Friendship bodies of China and Arab countries hold dialogue,issue joint declaration

Xiong Liang

O n May 10， the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the ArabChinese Friendship Societies’ League hosted a video dialogue themed “Safeguarding world equity and justice and achieving common development”. It gave voice to the Chinese and Arab people for justice in a concrete move to safeguard world peace and the common interests of the people.

Lin Songtian， president of the CPAFFC， delivered a keynote speech— “Defending world peace serves the common interests of the people of all countries”. Ali Yousif Ahmed， secretary-general of the ACFSL， and leaders of friendship organizations from Egypt， Algeria， Iraq， Morocco， Tunisia， Yemen， Palestine， Jordan， Lebanon and Sudan attended the dialogue online， along with experts and scholars.

Participants expressed their views through candid and friendly exchanges on four topics： safeguarding world equity and justice and the common inter- ests of China and Arab countries； giving full play to each side’s advantages and promoting win-win cooperation and common development between China and the Arab world； enhancing mutual learning between civilizations； and building a China-Arab community with a shared future， strengthening friendship organizations and carrying forward the traditional friendship.

They reached a broad consensus and issued a joint declaration of friendship organizations from China and Arab countries on safeguarding world equity and justice and achieving common development. Luan Yutao， deputy director general of the CPAFFC’s Department of Asian and African Affairs， presided over the dialogue.

Lin said China and Arab countries share similar values and have made important contributions to human civilization and social progress. Both sides and their people are severe victims and staunch opponents of Western colonialism， imperialism and hegemonism. The two sides have always understood and supported each other. Under the strategic guidance of the leaders of both sides， the China-Arab strategic partnership has not only achieved fruitful results but also brought benefits to both peoples. Moreover， it has become a strong force for firmly upholding multilateralism， defending world equity and justice and safeguarding world peace and development.

Lin noted that at present， people around the world are eager to live lives of peace， harmony and prosperity. This common pursuit is not only challenged by the natural disaster of COVID-19， but also suffers from man-made disaster， as is seen in the Russia and Ukraine conflict， which was triggered by geopolitics and a Cold War mentality. The outbreak of this crisis， Lin said， looks accidental， but it is actually an inevitable event.

“In essence， the conflict is the result of an ideological confrontation and group confrontation instigated by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization led by the United States to safeguard its own interests and hegemony，” Lin said. “It has fully exposed the greedy， barbaric， bloody， selfish and hypocritical nature of capital monopoly.”

Participants from the Arab countries thanked the CPAFFC for hosting the event. They said it was a timely move to hold the dialogue at this critical juncture， as the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the pandemic have jeopardized people’s livelihoods around the world. In the face of the global crisis， Chinese and Arab people-to-people friendship organizations are closely united to make a timely call for safeguarding world peace and the common interests of the Chinese and Arab people and jointly building a China-Arab community with a shared future for the new era.

Lin said both sides should give full play to their advantages and mobilize people’s strengths to deepen cooperation in such fields as local government， friendship cities， education， culture， media think tanks and scientific and technological innovation， and should make positive contributions to promoting mutual understanding and affinity between the peoples of China and the Arab world and consolidating the interests and popular support of China-Arab friendship.

Participants agreed that the Ukraine crisis had harmed people around the world and seriously damaged the security and stability of global industrial chains， supply chains and capital chains， though it happened in Europe. It has severely frustrated the efforts and prospects of sustainable development in developing countries and made working people around the world， including Arab countries， face a serious production survival crisis and a threat of famine. Through the crisis， the United States can not only control the global energy and food markets and shift its domestic crisis but can also deprive Europe of its strategic autonomy， weaken Russia and deter China. The Ukraine crisis presents the danger of dragging on and getting more complicated. This must arouse the high vigilance of people around the world.

Participants believed that hegemonism seeks personal interest at others’ cost and will thus enjoy no sup- port. It is not acceptable， they said， that one country pursues its own absolute security while ignoring others’ security concerns. Instigating ideological antagonism and group confrontation will only undermine world peace and order. Imposing sanctions by exercising double standards and breaching the moral bottom line is obviously undemocratic and respects no human rights at all.

The participants all called on governments and people around the world to actively put into practice the Global Development Initiative and Global Security Initiative and to jointly follow a new path of win-win cooperation， common development and common security， against the old zero-sum game of “You lose， I win” and group confrontation.

Joint Declaration of friendship organizations from China and Arab countries on safeguarding world equity and justice and achieving common development

FULL TEXT：

We， leaders of friendship organizations from China and Arab countries and the Association of Arab-Chinese Friendship Societies， had an online dialogue themed “Safeguarding world equity and justice and achieving common development” on May 10， 2022. We had candid， friendly and in-depth exchanges， reached a broad consensus and agreed to issue a joint declaration as follows：

We agree that the Chinese and Arab people share the same destiny and historical experience. We are both victims and opponents of Western colonialism， imperialism and hegemonism. We have a broad common language and interest in upholding the common values of all mankind， adhering to multilateralism， opposing hegemonism， defending equity and justice， safeguarding world peace and promoting common prosperity.

We express serious concern about the harm that the current crisis in Ukraine poses to people around the world， especially in developing countries. We note that the geopolitical crisis has seriously damaged the stability and security of global industrial chains and supply chains； triggered a global energy and food crisis； led to sharp increases in global inflation， unemployment and consumer prices； and frustrated the unremitting efforts and prospects of developing countries to achieve sustainable development. It pushes people around the world to stagflation， unemployment， famine and other production and survival crises.

We agree that the theme of the times， peace and development， faces severe challenges. The world is neither safe nor peaceful. It is the common aspiration of people of all countries to promote peace， development and cooperation and jointly build a community with a shared future for mankind. The Cold War mentality and actions of provoking ideological confrontation and group confrontation and seeking one’s own absolute security and absolute interests at the expense of the security of others are outdated and harm others without benefiting oneself. We highly appreciate the firm position of China， Saudi Arabia， Egypt， India， Indonesia， South Africa， Brazil and other emerging countries， as well as the vast majority of countries in the world， on equity and justice and the firm determination to safeguard world peace and stability.

We emphasize that an early resolution of the Ukraine crisis and safeguarding world peace， security， development and prosperity serve the common interests of people around the world. The international community should uphold a common， comprehensive， cooperative and sustainable security concept， abandon the Cold War mentality， adhere to true multilateralism， oppose unilateralism and refrain from pursuing group politics and camp confrontation. The international community should continue to resolve national differences and disputes by peaceful means of dialogue and consultation， support all efforts conducive to a peaceful resolution of the crisis in Ukraine and oppose any inhumane words and deeds that may prolong the crisis. All parties highly appreciate the Global Security Initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping for providing Chinese wisdom and solutions to address international security challenges.

We highly appreciate the peoplecentered development philosophy put forward by President Xi Jinping and agree that win-win cooperation and common development are the right way to solve all problems. We strongly call on China and Arab countries to unite and work together to overcome difficulties， build a high-quality Belt and Road， promote the China-Arab strategic partnership to benefit the peoples of both sides and jointly build a China-Arab community with a shared future for the new era. We support the Global Development Initiative， actively promote practical cooperation in key areas， accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and promote the building of a global development community.

We firmly support the just cause of the Palestinian people seeking to restore their legitimate rights， the twostate solution and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with a borderline drawn in 1967 and with East Jerusalem as the capital， and strive to achieve lasting peace in the Middle East. We firmly uphold our respective national unification and oppose any attempt to interfere in other countries’internal affairs.

We call on governments， institutions and enterprises of China and Arab countries to provide necessary support for the development of friendship organizations. We encourage friendship organizations to strengthen capacity building， give full play to their respective advantages and promote friendly exchanges and mutually beneficial cooperation among think tanks， media， youth， local governments and friend- ship cities. We support the Association of Arab-Chinese Friendship Societies to host the China-Arab Friendship Conference under the framework of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum.

We welcome Qatar’s holding of the Sixth China-Arab Friendship Conference and hope the conference will become a platform for people-to-people exchanges and contribute more to China-Arab win-win cooperation and common development.

Participating organizations：

Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries

Arab-Chinese Friendship Societies’ League

Algeria-China Friendship Association

Egyptian-Chinese Friendship Association

Palestinian-Chinese Friendship Association

Lebanese-Chinese League for Friendship and Cooperation

Morocco-China Friendship and Exchange Association

Sudanese-Chinese Friendship Society

Tunisia-China Friendship Association

Yemeni-Chinese Friendship Association

Iraqi-Chinese Friendship Association for Cooperation and Development

Jordanian-Chinese Friendship Association