Insights | China's Global Civilization Initiative to create a more harmonious global society: American expert

(ECNS) -- The“Decoding Zhonghua”International Conference on Dialogue among Civilizations was held in Beijing on Wednesday, with the theme “Pursing Harmonious Coexistence of Civilizations Through Dialogue.”

The conference was hosted by China Ethnic News, Academy of Contemporary China and World Studies, and China International Public Relations Association.

Senior Research Fellow of Taihe Institute and American commentator Einar Tangen made a keynote speech at the conference.

Tangen pointed out that the Global Civilization Initiative is about a world order based on aspirations rather than coercion.

“It relies on a set of philosophical assumptions, based in large part on Hehe Thought, that harmonious coexistence depends on the moral quality of the people and their ability to understand and accept the value of ‘he’ (和), i.e., harmony and ‘he’ (合) i.e., unity, harmony in terms of accepting differences, unity in terms of moral and social values.,” he explained.

He further introduced that the historical roots of Hehe Thought date back to the Shang Dynasty over 3,500 years ago. “Social relations were based on the moral obligations of individuals to their families and societies, these included righteousness, amiability, amicability, politeness, and filial piety, beyond those, matters of opinion could differ,” he said.

“The Global Civilization Initiative emphasizes that global harmony depends on coexistence, not coercive insistence on uniformity. It draws heavily from Hehe Culture's simple truths, people's thoughts will differ, but if they are morally and socially responsible, they can exist harmoniously, as long as there is no self-righteousness insistence on uniformity,” Tangen added.

“As we face serious differences and crises, we as people and nations need to build the trust needed for us to act together,” Tangen said, adding that China is simply offering an example of what it has learned over thousands of years, as a means to create a more harmonious global society, one where differences of belief can exist harmoniously, if we as individuals are morally, and socially, responsible.