Interview: China's Global Civilization Initiative aims to foster diversity-based unity, says Iran's party leader

TEHRAN, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The Global Civilization Initiative recently proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping aims to promote unity based on diversity, veteran Iranian politician Asadollah Badamchian has said.

Badamchian, general secretary of Iran's Islamic Coalition Party, made the remarks in an exclusive interview with Xinhua after attending the opening ceremony of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in Dialogue with World Political Parties High-Level Meeting via a video link on March 15.

Xi, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, proposed the initiative in a keynote address at the meeting.

Under the initiative, Xi called for respecting the diversity of civilizations, advocating the common values of humanity, valuing the inheritance and innovation of civilizations, and strengthening international people-to-people exchanges and cooperation.

Badamchian said, "the approach pursued by Xi is based on the notion that human civilizations should all join together and enable their diversity to cause greater growth and better transformation."

"We also believe that the world's peoples should be invited to put their civilizations and cultures in the global civilization basket and all together move toward a civilization built upon all human civilizations within the present framework of international relations and communications and in view of the future industrial advances," he said.

China's approach is unlike the West's rampant plunder and slavery over the past two centuries, Badamchian said.

"(For instance,) when arriving in the Americas, the West looted the continents' resources, and its presence in Africa led to the enslavement of the peoples," he explained, stressing that "China has never established slavery in any place."

The West attempted to push the entire world toward becoming Western, European and American-like, he said, adding that the West sought to pass itself off as the most civilized of all civilizations.

"We maintain that the entire world's people would like to escape the arrogant and imperialistic oppression of the United States and other similar states that seek to impose their cultures on others," Badamchian said.

He expressed the hope that relations between Iran and China, and those between his party and China's ruling party, would be strengthened.

"We also wish to witness the expansion and strengthening of the ties and trade transactions between Iran and China," he said.