Giving a boost to global diversity
Foreign envoys see GCI’s respect for differences as key to cultural exchanges, mutual learning
On a windy night in late February, diplomats from different countries were reluctant to leave after spending three hours at the China National Opera House in Beijing watching a choreographed portrayal of the ancient Chinese landscape painting A Panorama of Mountains and Rivers.
Many of them extended invitations to the show’s directors, hoping that people in their own countries could also appreciate this breathtaking performance.
Nico Schiettekatte, from the embassy of the Netherlands in China, said the dance drama provided him with a different way to look at other paintings about nature and landscapes, including those by famous Dutch artists such as Van Gogh and Rembrandt.
“I think we share a lot in common. We all have a history related with nature, but our experience of nature is different in a cultural way,” Schiettekatte said, emphasizing the importance of exchanges among different cultures.
Respect for the diversity of civilizations is one of the four aspects of the Global Civilization Initiative (GCI), which was proposed by President Xi Jinping on March 15, 2023.
Speaking at the time to leaders of political parties from around the world, Xi said China is ready to work together with the international community to open up new prospects for enhanced exchanges and understanding
among different peoples, and better interactions and integration of diversified cultures.
“Together we can make the garden of world civilizations colorful and vibrant,” Xi said.
Over the past year, China has shown the rest of the world its sincerity, with practical actions to implement the GCI and to promote exchanges and mutual learning with other civilizations.
Yang Mingjie, president of the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, said the initiative is a strategic vision gaining
increasing recognition from the international community because it addresses current problems caused by conflicts or confrontations between different civilizations.
He added that since the initiative was proposed, China has made allaround efforts to promote cultural and people-to-people exchanges at the bilateral and multilateral levels.
For example, during the Chengdu Summer Universiade last year, more than 6,500 young athletes from 113 countries and regions got the chance to experience in person the unique charm of Chinese civilization as well
as that of Sichuan culture, by visiting the giant panda base, tasting hotpot, and taking part in intangible cultural heritage activities such as playing with shadow puppets.
When Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis made an official visit to China last November, he told Xi that Greece was ready to work with China to run the Center of Greek and Chinese Ancient Civilizations, advocate mutual learning, and promote the establishment of more harmonious and balanced international relations.
Zhao Mei, a senior fellow at the
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of American Studies, said the GCI was proposed in the hope of getting more people to be aware of the value of exchanges among different civilizations and boosting confidence in cultural exchanges and cooperation.
Zhao said the people-to-people contacts between China and the US are recovering but the level of communication is far from reaching the pre-COVID level and more needs to be done to facilitate mutual visits and enhance mutual trust.
Xi announced in November at a welcoming dinner by friendly organizations in San Francisco that China was ready to invite 50,000 young people from the US for exchange and study programs in the next five years.
He told those present at the banquet that the development paths of China and the US are different, but both paths are the choice of their peoples that lead to the realization of the common values of humanity and both should be respected.
“The purpose of the Global Civilization Initiative I proposed is to urge the international community to address the imbalance between material and cultural advancement and jointly promote the continued progress of human civilization,” he said.
Days after the abrupt escalation of the Palestine-Israel conflict on Oct 7, China and the Arab side held a symposium in the United Arab Emirates on China-Arab relations and civilization dialogue, in the belief that enhancing inter-civilizational dialogue can be an effective remedy for fixing the problem of confrontation and conflict.