On July 8, 2022, China Forum (CF) under Tsinghua University’s Center for International Security and Strategy held its mid-year internal seminar, convening more than 20 experts and scholars onsite and online. Eric Li, vice chairman of China Forum, also joined the meeting via video link.
The event kicked off with a presentation by CF Secretary General Zhang Lirong on the work of the Forum in the first half of 2022, in which he pointed out that two major domestic and global events have been shaping the institution’s international communication. First, the Russia-Ukraine conflict has further complicated the international situation faced by China. Second, as the pandemic continues to rage, international communication and engagement have been limited. But China Forum rose to the challenges. In the first half of 2022, it organized and sent experts to a total of 37 international conferences, published 26 articles in English, and gave 11 interviews to major foreign media outlets. These events and articles covered a wider range of topics than ever before, including the Russia-Ukraine conflict, great power competition, major power relations, energy security, climate change, hydrogen energy cooperation, science and technology, health, democracy, and Afghanistan, among others. The Forum has also seen an increase in its domestic and international partners.
The work of China Forum in the first half of the year has earned full acknowledgement from the participants, who appreciated the actions taken by the Forum as it “has not only talked the talk but also walked the walk.” Looking forward to what lies ahead for the Forum, the experts then made proposals on next steps.
At the seminar, participants took stock of the efforts made by the Forum on international communication in the first half of the year and looked ahead to the opportunities and challenges in this regard in the second half of the year. It is believed that as China’s voice is needed in many acute and complex issues, we should build our own discourse and narrative systems for international communication. To build such a discourse system, we need to first understand the values behind it, as well as those behind the Western discourse system. To make our voice reach further and deeper with more compelling narratives, we need to continue to proactively set topics in the global agenda, expand the channels and audience of international communication, and explain our views with clarity and patience.