‍By CGTN's Dialogue

“The fact is that China is much there as a major player in the world. Nobody wishes to enter into a conflict with China,” former Latvian president Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga told CGTN’s Dialogue on the sidelines of the Imperial Springs Forum in Guangzhou.

“Meanwhile, that is an aspect I think will be a barrier very close to soft power of China - the question how governance processes? You have a top-down hierarchical governance. But the Europeans, at least theoretically, is bottom-up. The ability to vote and to choose between different parties, produces an opportunity to feedback, to input from a part of citizens, then build up the pyramid from there,” she said, discussing global governance.

“So we are approaching governance from two different angels and from two different points of view.”

Vike-Freiberga said that China could also fill the vacuum left by US, not only in the economic and political domain, but also in other areas.

“If they (US) retreat, there is a vacuum. From what I can see China is very much positioned and ready to step into any vacuum that is found in the world, and to come with its own cultural programs and cultural proposals.”

“For instance, I have not seen in Latvia a full-scale movie made in China, where we can see American movies all the time,” she added.

The former Latvian president also pointed out that all the countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative could benefit, regardless of size or population.

“If the Belt and Road Initiative reaches out to Europe, in order to get there by the land route, I think the countries in between can benefit also from it. Both ends and middle come out winners. And that is a win-win situation.”