The special edition of "World Order at a Crossroads", co-produced by China Global Television Network (CGTN) and Greek Public Television (ERT), explored the world order from an inter-civilizational perspective. 

One of the topics, addressing the concerns regarding Chinese investments around the world, stood out among their heated discussions.

Vladimir Yakunin, chairman of the Supervisory Board of Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute, believes that western propaganda has colored sentiments toward Chinese investment. He suggested people should recognize that the world is changing, and find their place in the new order. 

“The Belt and Road Initiative suggested equal participation. China is suggesting developing countries that we can give money, we can provide technology to construct infrastructure, but it is for you to decide whether you want it or not. If you take it, then you take the responsibility,” Yakunin argued.

About China's Belt and Road Initiative, the Greek government repeatedly expressed its support during bilateral meetings and public speeches, pointing out that the initiative is in the interest of Greece and the European Union (EU). However, some European countries raised some concerns. They argue that China's presence in Greece extends beyond economic influence and has political implications.

“We have explained to our European partners we don't have objections on their behalf; that we need Chinese investment in order to go back to growth,” said Georgios Katrougalos, Greece's deputy minister of foreign affairs.

Katrougalos believed Chinese investment policy lacks conditionality. He criticized Western conditionality on Africa, which is the root cause for the continent's slow development. 

Justin Yifu Lin, former senior vice president of the World Bank, echoed the views of Katrougalos. He claimed that the western countries judge China based on their own experiences.

“Because in the past when they went to a country in general, they want to grasp, they want dominance. Now they see China is coming, so they think that China should behave with the same motivations, the same intentions as they had in the past,” Lin said.

Lin pointed out that Chinese philosophy is different. “According to Confucianism, if we want to make ourselves prosperous, then we need to make other countries and other people prosperous,” he said.

The Belt and Road Initiative is precisely a representation of this philosophy. “It should be good for all the countries because the bottleneck for growth in most countries is infrastructure. If you can have infrastructure connectivity, you will pave the foundations for every country to remove their bottleneck for growth and maybe have the opportunity to enjoy the common prosperity in the coming year,” Lin said.

Ehud Olmert, former prime minister of Israel, suggested that “the way to connect with China and to become important for China is to understand what the priority of the Chinese people is.” He believed that providing a good quality of life to 1.4 billion Chinese people is the most crucial challenge for China and also an opportunity for other players to play a more significant role in the global arena.

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