CHINA The perspective of China and India at the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences

On June 27 and 28, philosophers, jurists and economists from Beijing, Shanghai and Bombay will meet at the Vatican to discuss the Development Goals set by the UN. Professor Riccardo Pozzo, one of the organizers of the workshop, explained to what is its meaning: “Kant’s perpetual peace, functional to industry and commerce, in the 21st century is no longer enough. We need to seek together deeper foundations than this.”

Rome () – A large group of European, American and Australian intellectuals will meet with their Chinese colleagues and some Indian voices in the heart of the Vatican. Two days of sessions to reflect on the great challenges of today’s world from the point of view of China and India, increasingly leading players on the world scene. This is the unprecedented appointment that the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences convened at its headquarters in the Casina Pio IV for June 27 and 28. “Dialogue between civilizations on common goods” is the theme of the workshop in which scholars from prestigious universities and think tank from Beijing and Shanghai.

Professor Riccardo Pozzo -philosopher from the Tor Vergata University in Rome and member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences- worked in the organization of this event and explained to his sense: “The objective -he said- is to help understand China and India from their point of view. This workshop aims to promote a meaningful and sustainable dialogue and a results-oriented cooperation. The idea is to bring together scientists, economists, sociologists and philosophers in a global perspective to meet the challenge of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, the common goals set by the UN for the near future and which are also at the center of the activities of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. climate change, sustainability, social innovation, education, health and urban regeneration, the emancipation of women and youth, and specialization strategies for regional development”.

At the head of this effort was Professor Jeffrey Sachs, an American economist whom Pope Francis has wanted in the Vatican Academy since 2021 and who has a long collaboration with Beijing institutions behind him (he is still a consultant to the China Development Research Foundation , a public think tank dealing with good governance and development in China). “The voices that will participate in the reflection of these days – Pozzo explained – were identified involving members of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences such as Professor Stefano Zamagni, Sachs and myself. We also thank Dr. Steve Howard, president of the Global Foundation, who has joined this project.As for Prof. Bai Tongdong (the first Chinese appointed by Pope Francis to this Vatican body earlier this month ndr), he was appointed when the preparation of the symposium was in full swing: We look forward to your contribution in the near future.”

In the first session, which will be presented by Card. Peter Turkson, rector of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences and will talk about what the “commons” are and how to safeguard them, with the participation of Henry Wang from China, founder and president of the Center for China and Globalization, Aparna Tandon from India, an expert in conservation of the cultural heritage, and the Italian economist Enrico Giovannini. Next, there will be a series of panels dedicated to reflecting specifically on each of the Goals set by the UN for 2030. In the last panel debate -the one dedicated to “Peace, justice and strong institutions” (Goal 16 of the agenda of the UN) – the Chinese voices that will intervene will be those of the philosopher Yang Guorong, from the East China Normal University, who addresses these issues from a metaphysical perspective, and the jurist Rupert Li.

“The great theoretical foundation of the search for peace in the 20th century”, commented Pozzo, “was Kant’s treatise ‘Perpetual Peace’. That text, in essence, said: we want peace because industry and commerce they need. Today, in the 21st century, we know that this is no longer enough: the world needs peace, the Earth needs peace. It is a much broader perspective, which we must help each other to pursue together in a holistic perspective.”

But is it possible, we wonder, to have a frank dialogue on these issues regardless of thorny facts like the harsh crackdown on all forms of dissent in China or violence against minorities in India? “The booklet that was prepared for the workshop -replied Professor Pozzo- makes it clear that the ethical prerequisites for a true dialogue are freedom and equality, both cited in the document of the Congregation for Catholic Education to which we refer and in the papal encyclicals. But the Pontifical Academy for Social Sciences is certainly not a body that can influence individual decisions of the government of the People’s Republic of China or India’s attitude towards minorities.”

The debate will lead to the drafting of a common text: “We always try to end our work with a final statement and we will do so this time as well”, reported Riccardo Pozzo. However, the workshop only intends to be the beginning of a path: the reflection will continue above all in the university sphere, with some initiatives that are already underway: “In Tor Vergata, the university ministry has called a contest on sustainability. In the La Sapienza University has involved doctoral students in Chinese studies; other initiatives also involve the Pari Center for New Learning, active for twenty years in Civitella Paganico, in Tuscany”.