Experts: World needs table where all have seat, voice

As global tensions rise and talk of "clashes of civilization" resurfaces in political discourse, scholars from around the world gathered in Beijing with a shared view: The planet doesn't need a dominant civilization, but rather a table where all have a seat and a voice.

Such remarks were made on Friday during a subforum called Inter-Civilization Exchanges and Mutual Learning: Academic Dialogue, as part of the two-day Global Civilizations Dialogue Ministerial Meeting held in Beijing starting on Thursday. More than 100 participants from over 20 countries — including Australia, Portugal and Argentina — joined the discussion.

Among the voices at the subforum was Liljana Arsovska, a professor at the Center for the Study of Asia and Africa at El Colegio de Mexico in Mexico City. She said that for decades, Latin America's understanding of China has largely been filtered through English or French — languages that, while valuable, often distort the deeper realities of a civilization.

"Every civilization deserves the right to tell its own story, interpret its own classics and express its ideas in its own voice. That is the starting point for any true dialogue or mutual understanding. And on this front, China has already taken an important step forward," Arsovska said.

Charles Okechukwu Onunaiju, director of the Centre for China Studies in Nigeria, echoed the call for civilizational self-expression and warned against the enduring arrogance in global narratives. "For too long, certain powers have decided which civilizations matter — and which don't," he said. "Colonialism interrupted Africa's history. Even today, our voices are often sidelined."

He pointed to China as a powerful example of how a nation can reclaim cultural pride and secure its voice on the global stage — offering inspiration and confidence to others, including many in Africa. The China-proposed Global Civilization Initiative, he added, has offered both the platform and the vision to make what once felt out of reach — a real voice in global conversations — finally possible.

Aye Maung, chairman of the Arakan Front Party in Myanmar, also praised the Global Civilization Initiative as a timely and clear alternative to confrontation-driven global politics. He said China's rise has never been marked by aggression or bloc-building — and now, as the country returns to the center of the world stage, its long-standing principles of peace and dialogue offer a much-needed path forward.

"Civilizations don't prosper in isolation," he said. "They grow through connection."

That view was widely shared at the forum, at which many saw the Global Civilization Initiative not only as relevant, but also essential to navigating today's fractured global landscape.

Gao Xiang, president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, called the initiative a creative and timely response to the challenges facing global civilization — one that provides both wisdom and a framework for shared progress.