Online Dialogue on People-to-people Cooperation debuts

时间:2020-05-14  17:28:16

The serial Online Dialogue on People-to-people Cooperation, organized by huanqiu.com, Beijing People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (BPAFFC) and Beijing NGO Network for International Exchanges (Beijing NGO), kicked off on Friday, exploring ways to bring people from China and the rest of the world closer during the COVID-19 outbreak.

At Friday’s first event themed “People-to-people Friendly Cooperation under the New Situation”, Zhao Wenzhi, Vice President of the China NGO Network for International Exchanges, emphasized the significance of being together with our international friends during such a challenging time for the world.

Zhao added that the serial online dialogue is a practical measure to enhance friendly exchanges across countries and regions, contributing to the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. 

Carol Robertson Lopez, chair elect of the board of directors at Sister Cities International, spoke highly of the help sister cities in China and the US have given each other during the pandemic. “Problems can divide people, but problems should bring people together,” She noted.  

Calling on both sides to join hands and fight the battle against the virus, Lopez said “together with Sister Cities and BPAFFC, we are going to keep the emphasis on what’s important, and that’s the people-to-people sharing, because we are all experiencing the same thing with COVID(-19). ”

John Ross, senior fellow at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies of the Renmin University of China, rebutted false information on western social media that claims China faked the number of deaths from the coronavirus. He said the best way to convey the truth is through person-to-person communication. He suggested the Chinese public take photos of their daily life to refute rumors spread in western nations.

In answering a question by an internet user about what Chinese social organizations could do to make China better understood in the west, Ross reemphasized his views of encouraging the general public to take photos of their everyday life, because to him, “factual and person-to-person contact” is the optimal way to show the outside world a real China.      

Yao Peisheng, Former Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine also rebuked the smear campaign initiated by certain western countries that attempt to negate China’s efforts to fight against COVID-19. He said China should speak up on issues of common concern with our friends in the international community, and share anti-pandemic experience with them. He also stressed the importance of using new technological means for people-to-people exchanges between China and other nations.

Wang Huiyao, vice president of Beijing NGO and director of the Center for China and Globalization, focused on the role of think tanks to overcome challenges posed by the pandemic. Making use of the internet as a new platform for exchanges between Chinese think tanks and their foreign counterparts, and actively participate in discussions about global governance reform, according to Wang, is the direction for Chinese thinks to move along. 

Wang Zhengxu, professor of political science at Fudan University, pointed out the coronavirus pandemic has made greater the obstacle to globalization. According to him, more people-to-people exchanges are needed to rid the world of mounting distrust among countries. He also said the world has now entered a G0 era, in which expectation for China to play a bigger role gets beefed up.    

Zhou Xinyu, professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University, suggest a global cooperative network of nongovernmental organizations be built, especially when the world is undergoing profound changes. He showed strong confidence in Chinese civil groups’ enthusiasm to go global.

The Online Dialogue on People-to-people Cooperation, guided by China NGO Network for International Exchanges, features over 10 events on topics such as healthcare, sanitation, economy, science and technology, agriculture, youth affairs. It will continue to bring experts and professionals from different walks of life to share their opinions on how COVID-19 has changed the world and propose solutions.