Chinese, Ethiopian officials appeal to embrace civilization diversity for peaceful, better world

ADDIS ABABA, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese and Ethiopian officials have stressed the need to respect and embrace the diversity of civilizations to promote peaceful coexistence, mutual understanding, people-to-people ties and development across the world.

The call was made at a high-level dialogue, titled "The Civilization Lecture Series," held in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, Saturday. The event aimed to further strengthen exchanges and cooperation of civil societies between China and Ethiopia.

Speaking at the event, Li Jun, vice president of China NGO Network for International Exchanges, said it is critical to advocate shared human values to promote peaceful coexistence among different civilizations and people of the world.

"We should respect the diversity of civilizations to promote mutual understanding, champion cultural differences based on equality and respect, and reject pride and prejudice, which have been proved to be the biggest obstacles to civilizations, cultural exchanges and mutual learning," Li said.

According to Li, the government of China firmly supports the efforts of Ethiopians and others to inherit and develop their own cultures while independently choosing a development path that suits their nations. China is willing to have more dialogues on civilizations, intercultural exchanges and governance experiences.

He said a civilization can only sustain its vitality by learning from other civilizations, strengthening people-to-people exchanges and promoting mutual learning.

Yonas Adaye, commissioner of the Ethiopian National Dialogue, said at the event that dialogue on civilizations is critical to maintaining world peace and development through intercultural exchanges and cooperation.

Noting that China is promoting world peace through cooperation and solidarity, Adaye emphasized the need to advance dialogue and sharing among civilizations in the face of growing confrontations among countries of the world.

"Civil societies serve as bridges between states and societies through building trust, teaching the society their rights and responsibilities, dignity, human rights, democratic engagement, and helping them engage with each other," Adaye said.

Indicating that China has contributed a lot to promoting win-win cooperation among different countries through its Global Civilization Initiative, the commissioner said the Chinese government's engagement in promoting civilizations and cultural exchanges for shared future and common development has earned the trust of many African countries.

The high-level dialogue came after the commemoration of the China-proposed International Day for Dialogue among Civilizations, which was designated on June 10 by the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly.