Xi warns against one civilization imposing itself on others

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IANS | 15 May, 2019
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday warned of disaster if any civilization sought to impose itself on others, calling the idea "stupid" as his country heads for an economic showdown with the US.

At the opening session of the Conference on Asian Civilizations Dialogue, Xi said "no civilization is superior over others" and there was no need for them to clash.

"If someone thinks their own race and civilization is superior and insists on remoulding or replacing other civilizations, it would be a stupid idea and disastrous act," Xi said here.

His remarks were in obvious reference to the US State Department official Kiron Skinner's statement that Washington was "in a fight with a really different civilization and a different ideology and it was facing a "great power competitor that is not Caucasian".

The world's two largest economies are locked in an ugly trade dispute wherein both have slapped punitive tariffs worth billions of dollars on each other's goods.

Their conflict worsened last week after Washington increased taxes on Chinese products worth $200 billion. Beijing retaliated by raising tariffs on $60 billion worth of US goods from June 1.

Both countries blame each other for the breakdown in negotiations with US President Donald Trump saying that Beijing "broke" the deal.

Speaking at Wednesday's conference, attended by representatives from 47 countries including India, Xi praised the achievement of China and other Asian countries and said various civilizations needed to learn from each other.

"I hope all Asian countries will jointly promote economic globalization that is open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial to all and work together to eliminate poverty and backwardness in some countries.

"The people of Asian countries hope to distance themselves from being closed and hope that all countries will adhere to the spirit of openness and promote policy communication, connectivity and smooth trade," he added.