Africa -China Review Africa -China Cooperation and Transformation
Published: October 06,2023
By Huan Yuping
In today’s era, every second is what Karl Marx referred to as “world time”. The futures and interests of countries are intertwined and deeply interconnected.
On Sept. 28, 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the general debate of the 70th Session of the United Nations(UN) General Assembly and delivered an important speech, in which he proposed the common values of the whole mankind for the first time – peace, development, equity, justice, democracy and freedom, saying the values are the lofty goals of the UN.
The common values of the whole mankind reveals the greatest possible convergence of interests among different systems, different civilizations and different countries, building consensus for the advancement of human civilization and driving the creation of a better future for humanity.
Despite differences among countries in history, culture, institution and level of development, their peoples do subscribe to the common values of humanity for peace, development, equity, justice, democracy and freedom.
Peace and development are the common endeavors of people from all countries and serve as the foundation for pursuing all other values. They are crucial conditions for enhancing the well-being of people.
Fairness and justice are the shared ideals of people from all countries, reflected in the normative requirements of establishing a sound and reasonable order within a nation and among nations.
Democracy and freedom are the common aspirations of people from all countries and are important indicators of the progress of human civilization.
The common values of the whole mankind transcend the barriers of civilizations, nationalities, systems, and political parties. They condense and summarize the basic consensus of values shared by all humanity and have gained widespread recognition from the international community. Promoting peace, development, equity, justice, democracy, and freedom as the common values of the whole mankind has been enshrined in joint declarations of China and many other countries.
History and reality both prove that embracing these common values with an open and inclusive spirit is essential for promoting the development and progress of human society.
The common values of the whole mankind are inclusive, advocating for a broad understanding of values by different civilizations and respecting the exploration of value realization by peoples of different countries. The common values of the whole mankind are concretely and practically embodied in the pursuit of people’s interests.
To promote the common values of the whole mankind, it is necessary to advocate for cultural exchanges and mutual learning.
Diversity makes human civilization what it is, and provides a constant source of vitality and driving force for world development. No civilization in the world is superior to others; every civilization is special and unique to its own region. Civilizations can achieve harmony only through communication, and can make progress only through harmonization. Only by letting cultural exchanges transcend estrangement, mutual learning transcend clashes, and coexistence transcend feelings of superiority, can the world promote continuous progress of civilizations and draw a magnificent picture of human history.
The world has entered a new period of turbulence and transformation. It is undergoing major shifts, division and regrouping, leading to more uncertain, unstable and unpredictable developments. Only by adhering to the common values of the whole mankind can the world propel the wheels of history towards a brighter future.
Human suffering caused by regional conflicts and wars continues around the world. There are still approximately 735 million people suffering from hunger globally. The UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals consist of 169 specific targets, but only 15 percent are on track, and many goals are even experiencing setbacks.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the world is at a time when humanity faces huge challenges – from the worsening climate emergency to escalating conflicts, the global cost-of-living crisis, soaring inequalities and dramatic technological disruptions.
In order to achieve peace and development, the international community should adhere to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, establish a new vision of security featuring common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, respect the development rights of all countries, restore development to the center of the international agenda, and jointly cultivate new global development momentum.
In order to achieve fairness and justice, efforts should be made to strive for equal rights, equal opportunities, and equal rules. International rules should be based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and jointly written and maintained by all. The representation and voice of developing countries should be strengthened in international affairs.
In order to achieve democracy and freedom, the international community should respect and support the development paths independently chosen by different peoples, support countries in exploring democratic development paths based on their national conditions, and jointly enrich the development of human political civilization.
The common values of the whole mankind are not only the common wealth of human civilization, but also the key to solving the challenges of the times. As the proposer of these common values, China will continue to work together with all parties to actively practice them, walk the path of common development, respond to the challenges of the times, promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, and create a better future for the world.
