Can "celebrating difference" bring us closer together? At the Global Civilizational Dialogue Ministerial Meeting in Beijing, Roger T. Ames from Peking University posed a question worth thinking about: Even when civilizations seem at odds, could they actually share common ground? By referring to the Italian activist Lorenzo Marsili, Ames noted the importance of universality for addressing global challenges. Despite the diversity between civilizations, all cultures pursue common values and virtues. It is the shared values and the uniqueness built on these values that underpin a world of equality and shared development. Shotlist: Beijing, China - July 10, 2025: 1. Venue for Global Civilizations Dialogue Ministerial Meeting; 2. Screen reading "Global Civilizations Dialogue Ministerial Meeting"; Beijing, China - Recent 3. SOUNDBITE (English) Roger T. Ames, Humanities Chair Professor, Peking University (partially overlaid with shot 4): "Italian activist Lorenzo Marsili turns to classical Chinese philosophy with its commitment to making the best of the immediate moment and give us an alternative to absolutism and relativism with a kind of planetary pragmatism. When we are able to establish a contingent system of practices that carries us in the direction of serving the interests of everyone everywhere, a kind of concrete universality emerging out of the particular circumstances of our contemporary reality might provide us with a planetary scale, norms, and institutions needed to respond effectively to our shared global concerns."; [SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] 4. Guests listening; [SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] 5. Various of guests listening; 6. SOUNDBITE (English) Roger T. Ames, Humanities Chair Professor, Peking University: "Even though many of the participants in the revived civilizational dialogue take stances that seem to place them at odds with each other, In fact, under sustained scrutiny, we discovered that they are, by and large, using different political terminologies to advocate for the common values of openness, equity, inclusiveness, pluralism, hybridity and diversity."; 7. Guests listening; 8. SOUNDBITE (English) Roger T. Ames, Humanities Chair Professor, Peking University: "Whether it is family, community, polity, or civilization, we are in need of a more nuanced pursuit of relational equity that not only acknowledges but in fact celebrates our particularity, "Ge Mei Qi Mei," and that encourages the diversity that equities respect for difference promises us when, instead of merely tolerating our cultural differences, we activate those same differences. To make a difference for each other."; 9. Guests listening. [Restriction - No access Chinese mainland]