appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Orange Wang

At a time of worsening global security, East Asia could eclipse a Europe “no longer worth emulating” and become the benchmark for peace and economic growth, according to a prominent Chinese political scientist.
Yan Xuetong, honorary president of the Institute of International Relations at Tsinghua University in Beijing, also said the widening rift between the United States and its European allies would elevate East Asia’s global standing.
He told a media event in Beijing on Thursday that regardless of the outcome of current negotiations between the US and Iran, “the global security situation will deteriorate rather than improve over the next five years”.
Yan added that there was a growing risk of state-based conflict worldwide, with Europe, the Middle East and Africa likely to face the biggest threats in the coming year.
“If European countries are unable to end the Russia-Ukraine war, do you think they have the capacity to maintain overall peace across Europe? I’m afraid they do not,” Yan said.
“In contrast to Europe, we have maintained a long period of … peace in East Asia,” he added.

Yan noted that since 1991 there had been virtually no inter-state wars in the region, despite some low-level conflicts and the civil war in Myanmar.
He described the East Asia region as comprising five Northeast Asian countries – China, Japan, North and South Korea and Mongolia – and the 11 Association of Southeast Asian Nations members.
“[People] often assume that Europe is safer than East Asia, but history tells us that the foundations of peace in East Asia are stronger than those in Europe,” he said.
“After decades of effort, East Asian countries have developed their own approach to minimise military conflict and, when it does occur, to contain it without escalation to full-scale war,” he said at the event previewing next week’s World Peace Forum hosted by Tsinghua.
Yan said East Asia had shown potential to become the world’s “best” region for maintaining overall peace and sustaining economic growth.
“When it comes to protecting lives and making money, the [East Asia] region will become a relatively successful region in the world,” he said.
The political scientist added that these two areas were indicators of peace and development – the “core” concerns of international relations.
“Europe, the former centre of the world, is unable to maintain peace or achieve growth. It may no longer be seen as a region worth emulating,” he said.
“Another factor that will contribute to East Asia’s rise is the growing split between the US and Europe,” he added.
Yan’s comments come as the US-Israeli war against Iran has further strained ties between the two sides of the Atlantic.
Washington’s allies have suffered significant economic losses from the conflict’s fallout – including the ongoing crisis in the Strait of Hormuz – and have shown reluctance to become directly involved, while the White House has lashed out at them for failing to support its military campaign.

Underscoring deepening fissures within the transatlantic alliance, US President Donald Trump reiterated that he was “disappointed” with Nato members for not backing Washington’s war effort against Iran when he met Secretary General Mark Rutte at the Oval Office on Wednesday.
Before that, Trump took aim at Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on social media on Saturday, saying she “wouldn’t even let us use Italy’s landing strips or runways — a great logistical inconvenience — and this despite the fact the U.S. contributes hundreds of billions of dollars a year to protect Italy and other ‘so-called’ NATO allies”.
The US and Iran began talks this week in a bid to reach a final agreement to end the war within 60 days.
According to Yan, the conflict “will inevitably intensify the global arms race”.
He said that as the use of unmanned weaponry increased, nations with a military edge would have a lower risk of personnel casualties and would be more inclined to carry out preventive strikes – leaving other countries feeling less secure and prompting higher defence spending.
Yan also said the war had exposed “double standards” in the international community’s tolerance of nuclear weapons – one applied to Iran and another to Israel – which could make it more difficult to uphold the non-proliferation regime.
He noted that both sides had used the Strait of Hormuz as a tool of war but had not faced any action from other countries, which he said raised a new question over who would ensure the security of international maritime routes in the future.
“Have you heard of any country proposing sanctions on the US for blocking the Strait of Hormuz? There hasn’t even been such a call,” he said.


South Korea steps up to plug Europe’s jet fuel deficit

Chinese firms keen on investing in Oman’s International Financial Centre: official

Houthis claim attacks on Saudi capital, after flames seen near Riyadh airport

Somali piracy rise tests China’s long-running Gulf of Aden mission

US-Israel war on Iran

Why East Asia could be the new centre for peace and economic growth

East Asia could become the world’s “best” region for maintaining overall peace and sustaining economic growth, according to a Chinese political scientist. Photo: AFP

Yan Xuetong, honorary president of the Institute of International Relations at Tsinghua University, speaks to the media in Beijing on Thursday. Photo: Handout

Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte (left) with US President Donald Trump at the Oval Office on Wednesday. Photo: AP

New poll shows eroding global trust in Trump and America

About two-thirds of respondents had little or no confidence in Donald Trump on global affairs. Photo: Getty Images via AFP

UN halts escort of ships through Hormuz after Singapore-flagged vessel attacked

Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, on June 18. Photo: Reuters

A man pumps petrol in Austin, Texas on Thursday. Prices fell after the US and Iran reached a preliminary agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Photo: AFP

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Bahrain on Thursday. Photo: AFP

An explosion on Sunday at Qatar’s Ras Laffan industrial zone, home to the world’s largest liquefied natural gas hub, has implications for the global energy market on top of the Iran war. Photo: AFP

Pummelled by Ukraine, Russia says US hasn’t delivered on Trump-Putin ‘understandings’

Smoke billows behind an Orthodox church following a reported Ukrainian drone attack, in Moscow, Russia, on Thursday. Photo: EPA

Wrecked cars are seen as people buy food at an improvised outdoor market in Kyiv on Monday. Photo: AP

News

China

Diplomacy

Chinese political scientist Yan Xuetong notes that the foundations of peace in the region ‘are stronger than those in Europe’


Chinese political scientist Yan Xuetong notes that the foundations of peace in the region ‘are stronger than those in Europe’.


Why East Asia could be the new centre for peace and economic growth

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Chinese political scientist Yan Xuetong notes that the foundations of peace in the region ‘are stronger than those in Europe’

Chinese political scientist Yan Xuetong notes that the foundations of peace in the region ‘are stronger than those in Europe’