous promotion of the implementation of global development initiatives, global security initiatives, and global civilization initiatives has expanded the space for the development and cooperation of the "global South".

Compare the two and make a clear judgment.

Fairness and freedom in people's hearts, the United States and the West vigorously manipulate China to exclude it from the "global south", which is truly wishful thinking.

Author: Yang Sen

Author's affiliation: China Overseas Security Research Institute