By Xie Yahong, Li Anqi, People’s Daily
In a recent interview with People’s Daily, Nikiforos Diamandouros, president of the Academy of Athens, stressed the importance of dialogue between Greek and Chinese civilizations amid escalating global governance challenges and declining international trust.
“Aristotle, in his seminal work Politics, defined the polis as a community dedicated to achieving ‘the good life,’ Diamandouros noted. “He contended that true politics must embody moral practice serving the common good.” Drawing parallels, he observed, “Similarly, Confucius articulated in The Analects the principle of ‘guiding people through virtue and regulating them through ritual,’ revealing the profound humanism embedded in Chinese traditional culture.”
“Both civilizations fundamentally agree,” the scholar asserted, “that social stability rests upon individual moral character and a balanced relationship between individual and collective aspirations.” Against a backdrop of eroding global trust and intensifying governance crises, Diamandouros stressed that “dialogue and exchanges between our two civilizations possess unique contemporary relevance.”
Diamandouros noted that while globalization has fostered economic interdependence, it has not commensurately deepened mutual cultural understanding. As cultural tensions and geopolitical conflicts resurface globally, humanity faces a pivotal challenge: creatively coexisting amid profound differences.
“A sustainable international order cannot rest solely on economic power or military deterrence. It also requires shared values and cross-cultural trust. That is why I believe the Chinese philosophy of harmony without uniformity is among the most relevant contributions of traditional Chinese thought to today’s world order,” Diamandouros said.
The second World Conference of Classics, themed “Dialogue between Ancient and Modern: Contemporary Inspirations from Classical Wisdom,” has kicked off in Athens, Greece. Diamandouros believes the conference’s greatest significance lies in creating a platform for international-minded exchange, where different civilizations can be studied in a non-confrontational and complementary manner while expressing humanity’s shared pursuit of knowledge, justice, and moral values.
“I hope this conference will encourage young scholars to revisit classical texts, not as museum artifacts, but as living sources of reflection on the major questions facing the modern world. Here, the study of classical civilizations can become a bridge for mutual understanding, peaceful coexistence, and joint creation,” he said.
In recent years, institutions such as the Center of Chinese and Greek Ancient Civilizations and the Chinese School of Classical Studies at Athens have been established. Archaeological cooperation, academic exchanges, and reciprocal scholar visits have also expanded. Academic collaboration between China and Greece has evolved into a more institutionalized form of cooperation and has become an indispensable component of the broader friendship and cooperation between the two countries.
“Greece-China collaboration illustrates that great civilizations need not compete,” he concluded. “Through dialogue, knowledge exchange, and mutual respect, they collectively shape our shared future.” The scholar identified promising fields for enhanced cooperation, including comparative political philosophy, archaeology, heritage preservation, linguistics, intellectual history, and crucially, technology ethics amid AI’s rapid development.
“Integrating contemporary technological research with our rich humanist traditions,” Diamandouros proposed, “could yield more human-centered AI governance frameworks.” He further observed that Greece and China, as civilizations with unbroken histories and rich intellectual legacies, share profound affinities. The burgeoning warmth between their societies and peoples offers, in his view, “a forceful rebuttal to the ‘clash of civilizations’ narrative.”
“This illustrates how different civilizations can peacefully coexist and mutually enrich one another. The collaboration between Greece and China exemplifies how great civilizations forge relationships rooted in dialogue, not confrontation. As we witness growing global mutual understanding, respect, and collective responsibility in addressing shared challenges, the vision of a community with a shared future for humanity will gain new dimensions.”
He emphasized that culture’s enduring value lies not only in preserving a magnificent legacy, but also in offering civilizational wisdom for shaping modern international relations. “Great civilizations can engage in constructive dialogue while retaining their distinct characteristics. Culture’s greatest gift is its power to build bridges of understanding — a vital message Greece and China offer the world today.”