Chen Daojiang | Build community with shared future for mankind

Time flies. It has been more than two years since I set foot on the land of Jamaica. I have been deeply impressed by Jamaica’s national motto “Out of Many, One People”, which speaks volumes about the close integration and harmonious co-existence of Jamaican people of various descent. It is not only engraved on Jamaica’s national emblem but also takes root in the heart of every single Jamaican.

Despite the vast geographical distance between China and Jamaica, our peoples’ vision and aspiration resonate with each other. Over 1,000 years ago, ancient Chinese wisdom has it that “joint efforts driven by common aspirations can yield shared benefits”. In 2013, President Xi Jinping officially put forward the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind. This vision further points the direction for human society to pursue common development, lasting peace, and mutual learning among civilizations.

At present, the world is seeing fluid dynamics compounded by complex hot buttons, and risks and challenges keep coming to the fore. In times of major changes unseen in a century, all countries are like passengers aboard a ship destined for a shared future. What the world cries out for is the vision for connectivity and cooperation, which is well captured in the Jamaican motto “Out of Many, One People” and the Chinese wisdom that “joint efforts driven by common aspirations can yield shared benefits”. No country’s “one-man show” can bring security and prosperity to itself and the rest of the world.

China always joins other countries in upholding the correct views of the world, of history, and of our overall interests and firmly stands on the right side of history and on the side of human progress. Dedicated to peace, development, cooperation, and mutual benefits, China champions the common values of humanity, strives to build a community with a shared future for mankind, and proposes China’s solutions to the common issues facing humanity. With over 10 years of incremental progress, building a community with a shared future for mankind has developed from a Chinese initiative to an international consensus, from a promising vision to substantive actions, and from a conceptual proposition to a scientific system. It has served as a glorious banner leading the progress of the times.

ANCIENT CHINESE SAYING

As an ancient Chinese saying goes, “With one heart and one mind, we can accomplish everything we aspire for.” During the 51 years of China-Jamaica diplomatic ties, our countries have always treated each other with trust, respect, understanding, and support. This is surely an example for countries’ equal-footed treatment and common development. Currently, the Blue Mountains and lucid oceans of Jamaica are also seeing and feeling how the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind is being fleshed out.

This year, I had the honour of personally experiencing many important and wonderful moments in China-Jamaica relations. Wang Yi, member of the political bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs of China, paid a successful visit to Jamaica, which injected strong impetus into the China-Jamaica strategic partnership. Key infrastructure projects undertaken by the Chinese side were opened to traffic and have become a transportation, economic, and tourism corridor that connects different parts of the island.

Flagship initiatives of Family of China-Jamaica Friendship and Award of China-Jamaica Friendship were launched. The State Minister in the Ministry of Education and Youth of Jamaica and I jointly unveiled the Family of China-Jamaica Friendship at the Earnest Institute for the Gifted, Hyperactive & Talented, also known as EIGHT. A sports training cooperation programme between our countries has been restarted, and over 100 Jamaican athletes are going to China for holistic training. Bilateral and multilateral short-term courses are being hosted one after another, and by this time in the year, over 80 Jamaicans from different sectors have joined the courses in China. By the end of the year, we will also encourage more Chinese teachers to teach Mandarin in Jamaica and promote efforts to host grand celebrations of the 170th anniversary of the Chinese people’s arrival in Jamaica. These big, brilliant, and substantial matters compose new symphonies in our countries’ development cooperation and send out a strong message of our times for a community with a shared future for China and Jamaica.

The Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea are as closely connected as our peoples’ dreams and future are intimately linked. We would love to redouble the joint efforts with Jamaica to advance the China-Jamaica strategic partnership, promote more fruitful results in our high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, empower the various sectors of Jamaica, and deliver benefits to the people. We would also love to stand with Jamaica to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries, uphold the right path of world multipolarity and economic globalisation, rally strong forces for the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, and make even bigger contributions to world peace and human progress.

Chen Daojiang is ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China to Jamaica and permanent representative of the People’s Republic of China to the International Seabed Authority. Send feedback to xiajamaica@gmail.com.