More than one hundred think tanks support to move beyond ideological difference and strengthen international cooperation

On August 31, 2020, an international high-level thematic cloud forum under the theme of “Moving Beyond Ideological Differences and Jointly Building A Community with A Shared Future for Mankind” was held in Beijing, sponsored by the Silk Road Think Tank Association (SRTA), and jointly organized by the China Center for Contemporary World Studies, International Department of CPC Central Committee and Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China (RDCY).

Minister of IDCPC Song Tao, former President of Slovenia Danilo Turk, former Prime Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina Zlatko Lagumdzija, former Prime Minister of Egypt Essam Sharaf, former President of Congress of Thailand Bhokin Bhalakula, and former Deputy Speaker of House of Representatives of Parliament Malaysia Ong Tee Keat delivered keynote speeches during the opening, moderated by Guo Yezhou, Vice Minister of International Department of CPC Central Committee (IDCPC), Co-Chairman of SRTA Council.

Song Tao said, as the Covid-19 epidemic continues to spread and the world economy has suffered protectionism and unilateralism. The Cold War mentality are on the rise in some countries. In the face of new situation, President Xi Jinping put forward the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind, setting the direction for global progress and development. All the countries should stick to solidarity and cooperation, maintaining world peace and security; be open and inclusive to achieve common development and prosperity; adhere to seek common ground while reserving difference, contributing to cultural exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations; uphold multilateralism and promote a just and equitable international order; adhere common responsibility and build a new model of major country relationship.

Song Tao stressed that maintaining the stability of China-US relations is not only related to the interests of the two countries people, but also to the overall interests of world peace and development. At present, some American politicians stigmatized the virus, abused national security and politicized economic and trade cooperation, and draw lines along ideology in an attempt to form an exclusive group. These behaviors ran counter to the trend of our times and contravened the interests of not only the Chinese and American peoples but also the people all over the world. China is committed to promote China-US relations based on coordination, cooperation and stability, and China is willing to work with other countries to maintain the international system with the United Nations (UN) at its core and the international order based on international law, and contributing wisdom and efforts to promoting world peace and development, and building a community with a shared future for mankind.

President of Renmin University of China Liu Wei released the Statement of One Hundred Think Tanks on “Strengthening International Cooperation and Building a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind”.

In the expert discussion session, there are 12 experts and scholars from China, Thailand, United Kingdom, Turkey, Czech Republic, Portugal, Italy, Nigeria, Russia and other countries participated in the panel 1 under the theme of "Move Beyond Ideological Differences and Jointly Face Global Crises", moderated by SRTA Secretary General and CCCWS Director Jin Xi. Those speakers are as below: Zhang Yanling, former Vice President of Bank of China, Senior Fellow of Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China; Natee Taweesrifuengfung, President of Siam Intelligence Unit, Thailand; John Ross, former Director of Economic and Business Policy for the Mayor of London; Liu Youfa, former Consul-General of China in Bombay; Ussal Sahbaz, CEO of the Centre for Economics and Foreign Policy Research Centre (EDAM) in Turkey; Milos Balaban, Chairman of Prague Security Conference, Czech Republic; Liu Zhiqin, Senior Fellow of RDCY; Fernanda Ilheu, President of the New Silk Road Friends Association, Portugal; Maringio Francesco, President of Italy Association for the Promotion of New Silk Road; Wang Dong, Deputy Head of Office of Humanities and Social Sciences and Executive Director of Institute for International People-to-People Exchange, Peking University; Charles Onunaiju, Director of Center for China Studies, Nigeria; Vladimir Petrovsky, Expert at Russian International Affairs Council.

In the Panel 2 of "Win-win Cooperation is the Correct Choice for China and the United States", moderated by Executive Dean of RDCY Wang Wen, 12 speakers shared their perspectives on Sino-US relations, including Huang Renwei, Executive Dean of Institute of Belt and Road & Global Governance, Fudan University; William Jones, Washington Bureau Chief for Executive Intelligence Review; Luxman Siriwardena, Executive Director of Pathfinder Foundation, Sri Lanka; Hua Liming, former Chinese Ambassador to Iran, Saudi Arabia and the Netherlands, Senior Fellow of RDCY; Jaya Josie, former Head of the BRICS Research Centre (BRC) at Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), Visiting Professor in the Zhejiang University institute of Business Studies (ZIBS), South Africa; Benyamin Poghosyan, Chairman of Center for Political and Economic Strategic Studies of Armenia; Cui Fan, Professor at School of International Trade and Economics, University of International Business and Economics; Patrycja Pendrakowska, Director of the Boym Institute for Asian and Global Studies, Poland; Zamir Awan, Deputy Director of Center for China Studies, National University of Sciences and Technology, Pakistan; Chen Dingding, Professor at School of International Studies, Jinan University; Jean-Guy Carrier, former Secretary General of International Chamber of Commerce, Canada; Franco Moccia, President of Fundacion Pensar of Argentina.

These participants spoke highly of China in COVID-19 control and the contribution to safeguard world stability and development. They indicated that all the countries should strengthen cooperation to jointly cope with global challenges, faced with the global challenge of COVID-19. However, some individual countries adopted short-sighted and extreme nationalism policy, putting the world in a precarious position. The current changes and developments of international situation demonstrates the practical importance of the vision to build a community with a shared future for mankind and the "Belt and Road initiative". Openness, cooperation and connectivity are the tools to cope with isolation and exclusion. At a time when world stands at a critical crossroad, all the countries should proceed from the common interests of mankind and move beyond ideological, institutional and cultural differences. They should focus on controlling epidemic and restoring development, advocating multilateralism, combining global efforts, and working together to move world in the right direction.