Experts share views on China-proposed initiatives

Editor's note: China has become an important participant in and contributor to global governance, and Chinese ideas and solutions to major problems have gained greater recognition. China has also put forward the vision of a global community with a shared future for mankind, and has been pursuing the greater common good and safeguarding shared interests. Four experts share their views on the issue with China Daily.

Mutual learning leads to a shared future

By Yu Jiang and Jia Ding

At a time when geopolitical conflicts are intensifying across the world, American political scientist Samuel P. Huntington's theory of "clash of civilizations" is regaining popularity in a few Western countries, causing many to once again fall into the fatalistic pessimism of the inevitability of a clash of civilizations.

While pessimism spreads in the West, the wise man of the East, with rational and profound thinking, is leading humankind to a future of peaceful coexistence. On March 15, while delivering a speech at the Communist Party of China in Dialogue with World Political Parties High-level Meeting in Beijing, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, made a wonderful exposition on the modernization of human society, and proposed the Global Civilization Initiative, expressing the Party's sincere desire to work with parties in other countries to ensure that modernization across the globe becomes a mighty force driving progress and prosperity and jointly build a community with a shared future for mankind.

By doing so, Xi demonstrated the Party's courage and responsibility to meet the common global challenges at a time when humankind's modernization journey has again reached a crossroad, and help stabilize the complex and turbulent international situation.

The Chinese path to modernization, a key term defining China's journey toward national rejuvenation, was written into the 20th CPC National Congress report in October 2022, with Xi Jinping emphasizing the "central task" of the CPC is to serve the people and calling for efforts to realize national rejuvenation through the Chinese path to modernization.

It is the diversity of civilizations that promotes interaction among them, which in turn facilitates mutual learning and development. The GCI is another major international public good proposed by China after the Belt and Road Initiative, the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative. They are the answer to the question of the century: What is wrong with the world and what should we do? They reflect China's global vision as a responsible major country.

Delivering a keynote speech at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization at its headquarters in Paris in 2014, Xi said: "We need to encourage different civilizations to respect each other and live together in harmony while promoting their exchanges and mutual learning as a bridge of friendship among peoples, a driving force behind human society, and a strong bond for world peace."

Nine years have passed since then, but Xi's vision of civilization characterized by diversity, equality and inclusiveness, remains significant. Especially, in today's complex and changing world, the only way to resolve humanity's common problems is to rely on the concerted efforts of all civilizations.

Xi summarized the GCI as "four proposals", that is, advocating respect for the diversity of civilizations, advocating the common values of humanity, advocating the importance of inheritance and innovations of civilizations, and advocating robust international people-to-people exchanges and cooperation.

The four proposals are interconnected, respect the diversity of civilizations, seek the greatest common divisor of civilizations, and strive to realize the dialectical unity of civilizational pluralism and commonality. The GCI not only attaches importance to the inheritance of civilization and emphasizes the historical and cultural traditions of different ethnic groups, but also foresees the future by reviewing the past and encourages all countries to harness the relevance of their histories and cultures to improve their future.

The GCI is aimed at exploring the action plan for building a global network for inter-civilizational dialogue and cooperation, and lays a path for building a community with a shared future for mankind, which is distinctly scientific, contemporary, advanced and practical.

As another important achievement of Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy, the GCI focuses on the common interests of the people around the world and expresses their common aspirations. As such, it will promote the noble cause of peaceful development and exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations.

Chinese civilization is one of the oldest and longest continuous civilizations in the world. As the inheritors of Chinese civilization, the Chinese people have a high degree of confidence in their culture, which will help them realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and build a modern and powerful socialist country. But the Chinese people also know there are more than 200 countries and regions in the world, and different civilizations have their own unique set of values.

But cultural differences should not be a source of global conflict. Instead, they should be turned into a driving force of civilizational advancement. The customs, traditional wisdom and culture, and the spiritual pursuit are national assets on which a country depends for survival and development.

In its cultural exchanges with other countries, China has always advocated that irrespective of their size, strength and wealth, all countries are equal members of the international community and have equal right to participate in international affairs. China rejects the concept of "cultural superiority" in all its forms, and opposes attempts by any country to impose its system of governance on other countries.

No matter how complex today's world is, only peaceful development and cooperation can bring benefits to all. Humankind has developed into one indivisible community of shared interests in which, according to an ancient Chinese saying, "the prosperity or suffering of one will have ripple effects on others".

In today's world, no country or region can realize true development by isolating itself from the rest of the world. That's why China has devoted itself to the grand cause of building, in partnership with other countries, a community with a shared future for mankind.

The GDI, the GSI and the GCI indicate that under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy, China's diplomacy is making, and will continue to make, greater contributions to promoting global peace and development.

Yu Jiang is full-time deputy secretary-general of the Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy Studies Center and vice-president of the China Institute of International Studies. Jia Ding is an assistant research fellow at the Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy Studies Center.

Beijing's initiatives can bury 'clash of civilizations'

American political scientist Francis Fukuyama declared in his 1992 book, End of History and The Last Man, that the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War in 1991 marked "not just the passing of a particular period of post-war history, but the end of history as such: That is, the end-point of mankind's ideological evolution and the universalization of Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government."

Fukuyama's teacher Samuel Huntington, steeped in geopolitics and perpetual war mentality, dampened his student's apparent "optimistic" views with a call for the liberal democratic West to be on the alert. In his 1996 book, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, based on a series of articles published since 1993, Huntington advocated that a clash between the dominant Western liberal democratic order on the one hand and the Muslim world and China (because of the "hierarchical command structures in the Confucian Sinic civilization") on the other was inevitable.

In the three decades since these "prophesies" were pronounced, tens of millions of innocent people have been killed, maimed or rendered homeless, seeking refuge in other countries, economies destroyed, and trillions of dollars wasted on weapons and ammunition. The world looks more dangerous than ever, with a Cold War in the best-case scenario and a hot global war in the worst looming. Those in Western corridors of power, drunk with the fantasy of the superiority of the Western liberal democratic system, are sleep-walking the whole human race into extinction through a thermonuclear holocaust.

The only bright spot in the past three decades of wars and economic/financial crises is the rise of Asia with China at its core. More and more nations are gravitating toward this new center of economic power, thanks to their belief in a common future for all humankind. This process was accelerated with the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative by President Xi Jinping in 2013, Fortaleza Declaration of BRICS(Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) in 2014, and the expansion of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization into a garden of nations.

As the world's challenges increased and became more complex, Xi proposed the Global Development Initiative in 2021, the Global Security Initiative in 2022, and the Global Civilization Initiative at the Communist Party of China in Dialogue with World Political Parties High-Level Meeting on March 15.

The GCI is a unique proposal for setting the goals of global governance and relations among nations and cultures. It raises the bar of political dialogue to address such philosophical issues as the purpose of existence of nations and civilizations and the means through which can be realized peaceful co-existence among countries which are diverse in culture, history, religion, way of life, and political and social systems. The GCI revives the optimistic spirit amid a dangerously divided world today. It has the potential to bury both the "clash of civilizations" and "end of history" fantasies.

As to the important questions on the modernization path China and some other countries may take, Xi provided the answers with clear principles:

* modernization and progress must be people-centered, because "the ultimate goal of modernization is people's free and well-rounded development";

* the cultural and civilizational aspects of modernization must not be ignored, otherwise a materialistic society will become a soulless consumer society;

* the focus should be not only on fulfilling the needs of the present generations but of future generations too;

* countries must seek their independent path toward modernization and there are no "superior" models to copy;

* in a changing world with new opportunities thanks to scientific and technological progress, and challenges created by man-made or natural disasters, countries and political parties must seek new ways, free of rigid ideologies, to realize their national modernization goals;

* we must help others to succeed while seeking our own success, and ensure everyone enjoys the fruits of modernization, because humankind is a community with a shared future;

* the contributions of all civilizations and cultures must be respected and their contributions to human progress throughout history recognized. This will contribute to further promotion of all nations and civilizations.

It is of utmost importance that in these times of deep environmental, economic and security crises, a voice of reason tries to pull humanity back from the edge of the apocalyptic precipice it finds itself on.

Such an initiative to start a "dialogue of civilizations", rather than triggering a "clash of civilizations", reminds people and countries about the purpose of their existence and the meaning of taking the best of what was bestowed upon them by previous generations and civilizations, and what they can contribute to and leave behind for future generations.

There is also a pressing need for discussions on a global scale on the true nature of humankind and its purpose of existence. The Global Civilization Initiative is a timely and perfect launching pad for such discussions.

China seeks progress of all humanity

President Xi Jinping recently put forward the Global Civilization Initiative, which with the Global Development Initiative and Global Security Initiative, is aimed at building a world where all people work together for the greater good.

Putting forward the Global Civilization Initiative on March 15, Xi emphasized that Chinese modernization is also a path the country should take to "seek progress for humanity and harmony for the entire world", which in turn will benefit the Chinese people as well as boost the common development of the world.

While China's rich cultural traditions will play a role in achieving this vision, it is important to acknowledge that it will not be easy. Those who resist the effort will need to be gently persuaded and shown the error of their ways through peaceful means. Also, it is important to improve global governance and establish a competent bureaucracy to oversee the distribution of resources and maintenance of social order. And information campaigns need to be launched to educate the people of the virtues of this diverse yet complementary world order.

The need is to focus on the positive aspects of the Global Civilization Initiative and work toward building a world where there is no or almost no racial or religious conflict or discrimination, and resources are fairly distributed. Together, we can build a fairer world order that also embodies the best of Chinese values and traditions, and serves as an example to the rest of the world.

Many countries and regions around the world have suffered at the hands of Western powers throughout history. From colonialism to imperialism, Western powers have often sought to exploit and dominate other countries for their own benefit. China, for example, was forced to open its borders to the Western powers in the 19th century, leading to the loss of its sovereignty and a century of humiliation at the hands of foreign powers.

While India was colonized by the British Empire for more than 200 years, with devastating consequences for its people, Iran has faced countless interventions and interferences from the West, including the overthrow of its democratically elected government in 1953. As for Russia, it has suffered at the hands of Western powers, particularly during the Cold War, when it was the target of aggressive policies aimed at containing the spread of communism. Not to mention the anti-Semitic thinking of some Western observers and politicians.

South America has a long history of interference and exploitation by Western powers, particularly the United States, which has frequently supported brutal dictators and coups to maintain its dominance in the region. Similarly, Africa was subject to centuries of colonization, exploitation, and enslavement by Western powers, leading to long-term economic and social problems that continue to this day.

The recent shift toward correcting these historical wrongs is an important step toward a more just and equitable world. This shift, by the way, started in the West. China does not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries.

So, by acknowledging the harm that has been done and taking steps to redress it, the collective West can move toward a future in which all countries and peoples are treated with dignity and respect. This includes acknowledging the contributions of non-Western cultures and traditions, individuals and brands, as well as promoting greater understanding and cooperation between different countries and regions. By working together to achieve common goals, despite the diversity, we can create a world where everyone has the opportunity to succeed and thrive.

Indeed, the future global civilization is a source of great hope and promise for the billions of non-Western people who bring with them a rich diversity of cultures, traditions and religions. Islam, Orthodoxy, Confucianism, Buddhism, Hinduism and many other belief systems will all play a role in shaping the future of humankind.

However, for Western elites who have long held a position of dominance in the world, this prospect can be horrifying. The idea of a future where their values and beliefs, inventions, opinions and make-beliefs are no longer paramount, and where birth right no longer automatically bears any particular privilege, sends shivers down their spines, and can lead to strong feelings of xenophobia and nihilism.

The truth is that the non-Western people are not a threat to Western civilization; rather, they are a source of renewal and inspiration. For too long, Western powers have taken credit for scientific developments, discoveries and inventions, and for enriching literature and language often at the expense of other cultures and civilizations. Then the United States, by virtue of stolen land and a fantastic strategic location, unraveled the British Empire, helped defeat the German Reich and end the Japanese dominion, and survived the Cold War and then turned around and said: "We won-End of history!"

Do those defeated people really want to be patronized and controlled by their American overlords? Don't think so. There is no end to that history.

That is why China does not want to replace the US as the world's next superpower. Instead, it aims to help build a multipolar world order of sovereign nations. By learning from the experiences and insights of Western and non-Western traditions, we can combine and unlock new sources of knowledge and promote innovation in order to propel humankind to the next level. Civilization is all of us.

The author is a German writer and cultural critic.

The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.