Chinese wisdom in Xi's words: 'A just cause should be pursued for the common good'

BEIJING -- "We need to keep in mind global stability and the work and life of billions of people," said President Xi Jinping during his video call with US President Joe Biden on Friday.

Xi's remarks referred to the responsibility of leaders of major countries to properly address global hotspot issues.

It echoes a saying that Xi has used in many occasions to explain China's foreign policy and the vision for a better world: "A just cause should be pursued for the common good."

This originates from the Confucian classic "The Book of Rites" which dates back some 2,000 years. The sentence was followed by the introduction of the concept "universal harmony."

In Xi's vision, the just cause refers to the shared values of humanity, such as fairness and justice, while universal harmony is mirrored in the vision of building a community with a shared future for humanity.

Xi is taking concrete action to practice his vision: expanding China's circle of friends, promoting international people-to-people exchanges, advocating the Belt and Road Initiative, and countless efforts to build a new model of major-country relations and to safeguard the international order.

"As permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and the world's two leading economies, we must not only guide China-US relations forward along the right track, but also shoulder our share of international responsibilities and work for world peace and tranquility," Xi told Biden.