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View all search resultsWhy ASEAN and China should join hands on global governance
China and ASEAN are well-poised to turn the call of the Global Governance Initiative into concrete results that benefit the region and beyond.
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Chinese Foreign Minster Wang Yi poses for a group photo with ASEAN foreign ministers on July 22 during the ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference with China on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Pasay, Metro Manila. (AFP/Pool/Eloisa Lopez)
T
he world has gone through profound changes, fraught with greater volatility and instability. In September 2025, China’s President Xi Jinping proposed the Global Governance Initiative (GGI) to address deepening deficits in peace, development, security and trust, and provide a prescription to better global governance for lasting peace, universal security, shared prosperity and common development. With 35 years of Dialogue Partnership and 5 years of Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, China and ASEAN are well-poised to turn the call of the GGI into concrete results that benefit the region and beyond.
The five core concepts of the GGI resonate with the underlying values and principles that have been long held dear by ASEAN.
First, sovereign equality and international rule of law advocated by the GGI easily finds their expression in the principles of mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and non-interference in internal affairs enshrined in ASEAN’s foundational instruments such as the Bangkok Declaration, the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia and the ASEAN Charter.
Second, as a group of nations aspiring for peace and development through community building and an important convener for regional cooperation, ASEAN stands as a proud example of multilateralism the GGI calls for. The “ASEAN Way” of consensus-building, peaceful settlement of disputes through consultation and comfort of all echoes the call of the GGI for international law to be applied equally and without double standards, and for global governance to be based on extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits.
Third, there is no coincidence that the ASEAN Community Vision 2045 envisages a people-centered ASEAN while the GGI calls for a people-centered approach for people to be regarded as the essential participants and beneficiaries of global governance. The call for “real action” by the GGI should not be unfamiliar to ASEAN either. After all, no strategy or program of action would be accepted by ASEAN as complete without specific action lines.
Now is the time to translate the shared values and aspirations of China and ASEAN into concrete results in fashioning a global governance system and a regional architecture that stands the test of time and the judgment of the people. Joint efforts to implement the GDI could be explored in the following areas, by virtue of our most dynamic and productive partnership as well as through ASEAN-led mechanisms for regional cooperation.
