This year is the 60^th anniversary of the Bandung Conference. The Conference was called in Indonesia in 1955. It was sponsored, organized and achieved completely by Asian and African countries and was rather the first joint action of the Third World in the post-war period, independent of the dual blocs of East and West. The Conference marked the beginning of Third World emergence, the start of South-South cooperation and an overture of a multi-polar process in the world order.

The outstanding achievement of the Bandung Conference was the Ten Principles it unanimously adopted for treating international relations, which embodied the common idea of Third World unity and cooperation for national independence and world peace. Hence it represented the Bandung Spirit. The points highlighted in the Ten Principles include: respect for fundamental human rights and respect for the UN Charter; respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations; noninterference in internal affairs of other countries; equality of all races and of all nations large and small; respect for the right of self-defense of all nations; no pressure on other countries; no threats of aggression or use of force against political independence of any country; settlement of all international disputes by peaceful means; respect for justice and international obligation; promotion of mutual interests and cooperation. Those principles clearly pointed in the direction of establishing a just and reasonable new international politico-economic order. In fact, the Bandung Spirit not only emphasized a world of cooperation and inclusiveness, but also stressed the universal norms on sovereignty, justice, democracy and international laws. It helped to promote South-South cooperation as well as to improve North-South relations. It reflected a common view for peace, development, cooperation and mutual benefit.

Although 60 years have elapsed since, we believe the Bandung Spirit does not get outdated.  Many changes have taken place in the overall picture of the world, new chances and new challenges appear here and there.  Especially, when globalization became more and more the way of life in economic, political, social and cultural areas of the whole world, some people tend to think that many of the points in the Ten Principles no longer hold validity and feasibility. But reality speaks differently.

Globalization is an inevitable world process of human society.  As a result of this process, global linkage increases, global integration grows stronger, inter-dependence among countries is strengthened, and global consciousness begins to emerge.  Thus, tremendous flows of capital, commodities, services and people have occurred across national borders in many parts of the world.  This is undoubtedly a complicated process, as the current globalization is dominated by US and the Western powers, while the Third World countries are mere passive participants.  The overall picture is that: the market economy works as the motive force of globalization, multinational corporations act as pioneers of globalization, hi-tech serves as the promoter of globalization, and the underlying theory is neo-liberalism which sticks to political conservatism, opposes state intervention in the economy and stresses “competitive order”.  Under such a situation, the current globalization is characterized by features of both advantage and disadvantage.  While it may provide Third World countries with possible opportunities of development, the process is full of differences, competition and conflicts of interest.  Those are reflected in the facts such as: the widening gap between North and South, between rich and poor nations, between haves and have-nots; cultural homogeneity, uniformity and standardization overriding cultural diversity and multiplicity; exploitation of resources in developing countries by developed countries; clash of civilizations and values; etc.

It is true that many important problems of the world cannot be properly solved by individual countries, they could only be adequately treated as world issues at the global level.  Problems such as the proliferation of nuclear weapons, widespread epidemic diseases, environmental disasters, climate change, sustainable development, world economic and financial crises, etc.  In the age of globalization, they should be tackled more effectively by joint global effort.  But this can only be successfully achieved on the basis of good cooperation and active support of related nations.  Global action and cross-border effort do not at all deny the sovereignty of nations.  Not to mention the cases of infringement or aggression against a country in the excuse of safeguarding human rights or in the name of punishing dictators and tyrants, and so on.  Undoubtedly，the targets of opposing hegemony，opposing aggression, safeguarding world peace and seeking for democratization of international relations still remain the prime task of the world today.  Many of the knotty questions of the present world, such as the Middle East problem, the Kashmir clash, the South Sea disputes, as well as border controversy in different parts of the world, may trace back to the evil legacy of colonialism and imperialism in the past. The gradual solution of all those problems is closely connected with the urgency to reformulate and improve the current code of conduct in international relations during the age of globalization.  The US and Western powers are sponsors and promoters of globalization, they were the ones who worked out the existing rules of the game in international relations of the present world and they always act as umpire and arbiter.  Against the above-mentioned situation of globalization, we can see that the Ten Principles of the Bandung Conference, or the Bandung Spirit, are by no means outdated and may embody new significance today.

Although the current picture of globalization has its weaknesses, yet as we have said, it is an objective world process independent of men’s will.  We know that no country may realize development and growth take-off under a policy of autarky behind a door closed to the world.  Taking part in globalization is an indispensable road to development for developing countries.  They should be able to grasp opportunities in globalization, make the effort to bring into play the late-comer effect, and thus speed up their development.  The tendency of keeping away from globalization and following the road of nationalism will lead nowhere.  A policy of autarky can never avoid backwardness. Therefore, a world of openness, inclusiveness, cooperation, inter-dependence, complementarity, mutual benefit, as well as seeking common ground while reserving differences, is the target we hope and strive for.  Human society definitely needs a globalization of win-win, of equality, of co-existence.

Gao Xian, born 1928, is a Professor at from Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). He was Secretary-General of the Center for Third World Studies, CASS and visiting Professor in the Department of Political Science, University of California Riverside, U.S.A.

Article published in ALAI’s Spanish language magazine: América Latina en Movimiento, No 504 (May 2015), titled: “60 años después: Vigencia del espíritu de Bandung”.  http://www.alainet.org/es/revistas/169851