---- Create a new platform for dialogue on civilization to help “Belt and Road” International Cooperation
On Nov 10-12, 2019, President Xi Jinping paid a state visit to Greece. Greek and Chinese leaders have jointly set a new milestone for Greek-Chinese friendship.
On Nov 10, Chinese President Xi Jinping praised that “For over sixty years, year in and year out, the Greece-China Association has been committed to advancing the friendly exchanges between our two nations” in a signed article titled "Let Wisdom of Ancient Civilizations Shine Through the Future" that was published on Greek newspaper Kathimerini (The Daily). This is not only a great encouragement to the Greece-China Association and me but also to all those who work for Greek-Chinese friendship.
For more than 60 years, as a witness and practitioner of Greek-Chinese friendship. I have also been a witness to China developed from “being poor and blank” to “wonder of the world” for 70 years. Greece and China jointly advocate dialogue between civilizations, which has enlightenment to advance the progress of human civilization and the peaceful development of the world.
First Vice-President of the Greece-China Association and President of ECCRD
Amalia Matiatou
December 1, 2019
Both Eastern and Western civilizations have their unique value system.The excellent culture of China and Greece is an important cornerstone for human beings to understand and transform the world and has made important contributions to the development of human society.
China and Greece are both ancient civilizations and are outstanding representatives of Eastern and Western civilizations. Under the repeated appearance of unilateralism, trade protectionism, “Civilization-Threat Theory”, and “Clash of Civilization Theory”, fully explore the profound historical and cultural Heritage of Greece and China, which is of great significance to promote the dialogue between Eastern and Western civilizations, and to promote the harmony of civilizations and environments.
1. Deeply rooted in the two ancient civilizations and advocate an international order that is more fair and reasonable
Greece-China friendship is not only the cooperation between the two countries but also the dialogue between the two civilizations. The relationship between Greece and China has reached a new level and the significance in which has gone beyond bilateral scope. As President Xi Jinping said during his state visit to Greece, “The two countries work together, at the cost of achievements in civilizations across time and space, promoting the exchange and integration of civilizations, is of great significance in advocating a more fair and reasonable international order”. President Prokopis Pavlopoulos and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis highly agreed with President Xi Jinping’s standpoint. They indicated that “Greece and China are both ancient civilizations. They can play an important role in promoting the dialogue among civilizations and the two countries can signify the dialogues to the world together”; “Greek-Chinese cooperation is of strategic significance.”
Greece is the first country in Europe to carry out the “Belt and Road” cooperation with China. The pragmatic cooperation between Greece and China not only provides a referential living example for “Eurasian Connectivity” docking to the “Belt and Road” but also set an example for win-win cooperation and harmonious development process of different civilizations and social systems.
“Uphold the beauty of each civilization and the diversity of civilizations in the world.” Greece and China are both in a critical period of rejuvenation. The two countries work together to display the development of harmonious coexistence of different civilizations based on their respective cultural heritage advantages, which will provide more useful inspirations for world peace and human progress.
2. Promoting cultural exchanges and deepening dialogue among civilizations answer for the well-being of the people in the world
What happens to the world? What should we do? On January 18, 2017, at the United Nations Headquarters in Geneva, in the keynote speech under the title of “Forging the Concept of a Community of Shared Future for Mankind”, President Xi Jinping solemnly answered the question of the era that plagued the world, “What happens to the world? What should we do?” It embodies the wisdom from ancient oriental powers and highlights the thought and responsibility of Chinese leader on global peaceful development. We want peace, cooperation and the pursuit of a win-win situation rather than hegemony, confrontation, and a single win. This is what China says, and this is what China does.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the “Belt and Road” initiative, the exchange of civilizations and the establishment of the concept of “a Community of Shared Future for Mankind” have contributed China’s wisdom and China’s program to improve the global governance system. In the face of the rise of emerging powers, some developed countries tried to contain the peaceful rise of China through a series of means such as “trade war”, “Indo-Pacific Strategy”, etc. To containing the rise of China, firstly, the “Civilization-Threat Theory” was advocated in public opinion, secondly by making issues with geopolitics and thirdly, by using state apparatus to substantively suppresses Chinese high-tech enterprises. This is not a corollary, as Huawei’s experience proves it. However, many European countries including France, German, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Greece, agreed to allow Huawei to have a fair play. Being cautious and constructive is respect for market rules and fairness and justice.
Under the new international situation, we focus on the ideological disputes behind the China-US trade war and the conflicts between major powers. The study believes that, of all time, the game between the big powers and the emerging powers had shown long-term and arduousness. Avoiding the development of competitive relations as a strategic confrontation is of great significance to the leap over the “Thucydides’s Trap”. Enhancing cultural exchanges and deepening dialogue on civilizations will gain a loose international environment for the mutual development of the EU and China. Further deepening the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership will benefit the stability of the world and the healthy development of the global economy. Enhancing cultural exchanges and deepening dialogue among civilizations are powerful responses to “The Clash of Civilizations” advocated by individual countries. It is a new focal point for further deepen the China-EU political mutual trust, also a new supporting point for the deeply docking between the “Belt and Road” and the “Eurasian Connectivity”. EU and China as the two great civilizations, two great powers, and two great markets, further deepening humanities and economic cooperation are in line with the well-being of the people in the world.
It should be noted that the ancient Greek historian Thucydides did not propose the term “Thucydides trap.” The term “Thucydides Trap” was coined by Harvard professor Graham Allison in 2012 which is 2400 years later than the death of Thucydides. Social Media should not over-interpret Allison’s point of view. Even Allison is trying to correct this concept himself. He responded to the misunderstandings in his book “Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides’s Trap?” published in 2017. Allison is a Diplomatic advisor to the Reagan-administration and an assistant secretary of defense for the Clinton administration.
The Pacific Ocean is wide enough. Misjudgment and suspicion will create the greatest misfortune for mankind. During the Obama period in the United States, Obama was opposed to the conflict between the established major countries and emerging major countries. On the contrary, He believed that the United States and China could manage disagreements, and even if there was competition, it should be constructive. The concepts of “a new model of major-country relations between China and the US” and the concept “a Community of Shared Future for Mankind” proposed by President Xi Jinping have pointed out the path of peaceful development for China and the United States.
The battle of ideological doesn't mean anything. The people of any country have the right to choose the path that is conducive to their welfare. With only 7% of the world’s cultivated land, 22% of the world population has been fed in China. When the People’s Republic of China was founded, China’s per capita income was only $ 27 (according to the UN statistics). 70 years later, China’s gross national income (GNI) was $9732, which is 36 times more. Over the past 40 years of reform and opening-up, China’s 700 million people have overcome poverty. The world has witnessed such a miracle created by China.
The opportunities given to the international community by times are all equal. The development of human society should encourage fair competition rather than containment. Cold War Ideology, Zero-Sum game, and strategic miscalculation are not conducive to human development. Strengthening the guidance of international public opinion and promoting the dialogue between civilizations of Greece and China is of historic significance for promoting the peaceful development of the world.
3. Build a better platform for cultural exchanges and dialogue of civilizations
In 202 BC, the ancient Silk Road kicked off with Qian Zhang’s Journey. In the mid-18th century, the French missionary Joseph Premare brought the Chinese classical drama “The Orphan of Zhao” back to Europe, and was later put on stage by Voltaire, which caused a sensation in Europe, a seemingly inconspicuous incident that popularized the “Chinese culture fever” in Europe for half a century. To this day, “the Zhao” drama is still a typical event as a landmark event for the oriental culture to go to Western civilization.
In today’s world, it has entered the era of “a Community of Shared Future for Mankind”. Different civilizations can only learn from each other’s strong points to offset one’s weakness to have improvement together. Bring Chinese-Greek specific cultural advantage into play can positively promote the dialogue between Eastern and Western civilizations to lay the foundation for the “Asian Civilization Dialogue Conference” up to “the Eastern and Western Civilization Dialogue Conference”. At this moment, re-examining the Chinese–Greek Cultural Park project, its mission of the times is more meaningful and more creative. The summary is as follows:
1) The Precise Orientation. The orientation of the project is “to take Eastern and Western culture as the mainline and to showcase the parallel development of the Eastern and Western civilizations”. The purpose is to make substantial results of the exchange of civilizations, the construction of the “Belt and Road”, and a “Community of Shared Future for Mankind”. Experts believed that this is not only the most important two ancient civilizations in the world, also a major event in the history of the development of the Eastern and Western civilizations. This is the first project in the world to systematically build and display the harmonious coexistence of eastern and western civilizations, which fills the gap. It will create humanistic attraction to the countries along the “Belt and Road”.
2) Perspectiveness. At the “China-Greece Local Government Friendly Dialogue” held on the eve of the opening of the first “Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF).” The Greek Ministry of Economic Development and the local government of China to sign a memorandum on the establishment of the Chinese-Greek Cultural Park project advanced by the ECCRD and the CPAFFC. This was another important achievement of President Xi’s meeting with the Greek Prime Minister who came to China to attend the “Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation.”The timely signing of the project is not only highly in line with the spirit of the talks between the leaders of China and Greece but also highly complies with the content of the talks between the leaders of two countries, and President Xi’s state visit to Greece this year. It is a new platform and bridge to make connections between the two peoples.
3) Enhancing the economy. Just as the entire European and even Western civilization originated from Crete and Mycenae,the Yellow River and the Yangtze River Basin are important birthplaces of Chinese civilization. Among them,the Yellow River civilization in Gansu, Shaanxi, Henan, Shanxi, Shandong and other provinces are important birthplaces of the Yellow River civilization. The cooperation between Aegean and Yellow River civilizations is a gift of the Creator and a historical choice. Greece is a fulcrum country of onshore and offshore Silk Road. The port of Piraeus has a unique strategic position in the global logistics chain, and it is also the starting point of the China-EU Expressway. The establishment of a new platform for the China-Greece exchanges is of great significance for helping the central and western regions of China to deeply integrate into the “Belt and Road” construction. In the first three quarters, China’s import and export volume to the EU, the largest trading partner, reached 3.57trillion yuan, an increase of 8.6%, accounting for 15.6% of China’s total foreign trade. The desire of the central and western regions to participate in international economic cooperation is urgent, and it is necessary to have a suitable seaport. Taking the culture as the platform to connect the Greek port of Piraeus and Qingdao port will help to bring into play the dual advantages of the two ports. To this end, relying on the Chinese-Greek Cultural Park, there are also plans for the “Cultural Industry Center of EU-China, Continental and Maritime Express Cargo Center of EU-China, Greek Visa Center, Airport Economy and Electronic Commerce Center of EU in China”. The layout of “One Garden, One Nucleus and Four Centers” stems from the dual consideration of culture and economy. It is predicted that each year, hundreds of billions of trade will be added to the bilateral links between China and the EU. As a traditional big ocean shipping country,with a global population of 0.15% controlling one-quarter of the world’s merchant ships, with a total tonnage accounting for 21% of the world, 53% of the EU, carrying 60% of China’s import and export bulk goods.
4. The rootedness of Greek-Chinese friendship and the everlasting civilization dialogues
From November 27 to 29, 2019, the Third Ministerial Conference of the Forum on Ancient Civilizations was held in Beijing. ECCRD was the main planner for this project. The plan was originated in 2015. In March and June 2016, the ECCRD visited Mr. Wang Mengkui, former director of the Development research center of the state council of China, twice. The second meeting took more than four hours. The 78-year-old lean old man who served as a senior think-tank for three prime ministers of China gave up his lunch break and refused his lunch. He commented that “This plan means a lot!” and insisted that he was “not tired, not hungry, only drinking tea.” The plan was more perfect under his guidance. In April 2017, under the joint initiative of the Greek and Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the first Ancient Civilizations Forum was held in Athens. Today, the forum includes the world’s most representative ancient civilizations. Ancient civilizations, including all emerging countries that uphold fairness and justice, are important forces for maintaining world peace and prosperity.
5. The action should be taken under the leadership of the leaders
In the process of the formation of the two great civilizations, political civilization plays a very important role in it, and the ideological culture guides the direction of the development of political civilization and economic society. Throughout the history, the Strong and powerful dynasties including pre-Qin Dynasty, Han Dynasty, or the Tang Dynasty and the Song Dynasty, are all based on the development of culture; the European Enlightenment and Renaissance opened the prelude of modern industrial civilization. It can be said that every subliming of human civilization and the economic take-off are all based on the genes of cultural progress. It can be predicted that the “soft power” contained in the project will soon be transformed into “hard power”, which will greatly promote the bilateral economic cooperation between China and Greece. In 2018, Zhengzhou R&F City Real Estate Development Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of R&F Group, signed an investment agreement with ECCRD on the construction of the project, with the investment amount equivalent to 1.3 billion Euros.
From November 10 to 12, 2019, President Xi finally paid a state visit to Greece. The leaders of the two countries jointly opened a new chapter for the Greek-Chinese relationship.
The overall situation for rapidly promoting the establishment of the project is more mature. It has been more than two years since the project was signed. It is imperative and necessary to take action as soon as we can. It is the top priority and it is the need of the times.
It is true that as a large-scale translational, cross-cultural, and cross-disciplinary project, it is necessary not only to elaborate and accurately grasp the development process of Chinese and Greek cultures and Eastern and Western civilizations, also to do the top-level design. Besides, the government, the international think tank organization and the corporate consortium need to work together and coordinate the participation of experts from various fields.
(The author is Amalia Matiatou, first Vice-Presidentof the Greece-China Association, President of the Intl think tank,ECCRD,and Zhao Wenchao, Researcher & Executive Chairman of the ECCRD)
Note: Mrs.Matiatou is the only founding leader of the Greece-China Association who is still alive. On Nov 10, 2019, Chinese President Xi Jinping praised that “For over sixty years, year in and year out, the Greece-China Association has been committed to advancing the friendly exchanges between our two nations” in a signed article titled “Let Wisdom of Ancient Civilizations Shine Through the Future” published on Kathimerini (The Daily) during his state visit to Greece.