Xi Jinping Remarks at the BRICS Business Forum

Aug. 23, 2023, 2022 (EIRNS)—Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered an address titled “ Enhancing Solidarity and Cooperation To Overcome Risks and Challenges and Jointly Build a Better World,” to the closing ceremony of the BRICS Business Forum on Aug. 22. His complete remarks at posted to the Foreign Ministry website. Excerpts follow:

“Right now, changes in the world, in our times and in history are unfolding in ways like never before, bringing human society to a critical juncture. Should we pursue cooperation and integration, or just succumb to division and confrontation? Should we work together to maintain peace and stability, or just sleepwalk into the abyss of a new Cold War?

“Ten years ago, I made a proposition of building a community with a shared future for mankind, calling on all countries to build this planet we all call home into a harmonious family. In the face of high winds, choppy waters and even treacherous storms, we in all countries need to uphold the correct views of the world, of history and of our overall interests, and act to translate the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind into reality.

“We need to promote development and prosperity for all.... But some country, obsessed with maintaining its hegemony, has gone out of its way to cripple the EMDCs [emerging markets and developing countries]. Whoever is developing fast becomes its target of containment; whoever is catching up becomes its target of obstruction. But this is futile, as I have said more than once that blowing out others’ lamp will not bring light to oneself. Every country has the right to development, and the people in every country have the freedom to pursue a happy life.

“We need to achieve universal security. Recent years have seen a turbulent world; many countries and regions are plagued by wars and conflicts and many people are displaced. Members of the international community share the pressing hope to eradicate the root cause of conflicts and wars, and find a fundamental way to realize enduring peace and security globally. Facts have shown that any attempt to keep enlarging a military alliance, expand one’s own sphere of influence or squeeze other countries’ buffer of security can only create security predicament and insecurity for all countries. Only a commitment to a new vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security can lead to universal security.

“We need to stay committed to exchanges among civilizations and mutual learning. One flower alone cannot make a beautiful spring; only blossoming of a rich variety of flowers can bring spring to the global garden. Human civilization is colorful by nature. It is precisely because of their differences in history, culture and system that all countries need to interact with one another, learn from each other, and advance together. Deliberately creating division with the assertion of ‘democracy versus authoritarianism’ and ‘liberalism versus autocracy’ can only split the world and lead to clash of civilizations....

“Friends, As an ancient Chinese philosopher observes, ‘Change is the nature of the universe.’ The collective rise of EMDCs represented by BRICS is fundamentally changing the global landscape. EMDCs have contributed as high as 80 percent of global growth in the past 20 years, and their share in the global GDP has increased from 24 percent 40 years ago to more than 40 percent. Just as a line in a Chinese poem reads, ‘No mountains can stop the surging flow of a mighty river.’ Whatever resistance there may be, BRICS, a positive and stable force for good, will continue to grow.... The gathering between BRICS countries and more than 50 other countries in South Africa today is not an exercise of asking countries to take sides, nor an exercise of creating bloc confrontation. Rather, it is an endeavor to expand the architecture of peace and development. I am glad to note that over 20 countries are knocking on the door of BRICS. China hopes to see more joining the BRICS cooperation mechanism....” (Emphasis in original.)