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Round Table: Dialogue among Civilizations United Nations, New York, 5 September 2000 Provisional verbatim transcription

Address by Ru Xin (China)

Mr. Xin Ru: I should like to say a few words from the standpoint of a Chinese scholar. We are facing a new problem, the problem of globalization. We are living in a world increasingly integrated and interdependent. It is particularly true in the field of the economy. With the growth of international trade, capital flows and the rapid development of technology diffusion and information exchange, different economies have increasingly infiltrated each other and become more interdependent and restricted by each other.

The globalization of economic life has become an irreversible international trend. Meanwhile, we are also faced with other global problems X resources, environmental protection, population, drug trafficking, the prevention and treatment of (AIDS), poverty X all concerning the common interests of different countries and calling for concerted efforts at settlement. Therefore, dialogue among civilizations is extremely necessary for us. Faced with the process of globalization I believe that we must have a global consciousness, that is to say, we must not take actions out of individual narrow interests alone, but have a broader perspective of the common interests of all human beings. We must realize that the world is an integrated whole and we have to live on this planet together in peace, be dependent upon each other and help each other, live our own lives well and let other people live well. That must become a common role in international relations.

The process of globalization provides different countries not only with opportunities but also with challenges. The internationalization of the economy and the future exchanges of science and technology will undoubtedly promote economic and social development and accelerate the modernization of developing countries. Recent economic development and prosperity in the newly industrialized countries and regions has benefited from this process. However, at the same time it creates new problems, problems of preserving the characteristics and cultural tradition of their own countries in the process of globalization. Increasing global integration should not deny the plurality and diversity of human societies and culture. In fact the world is diversifying at the same time as the process of globalization is taking place. People in different countries live in societies with different political and economic systems, different cultural values, different religions and different historical backgrounds. It seems to me that it is not possible for them to adopt a unanimous development model or to impose certain cultural values upon them. People in different countries have the right to choose their own path of development according to the state of affairs in their own countries and to preserve their own culture and values.

Take China for example. China is participating more and more in the process of globalization and striving for modernization. A China open to reform is willing to learn from and absorb achievements of the world's civilizations but will not copy any foreign model of development. She will firmly take the path of her own characteristics and the path suitable for the Chinese people. It is important that different countries should exchange with each other, respect each other, tolerate things that are different from their own, seek common ground and leave differences as they are so as to promote world peace and prosperity.

At this morning's session some speakers talked about the idea of the clash of civilizations. The idea of the clash of civilizations has paradigms of the post-cold-war world that are dangerous. I do not think that the clash of different civilizations is inevitable but rather that they can and must coexist in peace, learn from each other, understand each other, and replace confrontation with dialogue. Only then will the process of globalization be beneficial to the development and progress of all nations, instead of leading to more severe international confrontations and the resumption of the cold war.

Mr. Picco: I should like to continue with this focus of the dialogue and hear some other brief comments on it.

[Next speaker Wole Soyinka]

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