Dear colleagues,

Mencius, another ancient Chinese philosopher, aptly observed, "When Confucius looks down from the peak of the Dongshan Mountain, the local Kingdom of Lu comes into view; when he looks down from the peak of Mount Tai, the whole land comes into view." At a time when the world is undergoing major development, transformation and adjustment, we must stand high, look far, and keep pace with the underlying trend of both the world and our times to push for more progress of human civilization.

While hegemony and power politics still persist in this world, the growing call for a more just and equitable international order must be heeded. Greater democracy in international relations has become an unstoppable trend of the times.

While various traditional and non-traditional security threats keep emerging, the force for peace will prevail, for security and stability are what people long for.

While unilateralism, trade protectionism and backlash against globalization are taking new forms, in this global village of ours where countries' interests and future are so interconnected, the pursuit of cooperation for mutual benefit represents a surging trend.

While we keep hearing such rhetoric as the clash of civilizations or the superiority of one civilization over another, it is the diversity of civilizations that sustains human progress. Indeed, mutual learning between different cultures is a shared aspiration of all peoples.