Tang Junfeng: Achieving a Positive Interaction Between High-Quality Development and High-Level Security
Development and security are like the two wings of a single body or the twin wheels of a drive system. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that we must "persist in coordinating development and security, insist on placing equal emphasis on both, and realize a positive interaction between high-quality development and high-level security." The Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee made important arrangements regarding the "realization of a positive interaction between high-quality development and high-level security." On the New Journey, we must profoundly comprehend the decision-making deployments of the Party Central Committee. Under the guidance of the Holistic Approach to National Security [1], we must adhere to systemic and dialectical thinking to advance the modernization of the national security system and capacity. We must effectively prevent and defuse various risks affecting our country's modernization process to achieve a positive interaction between high-quality development and high-level security.
National security is the important foundation for the steady and long-term progress of Chinese-path modernization
Security is the primary condition for human existence and development. Without national security and social stability, any beautiful blueprint will become a castle in the air [2]. Looking at the construction and development processes of all countries in the world, without national security, there is no national development, ethnic future, or people's happiness. The Chinese people have suffered deeply from bullying and the bitterness of war, and thus profoundly understand the great significance of national security. Realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation has been the greatest dream of the Chinese nation since modern times, and a great cause for which generations of Chinese people have struggled relentlessly. Chinese-path modernization is the result of long-term practical exploration by the Communist Party of China and the Chinese people. It is a great and arduous undertaking. Its greatness and difficulty are reflected not only in the pioneering, tortuous, and complex nature of the path's exploration but also in the risks, breakthroughs, and struggles involved in opening that path. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "The prerequisite for promoting innovative, coordinated, green, open, and shared development is national security and social stability. Without security and stability, nothing can be discussed." Advancing Chinese-path modernization and realizing high-quality development cannot be separated for a single moment from a secure development environment.
In today's world, the security situation is highly complex. Many new situations and problems have emerged in international economic, political, and military spheres. Unilateralism, protectionism, and bullying behavior remain prominent, and the existing global security governance system has many areas that are not sufficiently adapted. Our country's development has entered a period where strategic opportunities and risk challenges coexist, and uncertain and unpredictable factors are increasing. Various "black swan" and "gray rhino" [3] events may occur at any time. Facing these new situations, problems, and challenges, if we are to stand firm and open new horizons amidst the changes unseen in a century [4], we must grasp the initiative in development and history. To ensure that the process of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is not delayed or interrupted, and to ensure that the ship of Chinese-path modernization braves the winds and waves to make steady and long-term progress, we must firmly grasp national security as an important foundation. We must strengthen our awareness of crisis, risk, and the bottom line [5]. We must promote national security work through a combined force of new ideas, new strategies, and new measures. We must use advanced concepts, scientific attitudes, professional methods, and meticulous standards to enhance the effectiveness of national security governance. We must prevent various contradictions, risks, and challenges from transmitting, intertwining, overlapping, evolving, and escalating. We must prevent trouble before it happens and nip it in the bud [6], unswervingly following the path of national security with Chinese characteristics to provide a safer and more reliable national security guarantee for the construction of a strong country and national rejuvenation.
High-quality development and high-level security are mutually supportive and dialectically unified
Advancing Chinese-path modernization is a complex systemic project. High-quality development and high-level security have different emphases while remaining interconnected and mutually supportive. We should scientifically grasp the internal logic of high-quality development and high-level security, promoting their simultaneous development and mutual reinforcement.
Development is our Party's primary task in governing and rejuvenating the country; it is the key to solving all of China's problems. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "High-quality development is the theme of China's economic and social development during the 14th Five-Year Plan period and even for a longer period, and it concerns the overall situation of China's socialist modernization." Promoting high-quality development is an inevitable requirement for maintaining sustained and healthy economic development, for adapting to the changes in the principal contradiction of Chinese society [7] in the New Era, and for building a socialist modern country in all respects. To advance the great cause of building a strong country and national rejuvenation through Chinese-path modernization, we must firmly grasp the theme and essential requirement of high-quality development. We must fully, accurately, and comprehensively implement the New Development Philosophy [8]. We must solve the problem of development momentum through innovative development, solve the problem of unbalanced development through coordinated development, solve the problem of harmony between humanity and nature through green development, solve the problem of internal and external development linkage through open development, and solve the problem of social equity and justice through shared development, thereby promoting the sustained and healthy development of economy and society.
Security is the condition and guarantee for development. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "For our Party to consolidate its governing position and to lead the people in persisting in and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics, ensuring national security is a matter of top priority." High-level security is both an internal requirement for achieving high-quality development and an important yardstick for measuring development effectiveness. Facing different stages of economic and social development, we must form security concepts, security systems, and security capabilities that adapt to them. Realizing high-quality development imposes new requirements on high-level security—specifically, the shift from protection in single fields to systemic and multi-dimensional protection. For instance, economic security emphasizes industrial resilience and developmental autonomy; data and network security face more offensive and defensive gambits in the digital age; and military security faces the tests of intelligent iterations. These new security needs are intertwined. High-quality development requires seeking the optimal solution between efficiency and stability, openness and autonomy, and innovation and risk through the dynamic adjustment of security boundaries.
Coordinating high-quality development and high-level security is an inevitable choice for Chinese-path modernization. Facing an external environment with more "headwinds and countercurrents," a more complex development environment, and increasing security needs, we must strengthen systemic concepts and better coordinate development and security to provide a strong and comprehensive guarantee for Chinese-path modernization. To this end, we must consider security factors more thoroughly in development and pay attention to security needs. Through high-quality development, we can enhance the country's comprehensive strength and its ability to resist risks, taking the strategic initiative to turn dangers into safety and crises into opportunities. We must always be prepared for danger in times of peace, enhance our awareness of potential hardships [9], and deeply promote innovation in national security thinking, systems, and means. We must comprehensively improve the capacity and level of national security work and create a high-level security environment conducive to economic and social development. Adhering to the principle of giving equal weight to development and security, we should neither neglect security by overemphasizing development nor hinder development by overemphasizing security. We must be adept at using the fruits of development to consolidate the physical foundation and technological support of national security, and simultaneously be adept at shaping a security guarantee pattern and strategic deterrence capability conducive to economic and social development.
Scientifically coordinating high-quality development and high-level security on the New Journey
At present, the connotation and extension of China's national security are richer than at any time in history; its spatial and temporal domains are broader than ever before; and internal and external factors are more complex than ever. In this context, only by unswervingly implementing the Holistic Approach to National Security and remaining adept at understanding the diversity, interconnectedness, and complexity of national security issues from a holistic perspective can we scientifically coordinate high-quality development and high-level security.
Unswervingly implement the Holistic Approach to National Security. On the New Journey, we must accurately grasp the core essence of the "Ten Persists" [10] of the Holistic Approach to National Security and integrate the maintenance of national security throughout all aspects and the entire process of Party and state work. We must persist in the Party's absolute leadership over national security work, improve the efficient and authoritative national security leadership system, and implement various decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee regarding national security work to the letter. We must persist in taking the people's security as the purpose, political security as the fundamental, economic security as the basis, military, technological, cultural, and social security as the guarantee, and the promotion of international security as the support. We must coordinate external security and internal security, territorial security and citizen security, traditional security and non-traditional security, and our own security and common security. We must coordinate the maintenance and shaping of national security, consolidate the grassroots foundation of national security and social stability, improve the mechanism for participating in global security governance, and build a "Peaceful China" at a higher level, safeguarding the new development pattern [11] with a new security pattern.
Advance the modernization of the national security system and capacity. Advancing the modernization of the national security system and capacity is an internal requirement for actively responding to various risks and challenges and for serving and guaranteeing the great cause of building a strong country and national rejuvenation. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee listed "advancing the modernization of the national security system and capacity" as a separate section. From the height of the overall development of the Party and the state, it further clarified the goals, tasks, and key measures for advancing this modernization on the New Journey in the New Era, providing the principles and direction for opening a new chapter in national security work. Looking to the future, we should focus on building a higher-level Peaceful China, strengthening the integrated national strategic system, and working hard on perfecting the national security system, improving public security governance mechanisms, refining the social governance system, and improving foreign-related national security mechanisms to effectively construct a new security pattern.
Maintaining national security is the common responsibility of the whole society. We should comprehensively analyze security issues in political, military, economic, financial, cultural, social, technological, cyber, food, and ecological fields and their mutual influences. We must strengthen synergy and cooperation, vigorously pursue institutional integration, break down departmental and local barriers, and promote the connection, coordination, and integrated advancement of national security work in all fields and aspects. We must refine the implementation of the Party Central Committee’s decision-making deployments into specific plans, clarify the boundaries and connection points of the responsibility chain, ensure seamless docking of responsibilities, and form a working pattern where each level oversees the next and responsibilities are implemented at every tier—ensuring that everyone is responsible for their own territory, takes charge of their own territory, and fulfills their duties in their own territory. We must strengthen national security education for all people, combining concentrated publicity and education with regular education. We must innovate in content, methods, and carriers, extending publicity and education activities to the grassroots, expanding them to every unit, and covering the broad masses of people. Thus, we will form a powerful combined force of the Party, government, military, civilians, and academic circles across all fronts and levels to jointly maintain national security.