2017年11月12日星期天，（左起）美國總統特朗普，菲律賓總統杜特爾特，合作夥伴謝里托·阿文卡納和中國國務院總理李克強，在菲律賓馬尼拉舉行的東盟50周年特別慶祝會開始之前合影留念。 這次慶祝活動標誌着東南亞國家聯盟成立五十周年。 （美聯社/艾倫法維拉）

中國國家主席習近平在中共十九大報告中鄭重呼籲：“各國人民同心協力，構建人類命運共同體，建設持久和平、普遍安全、共同繁榮、開放包容、清潔美麗的世界。”推動人類命運共同體建設，共同創造人類的美好未來，已經成為中國對外關係中的一項根本目標。

人類命運共同體只能是全球化向縱深發展的產物，其構建是人類發展進程的大勢所趨，是涵蓋政治、安全、經濟、社會、文化、生態等多領域的綜合性系統工程。人類命運共同體是在聯合國的基礎上發展起來，還是另起爐灶，建立新的全球合作架構？顯而易見，這不是在現階段能夠預測和提供答案的問題。但無論如何，從推出理念到建成實體，需要以一個地區合作組織或已經形成的多邊國際機製為依託。

構建人類命運共同體，既是中國提出的長遠目標，又是中國責無旁貸的全球責任。提出這個設想，標誌着中國同外部世界關係和中國國際戰略思想的重大轉變。但是，共同體不會從天而降，而是需要中國號召、引領與協調，同時找到一個落腳點。在博鰲亞洲論壇2015年年會上，習近平主席在演講中指出：“面對風雲變幻的國際和地區形勢，我們要把握好世界大勢，跟上時代潮流，共同營造對亞洲、對世界都更為有利的地區秩序，通過邁向亞洲命運共同體，推動建設人類命運共同體”。2016年11月19日，習近平主席在亞太經合組織工商領導人峰會上的主旨演講中又指出：“地瓜的藤蔓向四面八方延伸，但它的塊莖始終長在根基位置。同樣道理，無論發展到什麼程度，中國都將紮根亞太、建設亞太、造福亞太。”

我們認為，中國在同世界各國共同構築人類命運共同體的進程中，應當從中國和周邊國家的合作起步，紮根亞太，由近及遠地向外拓展，形成亞太命運共同體，從而為全人類的命運共同體打下基礎，並提供借鑒和榜樣。我們提出這一設想的根據是：

第一，中國的經濟騰飛起步於亞太，首要安全關切也在亞太。

中國的改革開放，首先借鑒的是“東亞四小龍”（中國香港、中國台灣、韓國、新加坡）和日本的發展經驗，然後將對外經貿關係拓展到整個亞太地區，及至整個世界。2016年中國大陸與亞太其他國家和地區的貿易額佔中國大陸對外貿易總額的58.7%；中國大陸的前十大貿易夥伴中，有八個（美國、東盟、中國香港、日本、韓國、中國台灣、澳大利亞、俄羅斯）位於亞太地區。

中國的國家統一、領土完整和周邊安全有賴於亞太地區的和平與穩定。台灣問題事關中國統一大業和中華民族的偉大復興。朝核問題涉及中國的重大安全利益，中國絕不能坐視朝鮮半島發生戰爭和動亂。中國同若干鄰國在東海、南海和青藏高原等地區的領土和海洋權益糾紛尚待解決，個別大國利用這些糾紛阻礙中國崛起的圖謀值得警惕。

第二，亞太地區在世界經濟、國際安全和全球治理中的重要性持續上升。截至2016年底，亞太地區的人口佔世界總人口的54.47%。據估算，到2020年亞太地區的國內生產總值將佔世界經濟總量的2/3和全球貿易的1/2，屆時亞太地區將成為名副其實的世界經濟中心。同樣值得注意的是，到2020年亞太地區的軍事開支將增長至全球軍事總開支的3/4。一旦本地區發生大國戰略對抗或大規模戰爭，將給全球穩定帶來毀滅性的破壞。同時，鑒於亞太地區的重要地位，消除恐怖主義和極端主義的威脅、保護生態環境、維護公共衛生、打擊走私販毒和非法移民等全球治理問題，也必須靠建立和完善亞太地區的合作機制來解決。

第三，近幾十年來，特別是冷戰結束之後，以東盟為代表的亞太區域合作機制和組織獲得了巨大的發展空間，也取得了舉世矚目的成就。不過，現有的任何亞太區域合作機制都難以在政治、安全、經濟、文化、生態等方面充分發揮作用，更不足以承擔構建亞太命運共同體的重任。現有的區域組織和機制，都存在較大的局限性。冷戰時期建立的美國和日本、韓國、澳大利亞等雙邊軍事同盟關係，都沒有考慮到美國主導的安全體系之外的國家的安全關切，更不利於緩解地區軍備競賽和中美兩國之間的戰略互疑。在這種形勢下，設計一個包括本地區所有國家的綜合性、全方位的亞太合作機制，進行可行性研究，是構建亞太命運共同體的必要前提。

不少國家的領導人和戰略家都提出過地區共同體構想，都借鑒了現存的歐盟、東盟或美歐緊密合作（“大西洋共同體”）的經驗，但都沒有提出更加具體的設想，例如本地區的地理範圍是什麼，哪些國家應當參加，共同體的目標、任務、組織形式是什麼，建立的步驟和時間框架是什麼，等等。

我們認為，在新形勢下提出亞太共同體設想，應當充實其內容，有利於實現以下目標：（一）深化區域經濟合作與一體化，整合現有的經濟合作機制，使之涵蓋整個亞太地區和主要經濟領域。（二）緩和中美之間日益激烈的地緣戰略競爭，改善區域內某些國家之間的關係。（三）儘快實現朝鮮半島無核化，加強對核不擴散的承諾。（四）和平解決領土和其他國際爭端，減少區域內武裝衝突和軍備競賽的危險。（五）有效應對各類非傳統安全問題，遏制極端主義傾向和恐怖活動。（六）促進文明間對話，加強人文、教育、科技交流，構建本地區的共享價值觀。

構建亞太共同體的路徑，首要的是觀念先行。目前，本地區國家對“亞洲”和“亞太”概念的界定和使用存在較大差異。2017年11月美國總統特朗普在訪問亞洲期間，反覆提到了“印太地區”（Indo-Pacific region）的概念，大有用“印太”取代“亞太”之勢。美國國務卿蒂勒森等官員在此前後的表態，說明“印太”概念的提出是經過美國等國家長遠戰略謀劃的，有明顯“抬印抑華”的意圖。因此，觀念先行，意味着本地區主要國家需要在亞太地區的界定上達成基本共識。

在目前條件下，解決這一政治概念問題的相對簡單可行的辦法，是以現有的某一個（或少數幾個）包容性較強的地區多邊協商機製為基礎，構築出一個對話平台。美國亞洲協會政策研究院院長、澳大利亞前總理陸克文牽頭撰寫的一項關於亞太地區安全架構的報告，提出以東亞峰會為基礎構建多邊安全機制，不失為一個較好的倡議。東亞峰會由東盟十國、中日韓三國、東亞外五國（美國、俄羅斯、澳大利亞、新西蘭、印度）組成，有較大代表性，近年來有比較明顯的進展。

習近平主席在十九大報告中對人類命運共同體的目標、核心和內涵作了明確的闡釋。亞太共同體的構建無疑要從屬於人類命運共同體的總體目標。形成本地區各國人民都認同的亞太共同體觀念需要一個長期的過程，不可能一蹴而就。我們應當保持明確的方向感和堅定的信心，為實現人類命運共同體的遠大理想砥礪前行。

From left U.S. President Donald Trump, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, his partner Cielito Avencana and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang pose for a photo before the start of the Special Gala Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of ASEAN in Manila, Philippines on Sunday, Nov. 12, 2017. The gala marks the 50th anniversary of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. (AP/Aaron Favila)

At the 19th CPC National Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping called on “the people of all countries to work together to build a community with a shared future for mankind, to build an open, inclusive, clean, and beautiful world that enjoys lasting peace, universal security, and common prosperity.” Promoting efforts to build a community with a shared future for mankind has become a fundamental goal of Chinese foreign relations.

A community with a shared future for mankind can only be the product of further globalization. Its construction is the general trend of human development. The community will be a comprehensively systematic project covering, but not limited to, politics, security, economics, society, culture, and ecology. Should this community be built upon the United Nations, or a brand-new framework for global cooperation? This is not a question that can be answered at the current stage. Whatever the case, from concept-generation to entity-building, it has to be based on a regional organization or multilateral institution which is already in place.

Building this community is both a long-term goal put forward by China and its responsibility as a global power. The proposition of this goal marks a significant change in China's relations with the outside world and its international strategic thinking. Such a community will not come from nowhere, but will require China to guide and coordinate it. At the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference in 2015, President Xi emphasized that “Facing the fast changing international and regional landscapes, we must see the whole picture, follow the trend of our times and jointly build a regional order that is more favorable to Asia and the world. We should, through efforts towards such a community for Asia, promote a community of common interest for all mankind.” During the APEC CEO Summit the following year, President Xi reiterated that “the vines of sweet potato may stretch in all directions, but they all grow out of its roots. Similarly, no matter what level of development it may reach, China, with its root in the Asia-Pacific, will continue to contribute to its development and prosperity. China is committed to peaceful development and a win-win strategy of opening-up. While striving for its own development, China will also work to promote the common development of all Asia-Pacific countries and create more opportunities for people in our region.”

To build such a community, China should start by cooperating with neighboring countries to create an Asia-Pacific community and then extend its efforts further to lay the foundation for a broader global community, with a shared future. There are several reasons for this.

First, as China's economic success and growth started from the Asia-Pacific, its foremost security concerns are also in the Asia-Pacific.

China's reform and opening-up initially drew on the development experience of the “Four Little Dragons of East Asia,” as well as Japan. It then extended its economic relations to the entire Asia-Pacific, and then the world. In 2016, the Chinese mainland's trade with other parts of the Asia-Pacific accounted for 58.7 percent of its global total. Eight of its top ten trading partners are in the Asia-Pacific region.

Peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific is important for China's national unity, territorial integrity, and peripheral security. To be specific, the Taiwan issue has implications on China's national unity and efforts at national rejuvenation. Additionally, the North Korean nuclear issue concerns China's major security interests. China will not sit aside if the Korean Peninsula is engulfed in war and chaos. While China's territorial and maritime disputes with several neighboring countries remain unresolved, we should be aware of the attempts of some major countries to use these disputes as hindrance to China's rise.

Second, the Asia-Pacific's importance is increasing constantly as part of the world economy, and in international security and global governance. By the end of 2016, the Asia-Pacific region was inhabited by 54.47 percent of the world's population. According to some estimates, by 2020 the Asia-Pacific region will account for two-thirds of global GDP and half of global trade, demonstrating the emerging economic centrality of this region. By 2020, the region's share of global military spending will likely have grown to nearly three-fourths. Major wars or strategic confrontations in this region, if they occur, could prove catastrophic. In addition, given the importance of the Asia-Pacific region, building and perfecting regional cooperation mechanisms in the region is indispensable for such global governance issues, such as eliminating the threats from terrorism and extremism, protecting the ecological environment, safeguarding public health, and cracking down on drug-trafficking and illegal immigration.

Third, in the past few decades, especially since the end of the Cold War, Asia-Pacific regional cooperation mechanisms and organizations represented by ASEAN have made great achievements. However, as of today, no existing regional cooperation mechanism in the Asia-Pacific is capable of engaging in the full spectrum of security, economic, political, cultural, and ecological matters, nor can they take the responsibility to build an Asia-Pacific community with a shared future. All of the existing regional organizations have limitations. The bilateral military alliances the U.S. has established with Japan, South Korea and Australia have not taken into consideration the security concerns of countries outside the U.S. security system. These alliances are adverse to mitigating the arms race in the region, and reducing strategic mutual distrust between China and the U.S. Under such circumstances, the necessary preconditions for building an Asia-Pacific community with a shared future are: designing a comprehensive and multi-dimensional cooperation mechanism in the Asia-Pacific that includes all regional countries, and conducting feasibility studies.

Leaders and strategists in many of the Asia-Pacific countries have proposed the concept of a regional community, such as the “East Asia Economic Group,” “New Pacific Community,” “Asia Pacific Community,” “East Asian Community,” and “Pacific Community.” Yet they haven't put forward more specific proposals addressing things like the region's geographical scope and organizational structure, which countries should be included, what their common goals are, and a timeframe for building the community.

The Asia-Pacific Community should serve to achieve the following objectives: 1) to deepen and institutionalize regional economic cooperation and integration, 2) to mitigate the increasingly intensive geo-strategic competition between China and the U.S., and improve relations among countries in the region, 3) to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula as soon as possible, and reinforce the commitment to nuclear non-proliferation, 4) to bolster commitment to peaceful settlement of territorial disputes and reduce the dangers of armed conflict and arms races, 5) to cope more effectively with nontraditional security issues and extremism and, 6) to promote civilizational dialogues, cultural exchanges, and jointly formulate shared values for the region.

Building an Asia-Pacific community must start with ideas. Currently, countries in the region differ considerably in defining and using the terms “Asia” and “Asia-Pacific.” During his Asia visit in November, U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly mentioned the concept “Indo-Pacific region” as a possible replacement for “Asia-Pacific.” Some argue that the use of this term is planned by the U.S. and other countries with the intention of “lifting India and suppressing China.” Major countries in the area need to reach a basic consensus on the definition of the Asia-Pacific region.

Under current conditions, a relatively simple and feasible solution is to build a dialogue platform based on a certain (or a few) existing multilateral negotiation mechanism. Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's proposal to build a multilateral security mechanism on the basis of the East Asia Summit is a sensible one. The East Asia Summit composed of ASEAN countries, China, Japan and South Korea, as well as five other countries (the U.S., Russia, Australia, New Zealand, India) is quite representative, and has achieved significant progress in recent years.

President Xi gave a comprehensive explanation of the goal and purpose of a community with a shared future for mankind in his report to the 19th CPC National Congress. The construction of the Asia-Pacific community is undoubtedly subordinate to the overall goal of building a community with a shared future for mankind. Forming the concept of an Asia-Pacific community that all countries in the region can embrace will be a long-term project. We should keep a clear sense of direction in striving for the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.