Global Town Hall 2023, hosted by the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI), was held on September 2. The 15-hour North-South, East-West marathon virtual discussion themed “This is Our World Too” featured 11 panels covering geopolitical dynamics, climate change, AI, the role of civil society organizations, human rights, women’s empowerment, and more, bringing together foreign ministers worldwide and leading minds at international organizations. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi delivered a video message at the event, noting that changes in the world order depend on the choices made by each country, and that we should stay committed to solidarity and cooperation to seek common development and a better future together.

For three consecutive years, the Center for International Security and Strategy (CISS) at Tsinghua University has been an important partner of the Global Town Hall. This year, CISS expert Professor Tang Bei attended Session 5 of the conference, titled “Geopolitical Rivalries: The West and the Global South in the 21st-Century World Order.”

China has long positioned itself as a member of the Global South, and has continued to empower the unity and growth within the bloc, said Tang Bei. The BRICS expansion has proven that despite the diversity and divergences, there are still plenty of commonalities within the group. There is still a long way to go before the world order enshrined in the UN Charter is actualized, and future discussions could move away from focusing on the role of the Global South in geopolitical rivalries to exploring how the bloc could transcend such rivalries to become a true community that would effectively meet the needs of global citizens, said Professor Tang.