Various Civilizations Are Not Destined to Clash By Xi Jinping Xinhua, May 15, 2019

Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations (CDAC), May 15, 2019

China advocates dialogue, rebuts "clash of civilizations" as conference opens

Editor: Lu Hui  

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday urged various countries to treat each other as equals for the peaceful coexistence of civilizations.

"Various civilizations are not destined to clash," Xi said at the opening of the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations, Asia's first-ever grand gathering themed on inter-civilizational exchanges and mutual learning for a community with a shared future.

Thousands of people from 47 Asian countries and nearly 50 countries outside the region attended the conference in Beijing.

"The intensifying global challenges humanity are facing now require concerted efforts from countries across the world," Xi said, highlighting the role of culture to cope with common challenges.

The conference comes at a time when certain countries have resorted to the "clash of civilizations" argument, bullying, unilateralism and an inward-looking mentality.

Qian Chengdan, a professor at Peking University, said the Xi-proposed event is highly relevant in the current political environment.

"It will boost understanding among different civilizations and pave the way for a brighter future for humanity," Qian said.

Xi noted there would be no clash of civilizations as long as people were able to appreciate the beauty of all civilizations.

"It is foolish to believe that one's race and civilization are superior to others," Xi said. "It is disastrous to willfully reshape or even replace other civilizations."

The Chinese president raised a four-point proposal to consolidate the "cultural foundation" of jointly building a community with a shared future for Asia and humanity: treating each other with respect and as equals; appreciating the beauty of all civilizations; adhering to openness, inclusiveness, mutual learning; and keeping pace with the times.

Equality, reciprocality, diversity and multi-directionality are underscored in exchanges among civilizations.

The exchanges, Xi said, should neither be compulsory or forced, nor one-directional.

Asia, with two-thirds of the global population, is a major birthplace of human civilization and home to vibrant cultures. There are 47 countries and more than 1,000 ethnic groups on the continent.

Asians expect a peaceful, stable, open and integrated continent with common prosperity, Xi said.

The Chinese president's take on civilization has won broad support from conference attendees.

"When he talked about discarding arrogance and prejudice to treat each other as equals, there was a round of applause," said Zhai Kun, another professor at Peking University. "That was really a show of approval."

In their talks on Tuesday, Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos told Xi that he believed the "clash of civilizations" argument was a huge mistake.

He agreed that different civilizations should respect each other, enhance mutual learning through dialogue and exchanges and draw upon each other's strengths.

"Civilizations are not meant to make war," said Massoud Daher, a professor at Lebanese University who attended the conference. "There is no clash of civilizations but complementarity between them."

Professor Qian said the Chinese proposal will address challenges such as global deficits in governance, trust, peace and development.

The week-long event includes an opening ceremony, panel discussions, an Asian Culture Carnival and Asian Civilization Week involving more than 110 activities to showcase the diversity and charm of Asian civilizations.

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-05/15/c_138060817.htm  

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Xinhua Commentary: The power of dialogue

Editor: mingmei

by Xinhua writer Shi Xiaomeng

More than 1,300 years ago, Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang traveled thousands of miles to the revered Indian monastery of Nalanda, where he studied Buddhism for five years under the guidance of Abbot Silabhadra.

The two legendary Buddhist masters' interactions were much more than personal exchanges. Their conversations have been considered one of the highlights of the long-running dialogue between the two ancient Asian civilizations.

In the ancient Greek language, Asia means "the Land of Sunrise." Over the millennia, the continent has been the cradle of many diverse civilizations on the Mesopotamia Plain, in the Indus Valley and Ganges River Valley, as well as along the Yellow River and the Yangtze River.

In olden times, dynamic business exchanges along the ancient Silk Road trade routes and enlightening pilgrimages by Buddhist monks or Muslims have made dialogue between civilizations not only a reality, but also a tradition.

Today, as delegates from Asia and beyond gathered in Beijing for the first Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations (CDAC), which opened on Wednesday, a brand new platform for exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations is taking shape.

History shows that civilizations thrive as they learn from each other. In the current world, dialogue among civilizations, especially on the Asian continent, carries unique significance.

In his speech at the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization headquarters in 2014, Chinese President Xi Jinping said, "Civilizations have become richer and more colorful with exchanges and mutual learning. Such exchanges and mutual learning form an important drive for human progress and global peace and development."

During the medieval period of Europe, the Abbasid Caliphate of the Arabic world launched a movement to translate ancient classics that recorded Greek and Roman knowledge.

The translation movement saved the old wisdom from perishing with the fall of the Roman Empire, and enabled the European cultures in later times to revive in the Renaissance.

For Asian countries, exchanges between civilizations can also help them rediscover their identity on the world stage in this new and changing era.

There was a time when Asia was the envy of the world, a land of great empires and home to ancient philosophers, poets and writers. Algebra, the astrolabe, paper and printing were invented here.

Over the past decades, Asian nations have shaken off the yoke of imperial colonialism, achieved independence, accumulated miraculous economic and social progress, and inched back to the center stage of the international arena.

A recent Financial Times report predicts that Asian economies, as defined by the UN Conference on Trade and Development, will be larger than the rest of the world combined in 2020 for the first time since the 19th century.

As a whole, Asia is capable of making larger contributions to human civilization and world prosperity.

At present, platforms and mechanisms for regional cooperation such as the Boao Forum for Asia, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization are maturing. The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, which aims to build trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and beyond, also heralds a stronger connectivity of peoples and cultures.

The dialogue conference came with the recent public invoking of "clash of civilizations" worldview in the West, which is dangerously irresponsible and may lead to hatred and confrontation.

Beijing's message is loud and clear. It has chosen conversation over confrontation with a deep belief that boosting inter-civilization dialogue can help nations around the world shrink trust deficits, promote mutual understanding and friendship, and thus bolster their cooperation.

In this age of growing interdependence when the international community is grappling with a string of non-traditional security threats such as terrorism, refugee crises and climate change, no single nation or civilization can stand alone.

To meet common challenges and create a better future for all, China looks to culture and civilization to play their role, which is as important as the role played by economy, science and technology, said Xi while addressing the opening of the CDAC.

The conference, he added, is convened just for this purpose, as it creates a new platform for civilizations in Asia and beyond to engage in dialogue and exchanges on an equal footing to facilitate mutual learning.

And in that process, dialogue and cooperation are the only sure path leading towards a better world for all, or in Xi's words, a community with a shared future for mankind.

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-05/15/c_138060600.htm  

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