Greece, China underscore cultural values
The deputy prime minister of the People’s Republic of China, Sun Chunlan, the highest ranking female official of the Chinese government, concludes her official visit to Greece on Tuesday, which included talks with Vice President of the Government Panagiotis Pikrammenos and Parliament Speaker Konstantinos Tassoulas.
Her visit broached issues related to the further strengthening of cooperation between the two countries, while a memorandum of understanding on sports and two cooperation agreements with Greek universities were signed.
The visit is the first by such a high-ranking Chinese official since the relaxation of pandemic measures in China, with diplomatic sources describing it as a friendly visit to strengthen the overall strategic partnership between the two countries.
The Chinese deputy premier, whose agenda often includes issues of dialogue between cultures, education and health, and who will visit Rhodes on Tuesday to attend an event at the Aegean University, also presented a letter from Chinese President Xi Jinping to the Greek professors-members of the board of directors of the Center for Ancient Greek and Chinese Culture, which the two countries have jointly established. The center is dedicated to “promoting exchanges and mutual learning between the two cultures and promoting the development of culture around the world,” and its inauguration ceremony was held on Monday at the Great Hall of the University of Athens.
“The values of the cultures of our two countries, as well as the way in which we approach and understand the world, the universe, life, science and culture emanating from them, cover a broad spectrum and are renewed over time, and are destined to provide valuable spiritual guidance for overcoming the difficulties of our times and building a community with a common future for all humanity,” said the letter.
History, it said, has repeatedly proven that human civilization flourishes when exclusions are removed in favor of inclusion.
