2nd China-Greece Dialogue on Exchange and Mutual Learning of Civilizations & Opening Ceremony of “Chinese Bridge” 第二屆中希文明交流互鑑對話暨“漢語橋”開幕式
It was my honor to participate as a keynote speaker on July the 21st, at the 2nd China-Greece Dialogue on Exchange and Mutual Learning of Civilizations & Opening Ceremony of “Chinese Bridge” Virtual Summer Camps for Greek Students together with his Excellency the Ambassador of China to Greece Mr. Xiao Junzheng, his Excellency the Ambassador of Greece to China Mr Georgios Iliopoulos, the Vice President of Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries Mr. Yan Dong and the Deputy Director-General Center for Language Education and Cooperation Mrs. Jing Wei. Thousands of Greeks are learning the Chinese language today and I feel justified as many years ago we were the first to import Chinese language learning methods to Greece and reprinted an important Chinese-Greek dictionary.
Dear friends, following are the main points of my speech at the 2nd China-Greece Dialogue on Exchange and Mutual Learning of Civilizations, regarding the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Greece:
«I would like to close my greeting with a reference to the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Greece. In this strongly belligerent climate prevailing in the world these days, the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Greece and China should remind us of certain things.
- A long history connects Greece with China, which no one has ever forgotten, and no one has erased.
- China helped Greece when others abandoned us. A notable example is the large investment of COSCO in the port of Piraeus. When no one was interested in the port, when no one wanted to help, the Chinese invested a lot of money. Now the others have regretted it, but it is too late.
- The Chinese people love Greece and Greek history. They wish to visit our country not just for our beautiful beaches but to get to know us up close, to get to know up close the descendants of the Ancient Greek Philosophers, the descendants of Alexander the Great, the descendants of those who introduced Democracy in the world .
- The Chinese never sided with Greece for undeclared purposes. They didn’t come here to sell weapons and protection. They are here to gain strong ties to an Ancient Nation, like themselves, with certain basic principles.
• Respect and trust each other.
• Close communication and coordination.
• Mutually beneficial cooperation within the BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE.
• Mutual learning with systematic dialogues between cultures.
• People-to-people exchanges and deepening of cooperation in education, tourism and other fields.»
George Floras managing Partner of BELT AND ROAD ASSOCIATES
Johnson Choi Biz 