On May 19, 2022, at the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, held via video conference, officials from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa gathered. In his opening address, Chinese President Xi Jinping called on the BRICS countries to “establish a global security community”.[i] This call revived the “Global Security Initiative” and “Global Development Initiative” concepts Xi recently proposed.[ii] In response, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi proposed “starting the enlargement process of BRICS, exploring the criteria and procedures for this, and gradually establishing a consensus”.[iii] In both Xi’s and Wang’s speech, the common emphasis was on refraining from the Cold War mentality, preventing interbloc polarization and building a multi-polar world within a global sense of security and development.
According to China, the security of one country or region affects the whole other world. This idea is in line with Russia’s “indivisible-holistic security principle” for the West. In fact, China was influenced by the Russian theses. So Xi’s ideas of creating a collective security community around the world were actually formed after the Russo-Ukrainian War. Moscow claims that the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) threatened Russia’s security and made war inevitable. China has made similar claims, suggesting that further security-defense measures by NATO and the United States of America (USA), both in Asia and in the Pacific, are jeopardizing its own security. So if NATO comes to Asia or the Pacific, it’s possible for China to launch an attack on Taiwan or on other Pacific islands. To prevent this, Xi proposed spreading multilateralism to BRICS countries, rejecting hegemonic approaches and building a collective security-development community based on a win-win.
In Beijing’s view, the West’s polarization politics pose a threat to the security of the world. In response, China claims that it poses no threat to the world. Wang stated that since the founding of his country, he never started a war, never invaded the territory of another country, never engaged in a proxy war, never joined the military blocs, and never set up any military blocs.[iv] For this reason, according to Wang, China has the best record in the world for peace and security issues. The main threats come from Western defense alliances.
In order to avoid this threat, China is working its thesis to unite the world’s most biased nations in defense of multilateralism, thus resisting Western unilateral moves that have disrupted the status quo. To this end, China is seeking to create a global security-development platform through the expansion of BRICS. More specifically, the enlargement of BRICS will serve as a suitable basis for China’s Global Security Initiative. China has called for a benchmark set of criteria needed to further expand this platform, which brings together the world’s fast-growing economies. Turkey, Indonesia and Mexico, as well as many other fast-growing economies in the world, could therefore join the platform in the years to come. The common characteristic of these countries is their rapid growth and also a keen interest in building the multipolar world.
China appreciates BRICS in building the global security community, and in this sense, India’s contribution. Because New Delhi is a country that can move around Washington in terms of security. India, for example, is a member of the QUAD. This is seen as a major security threat to China. Because there’s a possibility that this structure could become a new NATO in the Pacific. And the actor who blocked it was India. The appearance of AUKUS can also be seen as a consequence. New Delhi, in particular, does not want relations with Moscow to deteriorate. In fact, with Moscow’s encouragement and direction, New Delhi is approaching Beijing. In short, India serves as a “safety valve” to prevent the creation of an “anti-China” security-defense organization in the Pacific. In addition to refusing to take the stand against China, India also opposes discussing the Russian issue at QUAD meetings. That is why Russia and China will want to take full advantage of India’s neutral position to create a security platform in the world.
As a result, China’s efforts to expand BRICS are being driven by increased security threats against it. NATO and the United States continue to pressure China in its immediate surroundings. Beijing has proposed Moscow’s theses against the West. China may soon attempt to invade Taiwan if they come at it further. Whether China really wants to do that is the question mark. Developments, including the recent Taiwan Crisis, also point to Russia. Perhaps Putin has suggested to Xi the idea of creating a global security platform. Because Russia itself is in a war; it may not be very convincing for him to take a peace initiative. He could be making China do it for him. Here in Russia, if China considers its cheap and fast production capabilities, it is impossible to say that will have positive consequences for global politics and security. So much so that China might even consider using the BRICS platform to do it quickly. However, BRICS does not seem to be the right platform for building the security-development axis world that China aspires to. Because the world is becoming equally difficult to create a polarized, highly peaceful security architecture. In short, China’s efforts to expand BRICS may be a polarization product.
[i]“Xi Calls on BRICS Countries to Build Global Community of Security for All”, Xinhua Net, “https://english.news.cn/20220519/82a6dd1e9a324e7f821bdc1d2940f6b1/c.html, (Date of Accession: 20.05.2022).
[ii] “China to Work with BRICS to Promote Common Development: Xi”, Xinhua Net, https://english.news.cn/20220520/68adbabe950f49f592bf48bd1b17c026/c.html, (Date of Accession: 20.05.2022).
[iii] “China Calls for Expanding BRICS bloc of Emerging Economies”, Nikkei Asia, https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/China-calls-for-expanding-BRICS-bloc-of-emerging-economies, (Date of Accession: 20.05.2022).
[iv] “Chinese FM Elaborates on China-Proposed Global Security Initiative, Stresses Nation Will Always be the Backbone of Guarding World Peace”, Global Times, https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202204/1260149.shtml, (Date of Accession: 20.05.2022).
