CRI听力:China-EU Forum Calls to Beef Up Cooperation in the UN

Scholars attending a forum on China and the European Union as Global Partners underline that both should strengthen their cooperation in the UN Security Council. The forum has also called for reform of the United Nations to meet new challenges.

Wu Jia reports:



The United Nations was established at the end of World War II to reflect the international situation and politics more than 60 years ago.

But the world today has changed dramatically. And the efficacy of the UN has been questioned, especially its ability to solve serious global issues.

Representatives at the two-day forum in Beijing point out that both China and the EU believe it is necessary to reform the UN according to the current geopolitical situation.

Cheng Weidong, Professor at the Institute of European Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, says although differences between China and the EU exist, the primary purpose of their cooperation is to strengthen the role and increase the efficiency of the UN in global governance.

"China-EU cooperation at the UN is different from their bilateral cooperation. Although it requires good bilateral relations, its fundamental purpose is not merely for the bilateral interests but for dealing with global issues of long-term significance."

Although no consensus has been reached so far on how to reform the UN, Cheng suggests that the most important thing is to strengthen the UN Security Council's ability to act instead of adding several other permanent members.

In the area of peacemaking, Andrew Small of the German Marshall Fund says that re-establishing the UN Security Council's function of peace mediation will be another important shared task for Europe and China in the coming years.

"The role of the Security Council and the Offices of the Secretary General have been somewhat squeezed in the last few years, particularly in the case of Iraq and Afghanistan where there's real prospect of being able to find ways to push this back up the agenda. (It) will depend partly on the effectiveness of the Secretary General as well as depend on the keenness of some of the major states, China and the Europeans to push the resumption of this."

Other major challenges that China and Europe face include the Iranian nuclear issue and the peacekeeping efforts in Sudan.

And how to seek common points while understanding disagreements on these areas will, to a large extent, define China-EU cooperation on global security issues.

Organized by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the forum has also explored cooperation between China and the European Union in other frameworks, such as the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and the G20.

For CRI, I'm Wu Jia.