"Today, a set of crises, namely, the pandemic, an economic slowdown and a degrading environment, is defining humankind's common fate," Peter Chang Thiam Chai, deputy director of the Institute of China Studies, University of Malaya, said on Wednesday at the "International Forum on Democracy: Shared Human Values" in Beijing.

"We can and should turn these exigencies into opportunities to build a community of shared future of health, equity and harmony," he stressed. "To realize this, we got to embrace the inclusive, peaceful and pluralistic ethos of the democratic way of life."