Unity in diversity, not conformity

WANG XIAOYING/CHINA DAILY Chinese and Western ways of thinking are complementary not mutually exclusive We learn about other cultures mostly through the media and through books, films, travels and personal encounters. Inclusivity, adaptation, openness to others and a steadfast sense of one's own cultural rootedness seem to me to be one important "deep" key to understanding China's recent — and amazing — development. In recent years, with China's ever-larger global reach, it has produced a series of valuable and visionary documents and initiatives, such as "A Global Community of Shared Future: China's Proposals and Actions" issued in September 2023, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative. That fits well with the concept, which China has also integrated, namely "common security" advocated by the Swedish Olof Palme Commission Report in 1982 as the foundation for all security policies. Blinken presented a series of complaints and accusations, without any global future ideas, based on a mission to change China and promote unity in conformity to the US.