(A closer look at China) Why did Xi Jinping mention this Indonesian proverb at the "most delicate" G20 summit?
China News Agency, Beijing, November 16. Question: At the "most delicate" G20 summit, why did Xi Jinping mention this Indonesian proverb again?
Author Huang Yuqin Xie Yanbing Liang Xiaohui
"As the Indonesian proverb says, sugarcane grows in the same hole, and lemongrass grows in clumps. Separation and confrontation are not in the interests of any party, and unity and symbiosis is the right choice." In order to cope with the current global challenges, Chinese President Xi Jinping faced the world in Bali, Indonesia Leaders of major powers have called for this.
On November 15 local time, the 17th G20 Summit was held in Bali, Indonesia.
President Xi Jinping attended and delivered an important speech entitled "Facing the Challenges of the Times and Building a Bright Future Together".
This is Xi Jinping entering the venue.
Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ju Peng
From the 15th to the 16th local time, the 17th summit of the leaders of the Group of Twenty (G20) was held in Bali, Indonesia.
On this tropical island in Southeast Asia, leaders of world and regional powers sit face to face at a conference table to discuss solutions to global challenges.
At present, the COVID-19 epidemic is delayed, the recovery of the world economy is weak, the geopolitical situation is tense, and multiple crises such as food and energy are superimposed.
So much so that before the start of the G20 Bali summit, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) predicted: "This island belonging to Indonesia will host perhaps the most delicate and tense summit in the history of the G20."
In this context, the theme of Xi Jinping's speech at the first stage of the summit was "to meet the challenges of the times and build a better future together", in which he called on all parties to unite and jointly develop their responsibilities.
This Indonesian proverb in his speech also became the epitome of Xi Jinping's expression of China's proposal at the G20 Bali Summit.
From the perspective of the outside world, facing the G20 members whose economic aggregate accounts for about 85% of the world, "sugar cane grows in the same hole, and lemongrass grows in clumps", which is calling for "unity".
Xi Jinping spelled out both the meaning of unity and the consequences of division.
He bluntly said, "Unity is strength, and division leads nowhere."
At a time when the world is facing major challenges, China has made it clear that building "small courtyards and high walls" or building closed and exclusive "small circles" are outdated Cold War mentality that will only divide the world and hinder global development and humankind. progress.
On November 15 local time, the 17th G20 Summit was held in Bali, Indonesia.
President Xi Jinping attended and delivered an important speech entitled "Facing the Challenges of the Times and Building a Bright Future Together".
Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ju Peng
"Whether it is the fragility of the world economy or the tense geopolitical situation, the core issue behind the deficit in peace, development, and governance is that the international community has not carried out effective solidarity and cooperation." Gao Fei, vice president of the China Foreign Affairs University, pointed out that China's The G20 Bali summit used local proverbs to call for unity in a high-profile manner, which pointed to the root of the current problem and emphasized that the world's major economies should work together to deal with challenges.
In fact, it is not the first time Xi Jinping has quoted the proverb "Sugarcane grows in the same hole, and lemongrass grows in clumps".
At the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2022 in April this year, Xi Jinping also used this opportunity to emphasize the need to actively promote Asian cooperation, pointing out that "win-win cooperation is the only way for Asia's development."
One proverb, two occasions, have the same meaning.
From this, it can be seen more clearly that one of the purposes of China's emphasis on strengthening unity is to promote cooperation.
This position is also in line with the expectations of the international community, just as the Indonesian "Jakarta Post" appealed to the leaders of the participating countries before the meeting: "Please don't just rush to quarrel when you come to Bali."
Cooperation should be the consensus of the G20.
At the Bali summit, the Chinese proposal proposed by Xi not only focused on food and energy security, the most pressing challenge in the field of global development, but also emphasized that "the G20 should take this matter to heart", and also focused on long-term cooperation goals , proposing to promote more inclusive, more inclusive and more resilient global development.
"The areas of cooperation that China emphasizes not only aim at the blocking points of current cooperation, but also delineate the key points of international cooperation." Zhang Jie, director of the Asia-Pacific Security and Diplomacy Research Office of the Institute of Asia-Pacific and Global Strategy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that food security and energy security are The main agenda is to solve the most urgent difficulties, and the development requirements of inclusiveness, inclusiveness, and resilience are fundamental strategies proposed in response to the risk of recession in the world economy.
In fact, the G20 mechanism is a "crisis resolution mechanism" formed by strengthening cooperation among the world's major economies.
In 2008, when the financial tsunami swept across the world, the G20 held its first leaders' summit in November of that year, intending to bring the world economy, which was slipping off the cliff, back to the track of stability and recovery through solidarity, cooperation and coordination.
This is the logo of the summit outside the main venue of the summit, taken on November 12 in Bali, Indonesia.
The 17th G20 Summit will be held in Bali, Indonesia.
Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Yiliang photo source: Xinhua Net
At present, the century-old changes and the century-old epidemic are intertwined and superimposed, and the world economy is once again at a crossroads.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently predicted that more than a third of the global economy will shrink in 2022 or 2023.
The world expects the G20 to once again demonstrate its cooperation and action in "crisis response".
Therefore, some commentators pointed out that behind Xi Jinping's quotation of this Indonesian proverb, there is also a layer of backtracking to the original intention of the G20.
As he said in his speech, "I have always advocated that the G20 should adhere to the original intention of unity and cooperation, inherit the spirit of helping each other in times of difficulty, and adhere to the principle of consensus through consultation."
"The original aspiration and mission of the G20 is to solve global problems through solidarity and cooperation." Gao Fei analyzed that at a time when the global economic recovery is weak, China has shown that the G20 must stick to the original aspiration of unity and cooperation. Really return to the theme of peace and development, return to rationality and seek common ground while reserving differences, and maximize the role of unity and cooperation to achieve the goal of "common recovery and strong recovery".
"Common recovery, strong recovery" is the theme of this summit.
In the past few days, this theme slogan can be seen everywhere in Bali, just like the sugar cane and lemongrass elements that can be seen everywhere on the island, this tropical island at the summit moment is bringing enlightenment to the world in its own way.
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