The round-table conference 'CHINA AND THE WORLD: CHANGING REALITY AND SHATED FUTURE' was held online successfully on 31st July 2020, which was coorganized by the Institute for a Community with Shared Future (ICSF) from China, the Center For New Inclusive Asia (CNIA) fron Malaysia, and The Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute (DOC Research Institute) from Germany. Experts and reserchers from China, Germany, Malaysia, the UK, the US, Singapore, South Africa and etc. shared their perceptions and ideas with rational arguments from multi-perspectives towards the transforming world situation under both the COVID-19 pandemic and the tension of China-US relation, and then discussed solutions to expect a promising shared future for the whole humankind. The article below was compiled from some expert's speech on the conference. --Eds
Professor Jean-Christophe Bas：
the CEO of Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute
Topic: The World at the Crossroads Again:
the Urgent Need to Build a New Internationalism
Good afternoon everyone. Greeting from sunny Berlin, to join this important timely conversation today as a representative of Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute co-organizer. Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute is indeed very proud to collaborate with CUC and the Institute of a Community with Shared Future. Actually it was delighted to be associated in the launch of the institute last November and to develop a fruitful collaboration with colleague and hopefully friends. And I'm also very pleased to have the opportunity to meet today.
The title of this Webinar is : China and the world: changing reality and shared future, which is more specifically for this session about new era, new concept and new order. It is indeed extremely important and very timely. It is a very timely conversation in this precedent time and somewhat unpredictable time, a time that has been mentioned before, is increasingly dominated.
But last March, when it called the China geopolitical contest，the world has experienced, in the 20th century, a scenario first edition of a geopolitical divide, that was based on ideology. And we can certainly assume that very few people today want to experience a new biple world again. Very few people want to experience a 21st century addition of a bipolarity, as we have learned from his story. And I know that many people claim that we never learn from history. But this is still a recent and fresh history. What we have learned is a biple world is abbidently leading to tensions and leading to conflicts. This is certainly not what we want for us and for the next generation.
This year, 2020, about the 75th anniversary of the end of world war 2, and it is also the 75th anniversary of the creation of the United Nations. It is also the 75th anniversary of the bombing in Hiroshima that will be collaborated next week. Three major events in modern history where the world and humanity has been experiencing the worst of human nature, but also the light of hope.
The creation of the UN was based on the new global consensus around equality and human dignity. But what has happened during those years since aforementioned major turning points in modern history and today, the world has radically changed. And international institution that were created at that side, where take way created before the decolonization, where the number of members, states in the world was much smaller and with a very few dominating the rest. That was also before the time of globalization, international trade and international finance. We are less open and less free. That was also before the digitization, when communication was more physical than virtual. And that was also the time where the notion of states were the only real actor operating on the global stage. These profound and transformational changes are profoundly challenging the relevance, the legitimacy, and the effectiveness of most international institutions that should be designed to bring humanity together and to promote peace and development.
We must confess, Madam Chair, dear friends, that we have been somewhat sluggish or intellectually lazy and in denial of the new reality and dynamics of the world during the past 10 to 20 years. And we thought that we would just keep, it seems, the way they are with adaptation here and there, when actually there is a huge and immediate need to rein advance to terms of international cooperation.
The COVID crisis is a human tragedy on an economy disaster， also offering us in this 75th anniversary, a unique wake of cold, an opportunity to rethink altogether. And I really highlight the world altogether, the philosophy and the modalities of international cooperation. It also found us a wake-up call, a unique time opportunity to ask ourselves altogether what brings us together as humankind and humanity in the 21st century. What are our common views? What are our common values?
Let's call it common values, shared views for a mental values. I think the time has come to open this discussion. And we need to bring around the table the multiple perspectives that would contribute to build the new contract that will keep humanity and humankind together in the 21st century. And this is indeed what I call it, the title of my brief intervention to develop a new internationalism. It is absolutely indispensable if we want to be able to counter the forces that are trying to push for building a new bipolar world. It is absolutely dispensable that we would be able to come up with a shared views on a shared vision about the new international cooperation in order to avoid this risk of getting back to a bipolar world and in a way to define the new contract. And when I'm using those words of inclusiveness, shared values, equal partner, I realize, dear Professor Li, that these are also the words that define the philosophy of the Institute for Community with Shared Future. That also you presented in the article that was published by dialogue of civilization institute. So we have someway common views.We are certainly willing to go together in the same direction. But we need to have this open conversation as friends, as partners, a discussion with no compromise. We would certainly not agree on everything, because we have our tradition. We have our history. We have our beliefs. But what I think is important is we need to listen together to each other and to see how we can understand and respect better those differences in a way to fill the gap, and to be able to define a core set of values and vision that would put us together.
This is why this events that is organized today is so important to bring together those different perspectives with the goal to share to forge those common world views. And this is also actually the goal and the mission of the Dialogue of Civilization Institute. I believe it is very important to create a necessary synergy, and interaction along the like-minded organization, in order to strengthen the voice of those who wants to promote corporation, multilateralism, and therefore peace and prosperity. This is also actually the topic of the 18th edition of the Dialogue of Civilization Institute Forum that will take place on October 1st and 2nd that will be dedicated to discuss how to reinvent international cooperation. I hope that we can work with all partners and participants while around the table today to exchange views on this.
Please allow me to say a last word about Europe because I'm speaking from Europe. I'm speaking actually from Berlin, and Germany is only the EU presidency for the next six months. The recent EU summit took place in Brussels last week has been all marked a turning points. In the story of Europe and the newspaper China Daily, even headline was ‘The Birth of the New Europe’. Thanks to the leadership and president, Europe will be inevitably played an important role in shaping of the new world order and Europe as a valuable and successful experience to share in terms of cooperation, multilateralism, and building the community of state in solidarity. Europeans are today witnessing the rise of tension between China and the US. The world is really at a crossroad. This is a unique moment in time. And there is no doubts that the European will be willing to engage with partners and countries that are committed to cooperation and respects of diversity of culture and civilization. Madam Chair, thank you again for the invitation.
The Speaker: Jean-Christophe Bas
