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Wednesday, May 15, 2019

CDAC harmony is an idea Western critics can’t understand - Cultural superiority is stupid and disastrous, Chinese President Xi Jinping warns as US tensions persist

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The Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations (CDAC) begins Wednesday in Beijing with over 2,000 government officials and representatives from 47 Asian countries and other participating regions in attendance.c

The event is yet another diplomatic effort by China following the 2nd Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation and the 2019 Beijing International Horticultural Exhibition.

The CDAC marks the first time Asian countries have gathered for cross-cultural exchange, adding to the event's historical groundbreaking significance.

The necessity of the CDAC is highlighted by Western reaction. Some Westerners, trapped in geopolitical thought, view the event as a competition between China and the West.

This way of thinking leads to estrangement and conflict between civilizations, turning dialogue into an increasingly global concern.

At this juncture, whomever stands up and to promote dialogue and exchange among civilizations will create future benefits for the following centuries. It's not an accident the CDAC was born in Asia and initiated by China.

Asia is a vast continent with diverse civilizations and religions. If different entities can achieve inclusiveness, mutual learning, and become closer with one another, it will be a success over the experiment of unilateralism.

With uneven development and as the former victims of the Cold War, Asian countries are concerned with equality and independence, the foundation required for civilizations to achieve peaceful coexistence.

China is the most powerful country in Asia, opposing hegemonism and confrontation while advocating harmonious coexistence and cross-cultural learning. CDAC is part of China's endeavor to realize what that entails, and only time will prove the significance of China's exploration.

As the birthplace of modernization and globalization, the West occupies a natural position in the international political arena. Many Westerners are obsessed with Western style centralism. However, in recent years, they have seen the rapid development of non-Western countries, and Asian countries in particular, which has made them sensitive and narrow-minded.

Western vigilance, mistrust, and hostility toward foreign civilizations only agitate their differences and contradictions, and can ignite bloody conflicts.

Globalization is at an inflection point. At a time when China is trying to bridge the gaps between different civilizations, the US is in search of border wall funding. While China expands and opens up in more areas, the US closes its door to technological, educational, and social and science exchanges.

A rift between Western civilizations and non-Western civilizations is unbearable to today's world. Whether Western civilization can be more inclusive will determine the course of globalization. Any far-sighted, rational-thinking person will be excited with the progress achieved during the CDAC.

Adapting to modern times is the Asian continent's mission and China is willing to work with Asian countries to achieve a harmonious coexistence.

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Cultural superiority is stupid and disastrous, Chinese President Xi Jinping warns as US tensions persist

Chinese President Xi Jinping warned that one civilisation forcing itself on another would be “stupid” and “disastrous” as he called on nations to respect each other on Wednesday, with Beijing embroiled in rising confrontation with the United States on trade as well as military and cultural matters.

In a speech at the start of the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilisations – designed for Beijing to show its soft power – Xi did not mention any nation by name, but said nobody should regard their race as superior.

The speech came two weeks after US State Department director of policy planning Kiron Skinner described strategic competition with China as “a fight with a really different civilisation and a different ideology”. Skinner said it was the first time the US had faced a “great power competitor that is not Caucasian”.

Chinese officials have rejected Skinner’s remarks, and in his speech Xi appeared to expand on the theme, saying cultures were distinctive but no better or worse than each other.

“If someone thinks their own race and civilisation is superior and insists on remoulding or replacing other civilisations, it would be a stupid idea and disastrous act,” Xi said.

“We should hold up equality and respect, abandon pride and prejudice, deepen our knowledge about the differences between our own and other civilisations, and promote harmonious dialogue and coexistence between civilisations.”

He went on to say: “If countries retreat back to secluded islands, human civilisation will die out because of a lack of exchanges.”

Xi stressed that people should step beyond the limits of their own culture to discover the advantages of others, and argued it was the best way to inspire innovation.

“All civilisations must progress with time and keep up with the latest achievement,” he said.

The president suggested that the Belt and Road Initiative, his transcontinental infrastructure strategy, was also a means to promote cooperation between nations.

“The Belt and Road … and other initiatives have expanded the channels for civilisation exchanges,” he said.

Beijing last month held the Belt and Road Forum to showcase its trade and infrastructure projects in countries in Asia to Africa.

The speech reiterated the idea, which  Xi has aired previously, of a community of shared destiny, arguing that Asian countries should open and connect their polices, infrastructures, trade, investment and people.

Asia must maintain peace as the precondition of economic growth, which is the pillar of civilisation, he argued.

Can China do soft power? Poorly organised yet tightly controlled forum raises questions


“All countries should conduct exchanges beyond borders of state, time and civilisations, and work together to protect the peaceful time we have, which is more precious than gold,” Xi said.

“Children and women are suffering from poverty, hunger and diseases in Asia. This has to be changed,” he said, calling on Asian nations to “work together to promote an open, inclusive, balanced and mutually beneficial globalised economy, eradicating poverty”.

Xi proposed deeper cultural exchanges, saying that China would cooperate with more Asian nations to translate their literature and would promote inward and outward tourism.

“This can facilitate the appreciation and understanding of different cultures,” he said.

Opinion: US-China trade war is really a clash of civilisations

Stating that China received 140 million overseas tourists last year while 160 million Chinese made visits abroad, Xi said tourism could promote economic growth and friendship in Asia.

China would increase exchanges involving young people and think tanks, he added.

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Xi warns of disaster if one civilisation imposes will
on another
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3010287/cultural-superiority-stupid-and-disastrous-chinese-president


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