A Friendly Dialogue Between Two Great Civilizations

By staff reporter LI WUZHOU

A Friendly Dialogue Between Two Great Civilizations

By staff reporter LI WUZHOU

Soong Ching Ling receives a warm welcome on December 16, 1955 from then Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru (second left).

THE China-India Friendship and Inter-Civilization Exchanges Roundtable Conference, jointly sponsored by the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation (CSCLF) and the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA), was held in Beijing on November 26, 2015, at the former residence of late honorary president of the People’s Republic of China Soong Ching Ling (1893-1981) who was a proactive promoter of China-India friendship.

The conference brought together a group of renowned experts and scholars from both countries. They reviewed the long history of friendship between China and India, analyzed the current situation of political, commercial, and people-to-people exchanges, and brainstormed the sound development of the future bilateral relations. The round-table meeting not only deepened the two nations’mutual understanding and friendship, but also injected vitality and impetus towards promoting a jointly open new future. Here we take a look at some of the contributions and suggestions discussed by experts in their fields at the meeting.

Soong Ching Ling and the China-India Friendship

The year 2015 marked the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of India, and the 60th anniversary of Mme. Soong’s visit to India.

Executive Vice-Chairman of the CSCLF Qi Mingqiu regarded Soong Ching Ling as “the envoy and golden bridge of friendship between China and India.” The intimate, high-level round-table conference held at the former residence of Soong Ching Ling therefore had great significance. The aim of the meeting was to inherit resources from the cherished historical China-India friendship to promote communication and dialogues between the two peoples and to explore building non-governmental people-to-people exchanges and cooperative mechanisms, thus to elevate bilateral relations to new heights.

Throughout her life, Soong attached great importance to friendly relations between China and India. In 1927, she met Jawaharlal Nehru during a visit to the Soviet Union. This established the fundamentals of a lifelong friendship. Ai Duo, director of the Administration Center of the Former Residence of Soong Ching Ling and Research Center of the CSCLF, explained that following Japan’s full-scale invasion of China in 1937, Nehru declared a statement of support for China and raised funds for the Chinese people’s war of resistance against Japanese invaders. Soong expressed her sincere thanks to Nehru. The friendship eventually led to an Indian medical detachment serving in China. The world then witnessed Indian independence in 1947 and the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. In October 1954, Nehru visited China, and his old friend Soong in particular, who accompanied him to 10 major events. At the end of 1955, Soong received a warm welcome from the ICWA, launched by Nehru, and the Indian people during a successful visit to India.

China Today, a periodical established by Soong Ching Ling in 1952, has passed down its tradition of spreading the truth and presenting China objectively to foreign readers, as laid down by its founder. President of China Today Hu Baomin expressed the hope that in the foreseeable future, the media of the two countries would strengthen cooperation and communication and bridge the gap between China and India.

Director-general of the ICWA and former Indian ambassador Nalin Surie praised Mme. Soong Ching Ling as the envoy of China-India friendship, and expressed the great wish to consistently strengthen cooperation with the CSCLF to promote mutual friendship and cultural exchanges.

Exchanges Between the Two Civilizations in History

China and India are two among the four famous ancient civilizations of the world, each with their own cultural circles that learn from and influence one another, and nourish mutual cultural development. Chinese paleographer and Indologist Ji Xianlin once commented that if there were an award for the most compatible relations benefitting from cultural communication, the exchanges between China and India would win it. Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore also regarded China and India as old and beloved brothers.

Executive vice-chairman of the CSCLF Qi Mingqiu.

Director-general of the ICWA and former Indian ambassador Nalin Surie.

President of China Today Hu Baomin.

China and India have had both spiritual and material cultural exchanges. As regards the former, Chinese ancients learned much from India, including philosophy, literature, and the arts through which to nourish Chinese culture. That Buddhism spread from India to China and gradually adapted to the local culture may be identified as the greatest achievement of cultural exchanges between the two countries. Buddhism has permeated Chinese social mores and philosophies. This is manifest in a universal outlook that encompasses causality, equality of living creatures, salvation, logical reasoning, and integration of all creatures. The Buddhist doctrine and Confucian ethics combined to accelerate the localization of Indian Buddhism in China, and make Buddhism an important belief among Chinese folk.

Huang Xianian, a research fellow at the Institute of World Religions at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), regards Buddhism as “the largest exchange program”between China and India. He commented on the great significance of Chinese people’s journey to the West and their learning in the old days from Buddhist scriptures, saying it was like a large-scale “study abroad” for Chinese ancients. Ravindra Panth, president of the Institute of Nava Nalanda Mahavihara, commented that Chinese monk Xuan Zang not only brought back authentic Buddhist sutras, but also improved the dissemination of Buddhism in Eastern Asia, a great contribution to India and the world.

Indian languages have become an indispensable factor of Chinese culture. Dean Zhang Liwen of the Confucian Studies Academy of Renmin University of China said that Chinese words such as world, consciousness, politics, nirvana, and disengagement all came from India. Some Indian phrases also evolved into Chinese idioms, like prostrating oneself and touching the ground with five parts of the body (hands, knees and head) in obeisance.

Bilateral cultural exchanges have broadened the impact of China’s thoughts on India. Vice President of the Confucian Studies Academy of Renmin University of China Peng Yongjie remarked that, due to the missionary activities of Buddhist monks between China and India, in particular Chinese monks’ visits to India, Indians gained a deeper understanding of Chinese culture and Confucianism. In fact, India’s studies on Confucianism constitute a well-organized and systematic work of research in the 20th century, and are a vital part of Sinology in India.

Business and trade also enriched the material and cultural exchanges between the two nations. An abundance of goods was transported from China to India, such as silk products, steel, tea, sugar, peanuts, porcelain, and certain fruits, while China imported jewelry, Bodhi trees, jasmine, pepper, and eaglewood.

Representatives pose for a group photo.

New Progress in China-India Relations

Participants widely believed that China and India had become even closer at the turn of the 20th century. Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore played an important role in China’s New Culture Movement early last century; Indian people also provided strong support to the Chinese people’s war of resistance against Japanese aggression. The Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, advocated by both countries, has become the guiding principle of normalizing international relations. China and India, despite their different economic development modes, have both made remarkable achievements that attract worldwide attention.

In September 2014 and May 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made reciprocal state visits, opening a new chapter for the bilateral relations. They are now in full swing and on the right track. Qi Mingqiu said that the two great nations shared much in common: both are countries with large populations, developing nations, and emerging market economies. They are the two main actors in the process of developing global multi-polarization, and the forces that boost Asian and world economic growth. As such their bilateral relations have surpassed the bilateral scope to strategic global effect.

In the modern era, both China and India have experienced pivotal moments. China is stepping into the “new normal” of economic development, which highlights innovative, coordinative, green, open-minded, and shared development. The Indian economy has switched to a new fast track, accelerating development and establishing development and economic zones, which are the key points of new national policies. Made in India, Digital India, and Wisdom City have become the orientation for the nation’s development. Guo Yezhou, vice minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Council of the China Center for Contemporary World Studies, commented that both countries are at a critical juncture in their development, thus their pragmatic cooperation is imbued with unprecedented opportunities.

At the dawn of the new century, China-India economic relations developed rapidly. In 2014, the volume of trade between the two nations surpassed US $70 billion, along with multiple agreements, largely thanks to the strong wishes of both nations’ governments and enterprises to push forward bilateral economy and trade exchange. Furthermore, improved political relations provide a sound foundation for rapid growth, bringing about huge market potential, and bringing into play the preferential advantage of industry structures. Dean of the Institute of World Economics and Politics of CASS Zhang Yuyan suggested the two emerging economies fully play their roles in the global market and redress the imbalance in global governance to better represent the interests of developing countries. Another suggestion was to start by launching an economic strategic dialogue and then to expand to other fields between the two neighboring countries.

Economic relations between China and India have indeed already overtaken the bilateral context to reach regional and global levels. Professor Swaran Singh of the School of International Studies of India Nehru University attributed the strong momentum of bilateral political contact to the determination of the two leaders, both of whom wish to build a sibling-like relationship between China and India.

Although the two governments want to push forward political relations, more understanding and trust are still needed. The moment Professor Wang Bangwei, dean of the Institute of Oriental Studies at Peking University, stated this opinion, he received unanimous agreement from participating experts and scholars.

Lan Jianxue, an associate research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, held that we should switch to another perspective that transcends traditional geopolitics to focus on culture and civilization, and abandon the old Chinese belief that “a mountain is not big enough for two tigers.” The two nations could work in concert to give full play to Eastern civilization and wisdom. “We should use our practice to testify that the Himalayas is big enough to accommodate two large tigers,”he said.

Li Li, deputy director of the Research Institute of South Asia, Southeast Asia and Oceania from the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, expressed in her speech that the breakthrough in China-India relations of 1988 lay in the consensus achieved on the border issue, namely that the issue should be settled through negotiation, and shouldn’t affect the settlement of other problems. In fact, the border issue has made some substantive progress, she said, especially in bilateral military exchanges and cooperation. These achievements have to some extent strengthened mutual trust.

In response to the Indian government’s concerns about security in connection with China’s Maritime Silk Road initiative, Professor Han Hua of the School of International Studies of Peking University suggested more dialogues to dispel doubts. Both countries are highly dependent on the Indian Ocean for bilateral trade as well as their respective foreign trade. Therefore, China attaches great importance to India’s strategic location along the route of the new Maritime Silk Road. Professor Han suggested docking the Maritime Silk Road initiative with India’s Monsoon Plan and to highlight the existing mutual interests.

Professor Madhu Bhalla of the East Asia Research Department of Delhi University emphasized that the two countries should have serious dialogues on each other’s core values with an open-minded attitude, so neutralizing suspicion.

Cultural Exchanges for Mutual Trust

Representatives at the meeting emphasized strengthening people-to-people exchanges. They recommended broadening bilateral relations in the realms of cooperative programs among young people, tourism, cultural exchanges, religious activities, and educational communication. ICWA Director-general Nalin Surie said that China and India are two great ancient civilizations, and that there was no reason for their historical relationship to end. Dean of the Confucian Studies Institute of Renmin University Zhang Liwen agreed that improving cultural exchanges was the most significant aspect of building mutual trust. He hence advised that more meetings should be held to invite relevant experts and scholars from both sides as well as representatives of non-governmental organizations and enterprises to hold in-depth discussions.

Cultural exchanges – which comprise theories and content from academia to arts, from culture to literature, from official practices to folk activities, from mass participation to ethical engagement, and from high art to folklore art – should be developed in an all-round way. Scholars emphasized the importance of knowledge about the current main cultures to deepen mutual understanding. Professor Ravindra Panth, director of the Institute of Nava Nalanda Mahavihara, noticed the absence of a people-to-people dialogue mechanism. Professor Peng Yongjie stated that contemporary cultural research, in China and India, paid close attention to the Western world, ignoring neighboring major countries. Both should take measures in the fields of cultural investment, resource allocation, and cultural and religious systems.

Most scholars called on public media to play a more proactive and positive role, for instance, reporting the history of cultural exchanges and useful information in various fields, thus to promote mutual understanding between the two nations. India and China have a combined population of over two billion; however, the permanent correspondents sent from either side to the other number around 20. This is obviously not enough to strengthen cooperation. “We should not solely depend on Western countries as information resources through which to know our neighbors,” Sanjeev Kumar, research fellow at ICWA, said.

The development of friendly communication has not matched the momentum of bilateral economic relations. Last year, 810,000 Indians visited China, while 180,000 Chinese tourists went to India, compared to the 110 million Chinese tourists traveling around the world. Both nations should vigorously promote tourism to offer new experiences to travelers and direct cultural contact, and to consolidate the political foundation between China and India.

Some scholars also pointed out that from their observations, recent years have witnessed the bilateral relations gradually enter blissful exchanges. Qiu Yonghui, professor at the Institute of World Religions of CASS and vice president of the Chinese Association of South Asian Studies, shared an example whereby the Chinese government has opened the holy mountains and lakes in Tibet to Indian pilgrims, welcomed by Indians. At the same time, Yoga is booming as a lifestyle choice in China, combined with Tai Chi and traditional Chinese music. Nalin Surie said he was delighted to see regular exchanges between the two nation’s youth, as well as high-level forums among Chinese provinces and Indian states. The high-level media forum has provided a framework. Last year witnessed the launch of the encyclopedia project on China-India cultural exchanges, and think tank forums are also on the horizen. “All these efforts will reduce the negative impact of unmatched information and promote mutual trust and exchanges,” said Surie.