As both a permanent member of the UN Security Council and the most prominent developing country in the world, China is well placed to help build a stable, prosperous and peaceful world, a US expert on international politics has said.
"More than any country except the United States, China would determine the success or failure of the United Nations as a force for peace and security during the 21st Century," said Stewart M. Patrick, Senior Fellow and Director of the Washington-based Programme on International Institutions and Global Governance, in an exclusive written interview with Xinhua.
"But to discharge this role, it would need to become more active and less passive in offering solutions to global problems, including issues of proliferation and violent conflict," he added.
As a founding member of the United Nations in 1945 and as one of the five permanent members of the Security Council, China has made unremitting efforts to strengthen the UN's role in safeguarding international peace and promoting development across the world.
"Inherent in the idea of China's 'peaceful rise' is the obligation to take on greater responsibilities in keeping with its status as one of the world's most powerful countries," said Patrick, a former US State Department policy planning staff member.
"The United Nations, and particularly the Security Council, provides a critical forum to develop a constructive working relationship between Washington and Beijing to ensure the collective management of global issues," he said.
The United Nations "is also a useful instrument at times for US national and broader global interests," he said. "There is no alternative but to engage it and to help it live up to its founding ideals."
As the most universal and the largest inter-governmental organization in the world, the United Nations plays an irreplaceable role in international cooperation to ensure global security and development.
"It is also critical for the United States to seek common ground in particular with other permanent members of the Security Council, particularly China and Russia, whose support would be essential to achieve peaceful and effective resolution of the most important threats to international peace and security," said Patrick.
"The Bush administration has aspired to see China emerge as a 'responsible stakeholder' in international affairs," he said. "This means a China that is not only more powerful but also willing to use its weight to support international norms and to shoulder some of the burdens of global leadership. The incoming Obama administration very much shares this view."
On China's future role in other international organizations, Patrick commented: "The membership of the G8 (the Group of Eight major industrialized countries) is hopelessly out of date, in not including China, India, Brazil and other major emerging market economies."
Author of "The Best Laid Plans" published in November 2008; Patrick currently focuses his studies on US policy toward global governance.