Yip Kung Wai

Deputy Chairman of the Antarctic Society

Deputy Secretary-General of the Antarctic Forum

October 16, 2016

Dear leaders, friends, ladies and gentlemen,

Welcome everyone to attend today's theme event. Today, there will be many important guests and friends to share Antarctica, the world and China with you.

In 2013, a far-reaching event occurred in the distant Antarctic continent: in the past, scientists at the research station were only accompanied by snow and ice, or very few travelers and explorers, but on November 23 that year, Antarctica held the first humanistic event in the history of mankind called by many media such as China's Xinhua News Agency-200 elites from all over the world setting foot on the Antarctic continent and jointly participated in the "Earth · Human · Environment · Future "theme forum activities.

Three years have passed, and the influence of the "Antarctic Forum" is continuously expanding in various fields such as diplomacy, academics, finance, economics, scientific research, and education. The Antarctic Forum is dedicated to researching and paying attention to the common interests and common valueof mankind. With the rapid development of economy and society, China's contribution to the world is no longer just economic power, it should include more abundant ideological power. For human civilization, the global environment and balanced development, we are thinking deeply and with a historical sense of responsibility, and are generating more thought products.

From birth to today, human beings hasborn many longings and nightmares, carried endless suffering and sadness, and all desire to return to innocence, tranquility and happiness. In fact, as long as human beings adhere to a modest principle, rediscover the value of self-life, and allow various beliefs to coexist peacefully, human society will be able to achieve greater harmony between each other on the basis of the harmony between human and nature.

In the past few years, various crises have happened around us. In fact, the real crisis is not a financial crisis, but a moral and belief crisis which is too selfish and greedy. We need to rethink our future path and the goal we should have.

As elites and global citizens: what kind of life and development methods do we choose? What kind of world do we want?

Throughout the past, there are countless examples of human beings working together to overcome difficulties or benefit others. I hope that one day human beings can stop fighting for greed and self-interest. What is the most precious wealth of mankind? It is to treat common interests as mutual interests. This is the common philosophy and value we should pursue.

On April 22 this year, 175 heads of state or representatives formally signed the Paris Agreement on action to address climate change at United Nations Headquarters in New York. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon solemnly declared: in the name of mankind and our future generations.

I wish the Antarctic Great Wall Station and Zhongshan Station a successful connection this time.

Thank you again!