The CPC in Dialogue with World Political Parties High-Level Meeting was held via video link on March 15, with the theme of “Path Towards Modernization: The Responsibility of Political Parties”. Chinese President Xi Jinping addressed the meeting, stressing, “We must uphold the principle of independence and explore diversified paths towards modernization.”
“One of the challenges of this era is to wrench the world from a mindset, which the West is very happy to continue, that the path to modernization is singular. It is not. The joy and beauty of modernization reflect the complexity and richness of humanity,” said Martin Jacques, former senior fellow at the Department of Politics and International Studies, Cambridge University, in an exclusive interview with GDToday on March 16.
Jacques took China as an example. He believes the uniqueness of Chinese civilization decides that its modernization will not follow the Western template. “Chinese civilization features an extraordinarily long history of continuity, and has had multiple successful periods in global terms. So there is something very powerful in the Chinese governance tradition, such as meritocracy, which can date back to more than 2000 years ago.”
“The notion of modernization in the Chinese context is steadily growing and widening. And in Xi’s speech, it’s also linked to the notion of inclusive civilization, which is called Global Civilization Initiative,” Jacques said.
This year, The CPC in Dialogue with World Political Parties High-Level Meeting brought together more than 500 leaders of political parties and political organizations from more than 150 countries.
Jacques noted that such conferences offer a platform for parties with different cultural backgrounds to develop relations and exchange ideas in order to find a way of negotiating around the big problem: the shift in the American attitude.
Jacques told GDToday that in recent years, he has seen “a process of deterioration” regarding the US’ attitude towards China. However, now he started to find criticism of the US’ China policy even inside the US, which calls for greater tolerance, less confrontation, and more cooperation when dealing with relations with China.
“I’m pleased to see enlightening voices are being raised against the US’ confrontational approaches to China. This is important,” Jacques said.
Reporter | Lydia Liu
Video editor | Guo Guo
Video script | Lydia Liu
Poster designer | Lu Lu
Editor | Wing, Steven, Jasmine, James
