Why civilizational diversity must be respected
Editor's note: CGTN's First Voice provides instant commentary on breaking stories. The column clarifies emerging issues and better defines the news agenda, offering a Chinese perspective on the latest global events.
In an essay in Foreign Affairs more than 30 years ago, American political scientist Samuel Huntington coined the term "the clash of civilizations," predicting that the next global conflict would occur along cultural divides, most prominently between the Islamic world and the West.
While his idea is still being contested today, we are indeed witnessing increasing major armed conflicts and the rise of ideological contention in the world today. Hopes of a ceasefire in the protracted Russia-Ukraine conflict remain slim. On top of that, we are seeing daily volatilities between Israel and the Hamas, and a precarious truce between Israel and Iran. Attacks based on race and religion are happening worldwide regularly. All these threaten global civilizations and global peace and growth.
In his congratulatory letter to the Global Civilizations Dialogue Ministerial Meeting in Beijing on Thursday, Chinese President Xi Jinping emphasized that in a world where transformations and turbulences are interwoven and humanity stands at a new crossroads, there is an ever-pressing need for civilizations to transcend estrangement through exchanges, and to transcend clashes through mutual learning.
The letter speaks volumes for the situation we live in. In a world where one ideological, cultural and political system tries to dominate, respect for other civilizations— their culture, traditions, norms, politics or ways of life— is often tossed out. It results in the supremacy of one race and the division of nations into different camps based on their ideologies. Such a result is dangerous.
For example, the United States, arguably the most powerful country in the world, has been propagating a so-called value-based diplomacy for decades. The U.S. touts its political system as the best in the world, along with its economic system, social development path, military capability, science and technology advances and a global monetary system based on the U.S. dollar. It has for long been trying to export these so-called American values to other sovereign states and regions.
But the reality is, instead of bringing peace or justice, which the U.S. declares to be its mission, such “diplomacy” has only caused conflicts. The fallouts of enforced regime changes – from Iraq to Libya and beyond – continue to haunt the world. Despite that the recent U.S. administrations have increased their push to implement "American values" — the war in Ukraine and tech and supply chain restrictions on China are the most obvious cases of that. This so-called value-based diplomacy has split the world into "the West vs the rest," with the specter of a new cold war rising.
The fact is that the world is diverse in nature, and every country has its own traditions and conditions. All deserve the right to forge their own political and social systems, development path and way of life suited to their own traditions and conditions.
History shows us that respecting and embracing different civilizations has sustained human progress as a whole. Take the ancient Silk Road as an example. It was more than just a two-way transit for goods. It was also an avenue for the exchange of scientific ideas and achievements, as well as cultural and religious values.
China exported its goods to Europe and things produced in Rome, India and Iran flowed into China. Different kinds of music, literature and arts were exchanged along the route — assimilated, improved and integrated. Many of the things we enjoy today - ceramics, silk, carpets - survived and flourished because of these exchanges and dialogues among civilizations.
Today’s reality is that respecting and valuing the diversity of civilizations has become utterly necessary. Climate issues, global pandemics, ethical issues brought by the rapid development of artificial intelligence…the challenges we face today are all trans-national and need the historical wisdom and governance experiences of different traditions, cultures and civilizations.
It is precisely for these reasons that China put forward the Global Civilization Initiative (GCI) in 2023. At the conference making the proposal, President Xi Jinping stressed that tolerance, coexistence, exchanges and mutual learning among different civilizations play an irreplaceable role in advancing the modernization process in an age when the future of all countries are closely connected.
The GCI is China's answer to the "clash of civilizations" theory, and a path for the world to pursue inclusion, peace and harmony. Like a forest with diverse trees, humanity too prospers because of the diversity of different civilizations. Respecting civilizational diversity is protecting the ecological balance of human civilizations. Human beings continue to progress together through inclusion, dialogue and mutual learning.
