Asked about President Xi Jinping’s ambitious proposal last year to invite a total of 50,000 young Americans over five years to China to participate in exchange and study programs, Eric Foster, nephew of journalist Edgar Snow’s wife, Helen Foster Snow, said he strongly supports more such exchanges.
Foster, an American political observer who specializes in Chinese affairs, said that about 10 years ago, when he first came to China, the average American heard a lot of bad things about the country because “the Western media reported virtually no news about China. ” .
“So when I arrived here, I was completely impressed by the modernity of the place,” he told China Daily. “If more Americans and more scholars can come here and see China for themselves and (participate in) exchange programs, then they will. ” Come back and say, ‘Wow, this is great. ‘”
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the concept of international relations of large countries with Chinese characteristics, and Foster is one of many political observers who have been inspired by how the country has worked hard to promote cultural exchanges and bring mutual learning between cultures to life.
As a supporter of the Belt and Road Initiative, Foster believes exchanges make peace.
“China is setting an example for the whole world, because how can there be peace when two countries cannot get along, develop and communicate with each other?”
In recent years, China has intensified and diversified its efforts to facilitate people-to-people exchanges with evolved and emerging countries, and to promote the exchange of knowledge, generation and governance experiences, and observers.
During the speech at the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, in October, President Xi said, “Last year, I proposed an initiative for BRICS cooperation in virtual education, and I am very happy to see it become a reality. »
At the summit, he announced that China will launch a capacity-building program for BRICS virtual education.
“We will open 10 learning centers in BRICS countries over the next five years and provide opportunities to 1,000 local school administrators, teachers and students,” he added.
Scholars from countries such as the United Kingdom and Pakistan noted that the Global Civilization Initiative, proposed by President Xi last year, marks a major philosophy focused on enshrining mutual respect among different cultures, values and political systems.
Asad Ullah Khan, a researcher at the Center for China-Pakistan Studies at the Institute of Strategic Studies in Islamabad, said the Global Civilization Initiative “is a concept aimed at long-term shaping for a larger world. “
“Some scholars in the West, particularly in the US, are critical of this initiative, since the concept uses principles of equality, peace, prosperity, dialogue and inclusiveness among different civilizations, in contrast to the Western notion of ‘clash of civilizations’,” he wrote in an article this year.
Khan, noting that “in Chinese tradition, other people and cultures play a role,” said Beijing’s advocacy of exchanges between other people is aimed at inspiring countries to explore discussion and cooperation among civilizations. global networks, expand avenues of cooperation and promote “mutual understanding among other people”. nations for the progress and prosperity of human civilization. “
Upholding the mutual understanding of civilizations, further practicing the principles of the Global Civilization Initiative, and strengthening the exchange of experience in governance also were part of the outcome and consensus at the fifth China-Central Asia Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Chengdu, Sichuan province, this month.
Over the next three years, China will offer 1,500 exercise opportunities to nationals of five Central Asian countries and increase the scholarship quota to 600, to exercise more talents of the kind needed for the countries’ urgent progress, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said. he told reporters.
Stephen Bainous Kargbo, representative of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization in China, said: “From my point of view and from the point of view of the industry, China will continue to be a beacon of hope and an example of what industrialization can make any country. »
“China has shown that through a clean, transparent and consistent trade policy, transformation can take place,” Kargbo told the China Daily.
“So I hope that this style of progression will offer classes to the rest of the world, especially emerging countries, necessarily to copy, but also to adapt to their own circumstances,” Kargbo said.
Endorsing China’s continued support for multilateralism and exchanges among nations, he added: “The future of the world rests on open, consistent dialogue between nations. Nobody has one formula that can solve all problems, but if we come together, discuss openly and fairly with mutual respect, the future is bright.”
Wang Huiyao, founder and president of the think tank Center for China and Globalization in Beijing, said: “the major country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics is now way richer at different levels, and the country’s diplomacy does not rely solely on governmental efforts, but also on efforts in economic, cultural, subnational and think tank realms. I think this progress is noteworthy.”
When reviewing China’s diplomacy over the past 10 years, its wide-ranging cooperation with various regions and with Global South countries has stood out, spanning from neighboring regions such as Central Asia and Southeast Asia to Africa and Latin America, Wang noted.
“China is a pillar that supports a multipolar world and its international relations with major countries are expected to play an even greater role in the future,” he added.