2022-15 China (see also 2021-18)
Monday, September 26, 2022 Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Newsletter of the Global Think Tank Network for Democracy Studies
(October 9th, 2022)
Highlights:
l Global efforts for peace and prosperity needed
Updated: Sep 26, 2022
https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202209/26/WS633197e3a310fd2b29e79cf9.html
The more severe and complex the international situation becomes, the more urgent it is for countries to maintain communication and interaction. That the Chinese delegation was one of the busiest ones among all the delegations on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York last week has demonstrated China's strong sense of responsibility as a major country.
The Chinese delegation, headed by State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, participated in more than 40 bilateral and multilateral activities, some of which it organized.
l Seminar highlights spirit of harmony in diversity
Updated: Sep 27, 2022
https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202209/27/WS6332edaca310fd2b29e7a0fc.html
Leading scholars and officials around the world have called on nations to respect the diversity of human civilization, uphold the spirit of harmony in diversity, and follow the path of exchanges and mutual learning based on equality, dialogue, and inclusiveness.
They made the urge at an online international seminar hosted by the United Nations Association of China on Tuesday, in parallel to the 51st Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Wang Chao, president of Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs and president of UNA-China, addressed the seminar titled "Promote Exchanges and Mutual Learning Among Civilizations, Build an Open and Inclusive World".
Wang stressed that mutual respect and equality should be upheld, and global human rights governance should be promoted based on respecting differences among civilizations.
He called upon nations to stick to exchanges and integration to promote mutual progress, adhere to integrity and innovation to keep pace with the times, pursue peace and development through dialogue among civilizations and promote people-to-people exchanges.
"There is no superior or inferior path to human rights, only its own characteristics. People of all countries have the right to independently choose the path of human rights development best suited to their national conditions," he said.
"The Chinese people have never accepted the logic that a strong country is bound to seek hegemony. Instead, they advocate that all countries, big or small, strong or weak, rich or poor, are equal members of the international community and participate in international affairs on an equal footing," he added.
China has provided the international community with public goods such as the Belt and Road Initiative, the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative, and China adheres to the common values of peace, development, equity, justice, democracy, and freedom for mankind, he said.
I. Opinions:
Su Changhe, State symbiosis: seeking a new model of international political civilization
Updated: Sep 20, 2022
http://english.cssn.cn/opinion/202209/t20220920_5535341.shtml
State symbiosis also considers how nations can better cooperate in an increasingly interdependent world and therefore promote global governance. There are many obstacles to international cooperation, among which confrontational institutional system within countries have long been neglected, while it has a negative impact on multilateralism, global governance, and how international cooperation agreements are implemented. The confrontational system is largely due to the propaganda and diplomatic promotion of Western politics. It has been regarded as a democratic system for quite a long time in the past, but we need to reflect on this system in the 21st century. We now see more and more cooperative organizations and global governance arrangements are impaired by partisan politics within certain important countries. The US is a typical case in point, with growing doubts about whether its domestic confrontational system can provide definitive support for global governance commitments.
l Josef Gregory Mahoney, Whole process democracy is real democracy
Updated: 05-Dec-2021
The German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel asserted there are special human values that are transhistorical ideals that orient our senses of justice and progress. He called these "concrete universals," and while many debates which values specifically deserve the label, most would agree that democracy is one of them.
l Sun Zhaoyang, China's view of democracy: Democracy is for people's well-being
Updated: 08-Dec-2021
Democracy as a concept is void of meaning if it's abstract, supra-class, or supra-history. There should not be an eternal or universal view of democracy in the world. Democracy can be only found in ever-evolving common values under a concrete or historical context.
II. Journals:
l Global Law Review（5-2022）
http://iolawen.cssn.cn/Publications_126084/glr/202209/t20220926_5541858.shtml
l Chinese Review of International Law（4-2022）
http://iolawen.cssn.cn/Publications_126084/InternationalLaw/202207/t20220727_5419998.shtml
III. Book:
Peter Emerson, The Punters' Guide to Democracy（Forthcoming）
The Punters' Guide to Democracy (Springer, Heidelberg) -- argues that western democracy is now entering a most dangerous phase, what with the likes of Trump, Bolsonaro and so on. Originally, democracy was meant to be for everybody, not just a 'winner', (even if that victor had won a majority). Sadly, and dangerously I would argue, politics has become very adversarial, and many democracies are now under the rule of 'one-man' minorities, that which the English Lord, Lord Hailsham, called 'elected dictatorships.'
VI. Conferences:
l The Sub-forum on “Multilateralism and Global Human Rights Governance“ of “2022 Beijing Human Rights Forum“ Held in Beijing
Updated: 29 July, 2022
http://iolawen.cssn.cn/newsfromthetwoinstitutes/202208/t20220810_5470419.shtml
The 2022 Beijing Human Rights Forum, co-hosted by the China Society for Human Rights Studies (CSHRS) and the China Foundation for Human Rights Development (CFHRD), opened at the Beijing Conference Center on July 26. The forum, which took "Working Together towards Fairer, More Equitable, Reasonable and Inclusive Global Human Rights Governance" as its theme, was divided into five parallel sub-forums. Among them, the fourth sub-forum, themed "Multilateralism and Global Human Rights Governance", was hosted by CASS Center for Human Rights Studies. The sub-forum was attended by more than 40 representatives from over 15 countries, including Mr. Tang Xianwen, Secretary General of CSHRS, Professor Chen Guoping, Secretary of the Joint Party Committee of CASS Institute of Law and CASS Institute of International Law, Professor Mo Jihong, Director of CASS Institute of Law and Director of CASS Center for Human Rights Studies, Mr. Li Xiaojun, Deputy Secretary General of CSHRS, Professor Liu Huawen, Executive Director of CASS Center for Human Rights Studies and Deputy Director of CASS Institute of International Law, and Professor Xie Zengyi, Deputy Director of CASS Center for Human Rights Studies and Deputy Director of CASS Institute of Law.
l International symposium held to promote the theoretical innovation of Marxism
Updated: 29 July, 2022
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202207/29/WS62e38cdfa310fd2b29e6f2f7.html
To promote the exchanges of Marxist theory among China, Italy and Switzerland, an international symposium was held on July 24 with the attendance of over 20 experts and scholars from China, Italy, and Switzerland.
