“I would like to very warmly thank the Harvard College China Forum for its kind invitation.

I am a politician so I have travelled and met people from around the world for my work.

But in all countries that I have been through the years, I know that the most dynamic, creative and openminded force in each society are its young people and particularly its university students.

I became engaged in politics and public affairs for the first time when I was in university, through the student movement.

And I remember the first time that I felt it was important, not just to learn about the world,

but to want to affect it,

to change it,

to make it better.

To find a place in this world for yourself and your beliefs,

And I want to congratulate you in your initiative to try to open the public discourse on US-China relations and the role of China in global developments.

For sure, this is not an easy time for this discussion.

Maybe this is the most difficult time for relations between the United States and China.

But this is why initiatives like the one that you are organizing today, are more necessary than ever.

Because we have to acknowledge what is happening and why it is happening.

We have to open up and protect the academic space here in the US, in China, but also in Europe, to speak about all this.

To agree or disagree.

But, also, to discuss how to overcome this difficult period.

And I am very encouraged to see all the many different areas of discussion in today’s forum.

Because it proves that the agenda of dialogue and engagement between China and the US and in general between China and the West, is bigger and more important than the agenda of conflict and disagreement.

We live in a multipolar world and a globalized economy facing multiple crises.

A world that is more unstable than ever, where the postwar international order is changing.

Of course, there were many weaknesses to the previous international order that have led us here.

But its strength was that international law remained its reference point, even when it was violated.

In a period such as this, there is a great risk.

That we accept that the new reference point is the logic of “might makes right”.

And we must not accept that.

We must not accept that it is to the interests of our peoples, to have a world with no rules.

We must work for a world with better rules.

And that means that each of our countries, no matter how big or small, has to be brave and clear not only in asserting our peoples’ interests in the short term.

But in consolidating them in the long term on the basis of new agreements and new multilateral arrangements.

That means that first of all, we have to speak about our common challenges.

We saw recently how the global pandemic affected us all, and we see every day the consequences of climate crisis.

As we see how fast artificial intelligence is developing. How important it is to use its positive potential, but protect ourselves from its abuse.

And we all see every day the terrible consequences, with thousand of civilian deaths, of the wars in Ukraine and Palestine, but also in Africa.

Today working for a peace – that is as just as possible – is more necessary than ever.

As is working for nuclear non-proliferation.

So on these existential issues we have to find more common ground and take our engagement further.

But also, there are areas on which we are in economic competition.

So we must work for the short-term economic interests of our peoples and for the protection of our companies.

But at the same time, we must keep in mind that in the longer term, the economic interest of our peoples are tied to our interdependence.

To establishing and respecting common rules and to coming to difficult but necessary agreements, instead of strengthening trade imbalances or investing in tariffs and protectionism.

So it is up to all global economic forces to recognize how important it is to find space for dialogue and engagement and not to descend into this vicious circle of mutual destruction.

And if one global force does not see this, then the others should continue together in a path of engagement, until it does.

Finally, I think it is important that we speak about the areas in which we disagree.

China is a great but complex country, full of contradictions.

There are millions of people that have left poverty behind.

But also there are areas on which we disagree and we must be able to speak openly about them.

Whether it is respect of human rights, for example in Xinjiang, or respect of good neighbourly relations and sovereign rights.

There are many today in China and the West, that use the famous Deng Xiao Ping quote – No matter if it is a white cat or black cat. It is a good cat if it eats mice.

This is an important quote but it gives the message that economic efficiency is the only criteria for our world.

I believe that there is an even more important Chinese quote – “seek truth from facts”.

And what I believe the facts show us, is that each country has its own path to progress, but economic and political progress are interconnected.

I had the great pleasure of visiting China officially, three times as Prime Minister.

Each time I spoke with my counterparts about the historic role that China has had for Eastern Civilization, and the role that Greece has had for Western civilization.

And the many commercial, diplomatic but also philosophical connections that our civilizations had through the centuries.

I think today we must speak more about this word – “civilization”.

Will we be able to use this word forty, fifty years from now?

Speaking about a common technological and diplomatic architecture of dialogue and engagement that unites us?

Or will we just be referring to nations that converge or clash, based on their national interests, or on the interests of a small number of their billionaires?

I believe today more than ever, we need to search for this word, civilization, again.

And Im very glad to see young students searching for it today, speaking about economics, sustainability, entrepreneurship, biotechnology, education, technology or fashion.

And in these very dark times, I feel very privileged to be a part of this very hopeful process.

Thank you very much”