Opening Speech of The Second World Congress of Global Civilization
November 14, 2005 - Millennium United Nations Plaza Hotel, New York, USA
By Dr. Shaohua Zhang
Chairman - Organization for Promoting Global Civilization Chairman - First and Second World Congress of Global Civilization
Translated by Vincent Law
Distinguished Representatives and Honored Guests:
After extensive preparation, the Second World Congress of Global Civilization now begins as scheduled. On behalf of the Preparatory Committee and Executive Committee of the conference, I would like to extend a warm welcome to you all.
Global, civilization, world, and congress: the combination of these words is a firm statement that we are engaging in a very important mission here. It is also a reflection of your concerns of humanity - the past, present, and future of humankind.
Five thousand years ago, humans lived in a “tribal world” which three hundred years ago became a “national world”; in the last hundred years, we have been in an “inter-national world.” Just as UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan stated in his “Millennium Report,” as we march into the 21st century, we now live in a “global world.” He also points out that “responding to this shift is a central challenge for world leaders today.”
If we think deeper about the evolution of human history, we will reach a profound understanding: the birth of the global world has equal significance to the birth of humankind. The latter marks the formation of a highly capable new species—humans, while the former symbolizes the six billion human beings who have grown into one unified species. It implies that humans have been transformed from the “social animals” we have been in the last four million years to a mature humanity characterized by more integration and higher morality.
A global world is the living system in which all countries and peoples on earth share their environment, social life, information, technology, ideas, and achievements. Regions, states, and individuals are held together by increasing interdependence in this global age. International entities and the Internet have broken the rigid boundaries of states and made all human beings one family. Extensive networks of ocean, air, rail, and highway transportation have shrunk this planet to an “earth village.” Every society, whether a sophisticated urban one or remote village; every individual, whether black or white, young or old, male or female; every believer, whether Christian, Islamic, or Buddhist, all inevitably have come together, intentionally or unintentionally, consciously or unconsciously, in this unified system of human existence. In brief, the arrival of the global age has blurred the concept of geographic territory, national borders, or distinctions between political and religious groups that have been strongly embodied in human history in the last ten thousand years. In such an age, all aspects of human life, including politics, economics, science and technology, ethics, religion, education, sports, and so on have been brought to globalization at a accelerated pace.
It is evident that globalization as the initial stage of the human integration evolution, which began more than a half century ago, would be neither Western-led, Eastern-led, nor Mid-Eastern-led. Globalization would not be led by any region. Likewise, the century of globalization would neither be Western, Eastern, nor Mid-Eastern. It would not be a century dominated by any single region or any single country. Quite the contrary, the 21st century can only be the century for all humans and all nations. It is a century of collective development with greater integration and cooperation of six billion individuals. Most importantly, the increasing interdependence of humans determines that the 21st century must be a century of peace and equality. In brief, either from the perspective of human evolution or of a single aspect in our real life, globalization has pushed humans into a critical turning point in history where we have only two choices: either advancing to a higher civilization or returning to an age of barbarians; either going towards prosperity or being destroyed altogether. This is the first critical decision that humankind has had to make collectively since its birth.
We are at the most crucial transition stage in human history. In this time of fast growing globalization, the answer to where the USA is going, or where Russia, China or India is going, will no longer be determined by the single state itself. Likewise, it is impossible for these answers to be determined by one region itself. The future of every state and every region has been integrated into the future of humankind. Ultimately, it can only be determined by answering: where is humanity going?
Where is humanity going in the global world? This is such an important question that it requires us to think, ponder, and act. To find the answer to this very question, after two years of preparing by visiting more than a dozen countries and inviting renowned overseas scholars and religious leaders to China, I founded the Organization of Promoting Global Civilization (OPGC) in 1999 in the beautiful multicultural country of Australia, together with a network of scholars from the USA, Russia, China, UK, Iran, Australia, India, Romania, and Singapore. Considering the nature of the OPGC, in 2005 we have moved the headquarters to New York, USA where the United Nations and many multinational organizations are located.
The destiny of humanity concerns the future of current civilization, which is the end product of thousands of years of evolution. The future of civilization will be essentially led by how we manage two major relationships: those between local civilizations, and those between local civilization and global reality. We will find that any local civilization demonstrates two key characteristics: first, strong internal harmony with self-appreciation; second, ethnocentrism and intolerance to other civilizations while trying hard to be part of humanity. The increasing interactions between local civilizations with such natures in the global world inevitably cause various conflicts. Similarly, issues will arise between local civilizations and global humanity.
How should we respond to inevitable conflicts between civilizations? How should civilizations adapt to globalization? That is to say, how can we facilitate the communication and coordination between civilizations, and thus uplift them to meet the challenge of globalization? The answer to this question is the common root of all major issues in the 21st century. In fact, civilizations are part of humanity regardless of their various natures and huge differences. They are simply expressing the same essence and the same pursuit in different ways. After founding this common ground of all civilizations, we then reach a deeper understanding: the common humanity in all peoples, white or black, yellow or red, and the common element in all civilizations, Western or Eastern, one humanity, is the essence that makes humans human, civilizations civilization. The spirit of civilizations which manifests the common element of all humans and all civilizations, is precisely the essence for which every civilization has been searching. We define this spirit as a new civilization - the Global Civilization.
I would describe the Global Civilization as a new civilization derived from the philosophy of “oneness of all matters” from the West, the philosophy of “oneness of all humans” from the East, the philosophy of “oneness of all faiths” from the Mid-East, and the philosophy of “All is one in the universe” from contemporary thinking. In coming to this realization, our mission is clear: OPGC must finalize the theory of the Global Civilization, and reveal it to the world. Therefore, after numerous revisions over two years, the Declaration of Global Civilization was born. With the same objective, in the first year of the new millennium, July 2001, the First World Congress of Global Civilization was held in Sydney, Australia. It was a conference seeking an overall theoretical answer to where humanity is going. The Declaration of Global Civilization, with the four principles (oneness of all matters, oneness of all humans, oneness of all faiths, All is one in the universe) as its framework, was passed overwhelmingly and adopted in the conference.
It has been proven by years of experience that as long as we can grasp the commonality among civilizations, we will be able to discover the element that is beneficial for global well-being. Only then will we be able to appreciate the differences, learn from others, and co-exist harmoniously.
It would not be satisfactory to seek only academic analysis or theoretical answers to where humanity is going. We must strive to make a difference in real life. Politics plays an essential role in human society, and governments are the center of politics. Thus we need to address this issue on the governmental level in terms of politics, law, and the military. How to inspire a new thinking of human self-governing in the global world; how to meet the challenge of globalization and unify all peoples on earth; and how to achieve a unified humanity are the most vital challenges in human evolution in the 21st century. Therefore the agenda of the 2nd World Congress of Global Civilization has come naturally. Our major task in this conference is to discuss and pass “The Open Letter to the UN General Assembly Proposing a Discussion of Establishing a World Coalition Government”.
It is far from sufficient to look for theoretical or political answers alone to know where humanity is going. As we dig deep into the ground of theory and politics, we will discover a strong common “root” underneath. This root is religion. Individuals may have different theories and beliefs. The same can happen in politics where the president can be changed, a regime replaced, or policy and law at any time. However, these changes are merely superficial. The belief system of the people that is the “root”, their religion, remains the same.
Religion could be defined as the organized system of faith in a spirit that creates, transcends, and orchestrates humankind. Different religions are simply giving different names and explanations to the same transcendent power. In an attempt to address this issue, the 5th board and executive committee meeting of OPGC has decided that the 3rd World Congress of Global Civilization will be held in Jerusalem in 2009 with the theme of oneness of all faiths and with an aim to achieve interreligious harmony. The key task of this conference is to discuss, debate, and pass “The Proposal of Communication in Spirituality in the Global Age.” Preparation for this conference began in June 2005 by Mr. Zhai Xinliang, the Chairman of the 3rd World Congress. Indeed, the topic of the 3rd Word Congress is extremely sensitive and complex while also being crucial for the advancement of humanity.
I would like to share with you a true story I just heard a couple of days ago. There is a gentleman in New York who came to the Executive Committee meeting yesterday. He has an amazing plan to purchase 60 hectares of land in the State of New York where he would build churches, mosques, and temples of every religion and then invite religious leaders to manage each section, turning it into a human Garden of Eden, a land of peace and harmony for all religions. His ideas and plans are completely in tune with the theme of our 3rd World Congress of Global Civilization.
The answer to where humanity is going seems to be an “internal” issue among humans. However, the destiny of humanity also depends on how humans interact with their external environments. It is interesting to realize the fact that the same ocean encircles all continents, the same atmosphere envelops the whole planet, the same mountain range spreads over multiple states, and the same river passes through numerous borders. People in this global world are no longer isolated by territory or borders. Any environmental issue will not be resolved by one single country, or a few states. And it should not be, indeed, it will not be resolved by warfare or any other force, as has always been the case in the past.
It could be further exemplified by cases of population and ecosystem management. For generations, the majority of the African population has been living in an environment of extreme climates and limited resources, which has a significant impact upon their quality of life and level of education, physically and psychologically. Even the reproduction rate has been strongly affected. With these results, should we consider the possibility of a well-planned massive immigration of a proportion of the African population who are under extreme conditions, to a vast new land such as Northern Europe, Australia, Canada, or the spacious Siberia in southeastern Russia, where it is difficult to find a trace of human existence in the boundless world with wealthy resources? By doing so, will we be able to improve the ecosystems of those most impoverished states and maintain a healthy level of population? Will the dramatic environmental change be beneficial for these African migrates physically and mentally?
Many important projects, such as our management and preservation of marine, groundwater, or fossil fuel resources; our battle against deforestation and land degradation; our protection of biodiversity; and our space projects, such as the Moon, Mars or Jupiter projects, are about human well-being, and should have been implemented by joint forces of all specialists from all nations rather than being secretly conducted by one country or a few states. And in this domain of human pursuit, we should not engage in the competition of resources, blockading of information, or the protection of technical knowledge as some countries are doing today. That is to say, all challenges that humans are confronting today, including global warming, water and air pollution, population growth, and space exploration, must be answered from the perspective of all human beings and the long-term future of humanity, by the joint force of all humans on this planet, via two specialized world entities that I have been proposing: One is a global research institution that conducts comprehensive research and provides necessary knowledge; the other is a global judiciary entity that has true authority and enforcement support, and will be managed by rationality and cooperation of all the countries of the world. Both entities should be constituted by policy-makers, philosophers, religious leaders and scientists from all over the world.
All we have discussed here could be conveyed by one idea—all beings, including the animals, the humans, the earth, the atmosphere and the galaxy, are essentially “energy” in various forms. Thus all beings constitute the oneness of a unified universe. This has given us the theme for the 4th World Congress of Global Civilization to be held in Moscow in 2013: Oneness of all matters. It has been decided the mission of the 4th World Congress is to discuss, debate, and pass “The 50 years’ planning for global management of a sustainable ecosystem” to be drafted and written by renowned scientists around the world.
The 5th World Congress of Global Civilization is to be held in 2017 in Africa. It will be a conference that integrates themes of the 2nd Congress (oneness of all humans), the 3rd Congress (oneness of all faiths) and the 4th Congress (oneness of all matters) to a new theme of “all is one in the universe.” It is also a pledge to promote the spirit of Global Civilization (the theme of the 1st Congress) on a global scale. It will take 10 days and have two missions to be accomplished. One is to advocate and promote the civilized concept of “energy universe” and the philosophy that all matters, humans, and faiths share one essence. To be specific, this concept has two implications: on one hand, it is the oneness of the universal system of the material world (matter), the human world, and the spiritual world; on the other hand, it is the unified human existence of the body (matter), the mind (humans), and the spiritual system. Our second mission is to compile a textbook based on The Declaration of Global Civilization, to organize a group of educators and public speakers comprising influential politicians, religious scholars, and scientists from all over the world, to raise public awareness and understanding about the spirit of global civilization through activities targeted universities of every state and major media of the world.
The site of the 5th conference will be either South Africa, or Ethiopia where the earliest fossils of Homo sapiens were discovered through archaeology. South Africa is a example of a country originally inhabited by generations of black people, once governed and dominated by white, which is now finally a harmonious society and peaceful state shared by blacks and whites. We chose South Africa as one of our options in an attempt to proclaim to the world that our human fellows do have the ability to find a path towards unity and peace after experiencing clashes of civilizations, as well as to proclaim that another, better world is possible. We also have good reasons to favor Ethiopia —our ancestors spread out to the world from this very place with the seeds of civilization. After a lengthy period of difficult expansion, the seeds of humanity have been dispersed to all corners of the world where they have deeply rooted and flourished. Today in the 21st century, these civilizations are all searching for the origin of a global civilization, the root of humanity. The essence of this origin and its root are the four principles of Global Civilization.
In other words, the global civilization theory that we established in the 1st World Congress is conceptualized by the four principles. Among them, three of the principles have been discussed by the following three world congresses. In 2017, all participants of the 5th World Congress representing various civilizations will bring back a better seed for humanity—the spirit of the Global Civilization. We will return to humanity’s birthplace, search for our roots, pay tribute to our ancestors, and take the oath to be unified under one humanity, to rebuild a better planet here on earth.
The Textbook of Global Civilization with the four principles as its theoretical framework will be published in English, French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, and Arabic. There will be two versions of this textbook: one a concise version for the general public, the other an advanced version for academic purposes. We have repeated that from the birth of hominids about 5 million years ago, humans have experienced two critical learning phases. The first is the humanization phase at the beginning of human history when humans learned how to be human; the second phase is today, when humans are learning how to be unified as one humanity. This Textbook of Global Civilization is especially being prepared for the second phase of human learning. It is a textbook for humankind.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I have briefly explained the reason behind our five world congresses and the interrelations among them, as well as the theme and goal of each conference. Having said that, I realize great responsibility falls on our shoulders as we still have a long way to go to achieve our goals. Considering that some of our Executive Committee members are already seniors, the Preparatory Committee has invited a group of young students still working on their master’s or doctoral studies who come from different nations with various ethnic backgrounds to attend this conference. We hope our mission will be carried on by this younger generation.
My dear friends, think about it: if all our participants of the 1st and the 2nd World Congresses of Global Civilization can work closely together for the next 20 years, and attract attention and support from all over the world by our sincerity and humanity, when we achieve our goals in these five congresses and related seminars, the last eight decades of the 21st century will be a peaceful 80 years. Our success will have a great impact on the destiny of humanity for generations to come. So let’s work on it today.
In summary, as an international non-governmental academic organization, OPGC has a goal to integrate the essence of Western, Eastern, and Middle-Eastern civilizations and elevate them into a new spirit of civilization for all humans. Guided by this thinking, we intend to accomplish the following three missions for the 21st century and the future: first, to make every aspect of human activity, including thinking, living, science, technology, and economic development full of civilized humanity; second, to achieve a great human unity in social, political, and spiritual aspects of our life by combining the strengths of Western vitality, Mid-Eastern faith, and Eastern social morality; and third, to resolve historical hostility and ancient hatred by offering understanding, tolerance, compassion, forgiveness, loving kindness, and peaceful negotiation.
How crucial are these 20 years!
What a great responsibility!
It is surely the responsibility of our generation. It is surely the mission of our generation!
Perhaps someday in the future, people will make such a statement about the 2nd World Congress—on November 14–16, 2005, a group of “unrealistic” people of different colors and religions from all over the world, who were not the President, nor Senators, nor officials from the United Nations, and of whom some were even not scholars, convened a world conference at the Millennium United Nations Plaza Hotel next to the UN building in New York. It was this group of “unrealistic” people who addressed the most pressing issues for humankind and proposed the most practical solutions. Everybody here today is part of this group, and the solution is “The Proposal to the UN General Assembly for Establishing a World Coalition Government.”
Lastly, I sincerely hope that all of you here today will attend the 3rd World Congress of Global Civilization in Jerusalem in 2009.
