MANKIND has come a long way to build iconic places, buildings and monuments, and agreed on many historic treaties with each other that revolve around times of conflict and peace. Today, traces of civilisation in the East or West that represent mankind’s greatest achievements can be read in books, seen in museums, and discussed and debated by academia.
In the scheme of things, China’s hosting of the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilisations recently was a call for every global citizen to embrace the concept of peaceful co-existence for the benefit of all.
The conference at the China National Convention Centre attracted more than 2,000 delegates from 47 Asian countries plus countries outside Asia.
Apart from President Xi Jinping, who delivered the opening speech, other speakers included Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni; Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos; Singaporean President Halimah Yacob; Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena; Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Unesco director-general Audrey Azoulay.
They spoke mostly on mutual respect and understanding, respecting diversity, living in harmony, shared values, having faith in dialogue and avoiding extremism. They also stressed the need to respect the differences, uniqueness and diversity of civilisations while saying the so-called clash of civilisation hypothesis is a mistake.
Xi stressed that exchanges among civilisations have empowered human progress as well as world peace and development. This should be seen as a positive at a time when the world is awash with anti-globalisation sentiment, rising protectionism and unilateralism, mutating security threats, and resurgence of a “clash of civilisations”.
Yours truly, who attended the conference as a member of the Asean media, cannot but mention Xi’s observation that progress or whatever civilisation one is from, does not mean much if bloodletting and oppression continue. For more than three decades, the world witnessed ever-changing geopolitical landscapes where China has made the biggest jump to prosperity. Perhaps that’s why a big part of his speech focused on his hope that Asians, together with the rest of the planet, can contribute to a better world.
“First, we need to respect each other, and treat each other as equals. We need to deepen understanding of the difference between one’s own civilisation and others, and work to promote interaction, dialogue and harmony among civilisations.
“Second, we need to uphold the beauty of each civilisation, and the diversities of civilisations around the world.
“Third, we need to stay open and inclusive, and draw on each other’s strength. We need to be broadminded and strive to remove all barriers in the way of cultural exchange.
“Fourth, we need to advance with the times, and explore new ground in development. We need to come up with new ideas to add impetus and inspiration to the development of our civilisations, and with these efforts we will deliver achievements for our civilisations to transcend time and space and have a lasting appeal.”
Xi’s proposal urged for a peaceful co-existence for a prosperous world. That, however, hinged on the conditions currently surrounding world affairs. If the Cold War saw the arms race which led to the end of the Soviet empire, a decade later saw the world having to deal with regional crises, including the Palestinian-Israeli conflict (which is continuing to this day), the Balkan wars and the Somalian famine.
In the decade after 9/11, it was about terrorism and religious extremism that forced the world to deal with religion being used as a motivator for violence. Currently, the world is focusing on social media and connectivity; how the global citizen can interact and understand each other while also dealing with the dark side like hackers and viruses.
Civilisations will be there for us to learn from, but they will not be of help if big nations prioritise their own interests and clash with each other. Despite a softer approach, it’s as if China has to pay a price for being successful; it is currently grappling with trade issues with the United States, the Huawei problem over 5G operations, questions about the treatment of one million Muslims in the so-called re-education centres, the continued harping on the South China Sea, and the new Silk Road projects’ viability.
Perhaps it is because China is nearing the status of world economic superpower, so questions and doubts must be thrown at it despite a more nightmarish life for Palestinians in Gaza, the continued Syrian tragedy and the sudden spike in tensions in the Gulf. In this, even if some will not be supportive, Xi will get to fulfil his words that give credence to the highly respectable Chinese civilisation:
“We, the people of Asian countries, wish to live and work in contentment and security, free from fear. We hope that all nations will respect and trust each other, live in harmony and interact with each other in a manner that transcends national boundaries, time and space as well as differences between civilisations. We should work together to safeguard peace, something more precious than gold.”
The writer is NST foreign editor