An important conference occurred from May 15-16 in Beijing which was missed by much of the western press. Titled “Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations”, leading heads of state, ministers and business representatives from all Asian countries converged to discuss the organizing principles of the new system being created by China’s Belt and Road Initiative. The event was designed to refute the toxic concept that civilizations are destined to clash.

President Xi Jinping set the tone for the event stating in the opening speech: “The intensifying global challenges humanity are facing now require concerted efforts from countries across the world”. In his presentation he discussed the importance of the new paradigm of win-win cooperation now unfolding and discussed the importance of transcending the “each against all” paradigm which threatens civilization’s very existence.

Xi made the point that cultures must focus on a higher principle of beauty if we will succeed in this endeavor when he said:

We need to uphold the beauty of each civilization and the diversity of civilizations in the world. Each civilization is the crystallization of human creation, and each is beautiful in its own way. The aspiration for all that is beautiful is a common pursuit of humanity that nothing can hold back. Civilizations don’t have to clash with each other; what is needed are eyes to see the beauty in all civilizations. We should keep our own civilizations dynamic and create conditions for other civilizations to flourish. Together we can make the garden of world civilizations colorful and vibrant.”

The conference was the first of its kind and resulted in the release  of a text which is designed to establish a new organizing principle for international governance known as the Beijing Consensus, the full text of which was made public on May 24 and can be read in full here.

The west unfortunately had very little representation.

One of the few notable western representatives who at this prestigious event was Helga Zepp-LaRouche, President of the Schiller Institute who has been on record promoting the New Silk Road as the basis for a new world economic system for over 25 years. Zepp-LaRouche delivered a speech at the event which was widely covered across Asian press though entirely blocked by the west titled “The Highest Ideal of Mankind is the Potential of the Future”. Opening her presentation Helga pointed out that the world finds itself in a phase change between two paradigms when she said:

We find ourselves in such a phase change: the old world order, as it developed after World War II and especially after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, is in a process of dissolution, but what the new order will look like is by no means decided yet.”…….more here