Development stressed for peace efforts

Experts called on Thursday for more action in promoting peace and development, the themes of the times, amid the ongoing tension in Ukraine and growing uncertainty worldwide.

The remarks were made at a seminar held by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing. The seminar is titled: Peace and Development as Themes of Era: Opportunities and Challenges.

Peace and development are facing grave challenges, with the Ukraine crisis lingering and rifts among major countries widening, said Zhang Guanzi, secretary-general of the National Top Think Tank committee at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, adding that only through cooperation and exchanges can countries avoid conflict and confrontation and achieve common development.

"Traditional security threats have haunted the world with the ongoing war in Syria and the recent conflict in Ukraine. Meanwhile, food shortage and energy crisis rising from the conflict have plunged many counties into misery. Not to mention the deteriorating global economy and record-high inflation," Zhang said.

Combined with the COVID-19 pandemic, which is still raging around the world, Zhang said the situation in the world has become more complex, unstable and uncertain.

It is at this very moment that the world is in great need of peaceful and stable development, he said. "Peace and development, the themes and the trend of our times, has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people all over the world, and the desire for peace, development and cooperation is even stronger," Zhang said.

Xing Guangcheng, head of the Institute of Chinese Borderland Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, warned that the Cold War mentality is still alive and tearing the world apart.

"The United States still holds the mentality of hegemony though the Cold War was over. The US has not dropped the unipolar thinking. So, the world has remained in a largely peaceful status over the past decades, but some dangerous conflicts and frictions have popped up from time to time," Xing said.

The US and some other Western countries have been intervening in other countries' domestic affairs and even use military force, posing great threat to world peace, he said.

Rashid Alimov, former secretary-general of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, praised China's contributions to global peace and development, calling for more dialogue between different cultures.

"The idea to build a community with a shared future for humanity, proposed by the Chinese president, has become more urgent to implement and is more in line with our current needs," he said.

China is doing well in economic growth, technological development and COVID-19 vaccine distribution, which contributes a lot to global development, Alimov said.