Former leaders, experts urge collaboration over global challenges at Imperial Springs Int'l Forum 2025

Former heads of state or government and experts who attended the just-concluded 2025 Imperial Springs International Forum (ISIF) in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong, have expressed a strong consensus on the need for international cooperation to address global challenges and advance mutually beneficial development.

The forum, which concluded on Wednesday after a three-day run with over 200 participants from 30 countries in attendance, including 30 former heads of state or government, featured a series of discussions on themes including the reform and improvement of global governance, the trajectory of world economic development amid trade and tariff conflicts, and technological topics such as artificial intelligence.

Attendees engaged in in-depth discussions on the shortcomings of the current global governance system and possible pathways for reform. They agreed that countries around the world must commit to enhancing dialog and exchanges, promoting mutual benefit and shared gains through cooperation, and injecting greater momentum into common global development.

"The essence of sustainable cooperative development for the global economy is to advance continuously within an open, inclusive, equitable, and mutually beneficial free-trade system and the framework of globalization rules," said Zhu Feng, executive dean of the School of International Studies of Nanjing University.

"For me, the most desirable direction is one, in which cooperation takes precedence over competition, (and) cooperation offers a pathway toward predictability and shared solutions, and builds confidence that global challenges can be managed," said former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet.

The participants spoke highly of the forum's positive significance. Zhou Zerong, chairman of the Australia China Friendship and Exchange Association, said the forum clearly sent a powerful message of our times: gathering the strength of unity, holding high the banner of cooperation, and pursuing a fairer future.

"But we can also identify differences, and learn to live with the differences in a peaceful way. That's the purpose of the dialogs," said former Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik.

Inaugurated in 2014, the Imperial Springs International Forum is now jointly organized by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, the Australia China Friendship and Exchange Association, the People's Government of Guangdong Province, and the World Leadership Alliance -- Club de Madrid. It aims to spark insights on peace, economic growth, and cultural exchanges, fostering mutual understanding and building consensus to strengthen global cooperation.

Former leaders, experts urge collaboration over global challenges at Imperial Springs Int'l Forum 2025

Hundreds of Japanese residents gathered in front of the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo on Thursday evening, demanding that Sanae Takaichi retract her recent erroneous remarks regarding China's Taiwan region.

At a Diet meeting on Nov. 7, Takaichi claimed that the Chinese mainland's "use of force on Taiwan" could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan and implied the possibility of armed intervention in the Taiwan Strait, which has immediately drawn strong criticism at home and abroad.

Holding placards and banners that read "Against war" and "Takaichi resign", the protesters chanted "We don't want a prime minister who incites war! Takaichi, withdraw your remarks immediately! The Takaichi administration must step down now!"

"Stop military expansion! Stop missile deployment immediately!" the protesters also shouted.

"What exactly is Takaichi thinking? Isn't she pushing Japan into war? I believe she must retract her statements immediately. From a diplomatic perspective, as a member of Japan's Diet, she utterly lacks basic common sense. As a Japanese citizen, I truly find her behavior shameful," said a protester.

Takaichi's provocative remarks regrading Taiwan has constituted a serious challenge to Japan's pacifist constitution and its legal obligations as a defeated country in World War II, said the protesters.

"Japan inflicted tremendous harm on Asian countries during the Asia-Pacific War [of World War II]. That is precisely why we pledged 'Never again to wage war, never again to possess weapons,' and established the crucial Article 9 of our Constitution. Therefore, we absolutely cannot accept Takaichi's provocative remarks against China," said another protester.

The Constitution of Japan was enacted in 1947 and is known as the pacifist postwar constitution. The cornerstone of the constitution is Article 9, which renounces the nation's right to engage in war or to resort to military force to resolve international conflicts.

For decades, this article has been a fundamental constraint on Japan's military endeavors.

"Japan has the pacifist constitution and must absolutely not head towards war. We must return to this fundamental principle. Takaichi must immediately stop and retract her remarks. She must apologize, resign and take responsibility for the mistake," said a Japanese protester.

Japanese residents rally, urging PM to retract erroneous remarks regarding China's Taiwan