This article appears in the March 31, 2023 issue of Executive Intelligence Review.
[Print version of this article]
President Xi Launches Global Civilization Initiative
Xi Jinping, having been unanimously elected on March 10, 2023 to a third term as China’s President by the National People’s Congress (NPC), announced the launching of the Global Civilization Initiative.
At a meeting titled, “Communist Party of China in Dialogue with World Political Parties High Level Meeting,” 500 leaders of political parties and political organizations from more than 150 countries gathered around the theme, “Path Toward Modernization: the Responsibilities of Political Parties.” Xi sharply criticized “the crooked path taken by some countries to seek hegemony…. The practice of stoking division and confrontation in the name of democracy is in itself a violation of the spirit of democracy.” He put forward a policy of international relations—which he termed “a new development paradigm”—based on the natural harmony of the principles of all civilizations which strive for the development of their peoples. National leaders present from many nations—among them, South Africa, South Sudan, Serbia, Venezuela, and Mongolia—gave strong praise to the Initiative. President Xi’s full address may be viewed here.
Excerpts from the address follow.
Around the world, countries and regions have chosen different paths to modernization, which are rooted in their unique and long civilizations. All civilizations created by human society are splendid. They are where each country’s modernization drive draws its strength and where its unique feature comes from. They, transcending time and space, have jointly made important contribution to humanity’s modernization process. Chinese modernization, as a new form of human advancement, will draw upon the merits of other civilizations and make the garden of world civilizations more vibrant….
A single flower does not make spring, while one hundred flowers in full blossom bring spring to the garden. As the future of all countries are closely connected, tolerance, coexistence, exchanges and mutual learning among different civilizations play an irreplaceable role in advancing humanity’s modernization process and making the garden of world civilizations flourish. Here, I wish to propose the Global Civilization Initiative.
We advocate the respect for the diversity of civilizations. Countries need to uphold the principles of equality, mutual learning, dialogue and inclusiveness among civilizations, and let cultural exchanges transcend estrangement, mutual learning transcend clashes, and coexistence transcend feelings of superiority.
—Richard A. Black
Can a policy written 40 years ago, be so prescient, that it is still as visionary and path-breaking, as well as specific for what might be accomplished today? In “Saudi Arabia in the Year 2023,” written by LaRouche in 1983, LaRouche anticipated the mind-set of China’s Global Civilization Initiative, as well China’s recent successful diplomacy in Southwest Asia, based in a respect for the long arc of civilization, a concept utterly anathema to the mad members of today’s U.S. State Department.
See the review by Gail G. Kay in EIR, Oct. 18, 1983, “Saudi Arabia: a Generation beyond the Dark Ages”
