Sino Bangla News Desk: The Youth Saloon” of the 11th China-South Asia International Cultural Forum was held under the theme “Pool Wisdom for Development, Present a Vision for Peace” via a video conference on Thursday afternoon.

The Youth Saloon was jointly hosted by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) and Yunnan Provincial People’s Government.

Ambassador Lin Songtian, President of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) gave a speech in the opening session.

Here is his speech below.

Respected H.E. Ambassador Moin ul Haque

Respected Mr. K.K.Yoganaadan

Respected Luo Hongjiang

Dear young friends

Good afternoon!

It is such a delight to meet you on zoom. To begin with, I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations on the holding of the Youth Salon, a serial event of the 11th China-South Asia International Cultural Forum, warm welcome, and sincere thanks to experts and young friends for your participation.

In the face of natural disasters including the raging Covid-19 epidemic and such man-made misfortunes as the Russia-Ukraine conflict caused by geopolitics and cold-war mentality, human life, and the production of society are plagued by grave challenges. Against the backdrop, it is of great significance to hold the Forum with the theme of Pool Development Efforts and Building a Vision of Peace Together.

China and South Asian countries are geographically neighbors and culturally connected, with similar historical sufferings and common development tasks. From the ancient Silk Road featuring camel teams and the sounds of bells to the Belt and Road Initiative, China and South Asian countries have been enjoying mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, mutual learning and emulation, and unity and cooperation, which yields tangible benefits to the people in the region. By sharing mutual sympathy and assistance in response to the challenges imposed by the Covid-19 epidemic, we have safeguarded people’s health and safety, showcasing virtues of the oriental cultures and true love in the world and interpreting the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind.

Dear friends,

Over the past four decades, China has been pursuing peaceful, open, and innovative development, creating two miracles of rapid economic growth and everlasting social stability. In the past decade, under the strong leadership of Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, the Communist Party of China has led the Chinese people to achieve the all-round economic and social development, eradicate the absolute poverty in the country, win the battle against poverty and complete the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects. Over 1.4 billion Chinese people have lived a rich and harmonious life and the country is now marching toward modernization and promoting common prosperity. This sets an example and gives a new option for the world of peaceful development and poverty elimination, but also provides new opportunities and prospects of win-win cooperation and common development for the rest of the world including South Asian countries

However, in order to shift their domestic contradictions and crisis to other countries, divert attention and gain benefits from the chaos, some countries have artificially instigated and created the Russia-Ukraine conflict, jeopardizing the stability of the global chains of production, supply, capital, and causing a series of economic and social problems including food and energy crisis, inflation and stagflation. It is unfair that their bill is being paid by the people in the world especially those in underdeveloped countries.  Though seems to happen in Europe, the Russia-Ukraine conflict in fact has cast a shadow on the whole world and affected people around the world. It slows down global economic growth, drives up production and living costs, and poses survival challenges such as unemployment and famine to hundreds of millions of people. Our friends in Sri Lanka are now suffering from it. We must pay close attention to it.

To jointly tackle global governance challenges, President Xi Jinping recently delivered a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2022 and proposed a Global Security Initiative, which contributed Chinese wisdom and China’s solution to current security challenges facing the world. President Xi stressed, “Peace and stability in Asia do not fall into our lap automatically or come as charity from any country. Rather, it is the result of the joint efforts of countries in the region.” Asian countries should cherish hard-won peace and development. Asian people should unite together and pull together to uphold fairness and justice, say no to lobbyists with a cold-war mindset, and those who meddle in the affairs of countries of the region and try to alienate them. We must focus on development and resolve crises to safeguard the regions’ peace and prosperity.

CPAFFC is ready to make full use of the advantages of people-to-people diplomacy to foster friendly exchanges and mutually beneficial cooperation between China and South Asian countries among youth, think tanks, media, enterprises, friendship cities, and others, benefiting more people in the region. We will continue to hold China-South Asia International Cultural Forum to promote people-to-people and cultural exchanges and deepen mutual understanding, friendship and trust. I hope that experts and young friends present today can express their views freely, share wisdom, and offer suggestions.

Dear friends,

Young people are the hope of a country and the future of a nation, also a strong force for safeguarding peace and promoting common development in South Asia and the world. I sincerely hope that young people in China and South Asia can get a clear understanding of the situation, grasp the opportunities of the “Asian century”, practice the spirit of “Asia is One Family” and firmly promote fairness and justice to make contributions to win-win cooperation and common development of the region and to building an even closer community with a shared future for China and South Asia.

Last but not least, I wish this year’s forum a full success. Thank you!