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Schiller Institute Founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche at the 2025 Beijing Culture Forum

October 2, 2025by tobi in General, Helga media coverage or interview, Helga Zepp-LaRouche

On September 23rd and 24th, a conference took place in Beijing, with the theme “Exchanges and Mutual Learning: Respecting the Diversity of Civilizations,” organized by the China International Communications Group and the Academy of Contemporary China and World Studies. It gathered hundreds of delegates and high-ranking officials from China and all over the world, including Schiller Institute founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche, for a rich discussion about history, culture, and mutual learning.

Yu Yingfu, the vice president of the China International Communications Group (CICG), cited in his keynote speech historical examples of peaceful exchanges of ideas between civilizations, naming, for example, Zhang Qian’s expedition (138-126 BCE) to the West, reaching Xinjiang and later Bactria (northern Afghanistan), with which he laid the basis for the formation of the Silk Road trade routes, which were not only a route for trade, but also became an exchange route for science and culture. He also cited Zhang He’s seven voyages to the Western Oceans all the way to East Africa, as well as the spread of Buddhism from India into China. Yu Yingfu also emphasized today’s need for exchanges and mutual learning toward a shared vision in order to move humanity forward.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche, who founded the Schiller Institute, participated in a roundtable discussion as part of the forum with the theme, “Promoting World Peace and Development Through Exchanges and Mutual Learning Among Civilizations.” In her remarks she called for a concerted effort to rescue the West from its self-induced isolation from the Global Majority, and for the West to join into a dialogue of civilizations for a new paradigm of development.

The former Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of China Le Yucheng called for the use of digital technology and AI to make cultural knowledge more accessible to the population. During the conference proceedings, several such projects were presented, including one by the National Library of China, which makes 143,000 volumes of ancient Chinese books available to the public with the aid of digitalization and the utilization of AI. China’s Federation of Literary and Arts presented their effort to collect all ancient myths, songs, ballads, epics, and legends, which will be, when completed, the largest such database of folk literature in the world. Also highlighted was China’s aim to build a digital library for technology and science in order to promote scientific knowledge and make China into a technological powerhouse.

At the forum there was also a presentation of the cooperation of the Shanghai Museum with Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), where they organized the largest-ever overseas exhibition of ancient Egyptian artifacts in the last decades, with the title “On Top of the Pyramid: Civilization of the Ancient Egypt,” with altogether 2.77 million visitors in Shanghai and another 30 billion impressions online. The interest for the exhibit was so big, that the Shanghai Museum extended their hours in the final days of the exhibit to 24 hours a day. The Shanghai Museum is now partnering with Egyptian archaeologists for joint excavation projects.

This emphasis on the promotion of the classics was also echoed by David Gosset, the founder of the China-Europe-America Global Initiative, who emphasized the importance of the works of Plato, Confucius, and Dante in order to create a culture with depth. He emphasized: “Wisdom is not born of code. It is cultivated through reflection, through engagement with history, with ethics, with literature and art—through the humanities.” He emphasized that the ultimate purpose of AI technology must be for the betterment of mankind as a whole.

If one contrasts this level of discussion with the prevalent liberal value ideology of the West, where there are no more rational standards for the good, the beautiful, and the true, and if one sees the enormous effort China and other Global South nations put into the promotion of their greatest philosophical and cultural traditions, it becomes clear which part of the world is in decline and which is on the rise.

It is time for the West to leave behind its superficial ideas about the cultures of the nations of the Global South—ideas that, in many respects, are relics of the colonial and neocolonial era, which is now approaching its historic end.

The promotion of the creative aspects of the human soul must once again be the sole aim of education. In the realm of creativity, there will be no place for national chauvinism; the discoveries of one genius will be an everlasting enrichment for all humankind.

The nations of the West have become societies without historical and philosophical grounding, disconnected from their own better historical legacy. All citizens of good will should do their utmost to leave this behind and to ensure that at the next Beijing Cultural Forum, there is meaningful representation from governments and institutions of the Global North to join this global civilizational initiative.

Tobias Faku

Zepp-LaRouche on CGTN: China and U.S. Beyond the Trade War

May 6, 2025by tobi in Helga media coverage or interview

The China’s CGTN television network interviewed Helga Zepp-LaRouche, the founder of the Schiller Institute, on the trade war between China and the U.S. and the way out. Notable were her answers to two of the questions:

“I think that the United States really has to go back to their own best traditions of the American system of economy and otherwise … overcome this idea … that you have to be the number one and dominant over all others. Because there is no way how anybody, the United States or anybody else, can contain the rise of China. It’s a country which has 1.4 billion people, and they have taken the lead based on an economy based on innovation. You can’t contain it—so just live with it and, you know, cooperate.”

Is this possible? “The world has changed and President Trump came into the White House the second time in a world which was completely different than his first term, because the countries of the global south have risen due to the rise of China, and extending the economic cooperation through the Belt and Road Initiative; and therefore I think the BRICS, and the many countries aspiring to become part of the BRICS, are a new factor in the situation which I’m confident will impact the more rational thinking people in the United States—that the world has changed and the United States will have to adapt.”

Zepp-LaRouche in China: There Are Some People Who Don’t Like the Coming End of 500 Years of Colonialism

April 29, 2025by tobi in China SI activity, General, Helga media coverage or interview

April 27, 2025 (EIRNS)—“There is right now a huge struggle going on in the world, which I think China is one of the leaders of,” Schiller Institute founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche stated in an April 25 panel discussion in China on “Innovation Pathways in the Global Green Transition,” organized by the China Media Group, with CGTN host Yang Zhao. Speaking along with ambassadors and media specialists, Zepp-LaRouche set the tone for the entire discussion:

“This is the effort by the countries of the Global Majority to overcome 500 years of colonialism for good, by no longer being exporters of raw materials, but to develop the production chain in their own countries. There are obviously some people who don’t like that; and they would like to maintain the neo-colonial forms.”

As Zepp-LaRouche was speaking, “the people who don’t like that”—the practitioners of British geopolitics centered in the City of London and Wall Street—were busy launching deadly provocations around the globe, to make sure that the BRICS nations are destabilized, and that the U.S. and NATO stay on course for an end-game confrontation with Russia and China.

In the India-Pakistan theater, an April 22 terrorist attack killing 26 tourists in the Indian-controlled area of Kashmir has led to rapid escalation on both sides. India has announced it is suspending the all-important 1960 Indus Waters Treaty between India and Pakistan—which regulates the flow of water to the two countries, both of which need it desperately—and revoked nearly all visas of Pakistanis residing in India. High-level Pakistani authorities are talking openly about the option of launching a nuclear strike against India—which is also a nuclear weapons power! Fortunately, the Defense Minister of Pakistan has pointed the finger at outside forces deploying terrorism in the region—and named Great Britain and the United States as the guilty parties for the last 30 years.

In Russia, authorities have captured the man who assassinated Gen.-Lt. Yaroslav Moskalik of the Russian General Staff on April 25, and identified him as an agent deployed by Kiev. Leading Russian intelligence experts quickly explained on national television: “We should remember … that terrorist acts of this kind are done under the supervision and direct guidance of the British special services.”

And in Iran, a huge explosion rocked the port of Bandar Abbas on April 26, killing at least 25 and injuring nearly 1,400. Although it has not yet been determined if this was an accident or sabotage, it happened at the precise moment that the U.S. and Iranian governments are involved in delicate negotiations that are essential to bring peace to the war-torn region of Southwest Asia—which the Israeli and British governments are devoutly committed to preventing.

India, Russia, Iran—all are members of the BRICS, which is leading the struggle to create a new international development architecture to replace the current bankrupt system.

As Zepp-LaRouche stated in her remarks during the panel discussion in China:

“We have now the 70th anniversary of the Bandung Conference, and at that time in 1955, President Sukarno and Zhou Enlai and Nehru were warning that colonialism still exists in its modern form, through trade relations, access to credit, and so forth. So now we are in this historic epochal change where the countries of the Global Majority want to overcome that, in large part possibly through the rise of China and through the development of the BRICS countries.”

The upcoming May 24-25 conference of the Schiller Institute will bring together leading intellectuals and statesmen from nations of both the North and the South, to deliberate on how to best bring about precisely such an epochal change.

Zepp-LaRouche’s CGTN Article Presents Alternative to Trump’s Tariffs

April 8, 2025by tobi in General, Helga media coverage or interview, Helga statement, article, transcript

China’s CGTN today published an article by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, “What Could U.S. Tariff Policy Lead To?” in which she described what an alternative should be to Donald Trump’s import tariffs.

Quoting from the White House statement on tariffs, Zepp-LaRouche wrote that it “lumps together very different cases. While China has lifted nearly 850 million of its own citizens out of poverty, eradicated absolute poverty, created a middle-income group of 400 million people with an enormous purchasing power, and beyond that, become the engine of development for the Global South, the situation for Germany is quite different.

“The introduction of the eurozone in 1999 was criticized heavily at the time because it integrated very differently developed economies into one currency zone, which was not an ‘optimal currency zone.’ When Gerhard Schröder implemented ‘Agenda 2010,’ a series of reforms, as the German chancellor in the early 2000s, it did suppress domestic wages, and in that way increased the competitiveness of the German economy relative to the less industrialized countries of the eurozone. It increased the weight of the German economy at the expense of the other European countries, since they could not devalue their currencies anymore.

“As a result, Germany became the ‘export world champion’ for a while, but many domestic investments, such as renewal of basic infrastructure, were neglected, and the buying power of the domestic market was relatively weakened. Naturally all of this was overshadowed by subsequent developments, such as the loss of access to cheap Russian gas, and the loss of the Russian market for geopolitical reasons. Theoretically, the Trump tariffs could be a wake-up call for Germany to put its own house in order.”

Globalization and outsourcing had a similar impact in the U.S., and Trump wants to reverse this, but instead of listening to his free-market ideologues, he should “return to sound physical economy principles: investment in scientific and technological progress, international space cooperation and innovation in general. That means the education systems of the U.S. and European nations have to be reorganized to serve this orientation, and incentives have to be given to train a highly skilled labor force for this purpose.”

The alternative to unilateral actions to destroy the old order “is a cooperative approach, where real development perspectives for Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe are put on the agenda for joint ventures and cooperative investments in infrastructure, industry, agriculture, science, health and education systems, financed through productive credits.

“The trade imbalances will be removed by making the pie bigger, taking into account the different characteristics and levels of development of the individual economies in a fair division of labor. ‘Humanity first’ will lead to a win-win outcome for everyone.”

Helga Zepp-LaRouche Speaks With Chinese Program ‘Diplomacy Talk’

March 4, 2025by tobi in General, Helga media coverage or interview

March 3, 2025 (EIRNS)—A center devoted to “China’s Diplomacy in the New Era” released on Mar. 3 an interview with Schiller Institute founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche, conducted during her November 2024 trip to China.

Zepp-LaRouche founded the Schiller Institute in 1984 at a time of intense geopolitical tension, particularly in Europe during the medium-range missile crisis. In her discussion with Diplomacy Talk, Zepp-LaRouche shared her inspiration for creating the institute, emphasizing the need for a new approach to foreign policy based on justice and a new economic order. “If every nation and every civilization goes back to their own best tradition, and has a classical renaissance, then you have a dialogue among these best traditions, and communication and friendship is very easy,” she explained. Her vision was not only to establish a just economic order but also to counter what she viewed as the excessive Americanization or homogenization of global culture by fostering deeper cultural exchanges, in a dialogue among the most profound cultural movements in the countries of the world.

Reflecting on her multiple visits to China, Zepp-LaRouche described the nation’s transformation as astonishing. Recalling her first trip in 1971, she noted how China had been largely agrarian and impoverished at the time. However, in the decades that followed, she witnessed rapid modernization. “Every time you come, you find new buildings, new technologies, new science,” she remarked. She particularly praised China’s advancements in infrastructure and space exploration, saying, “I keep telling people in Germany that if you go into a fast train, and you put a glass of water on the table, not one drop will ever jump out.” She believes that China serves as an inspiring model for other nations and urged the country to be more assertive in sharing its developmental strategies with the world.

Zepp-LaRouche strongly criticized the Western portrayal of China as a “threat,” arguing that such narratives stem from outdated geopolitical thinking. The would-be Euro-Atlantic hegemons “project what they are doing onto China,” she asserted, adding that the real issue is the unwillingness of some to accept the end of a unipolar world. “To be slandered like that is just an injustice. It reveals more about the mindset of those people who say China is a threat than about China,” she stated. She said that China has not engaged in war and has instead contributed significantly to global development, particularly in Africa. In her view, the Belt and Road Initiative exemplifies China’s commitment to global cooperation, improving the potential for long-overdue infrastructure development in regions that had long suffered from neocolonial economic policies.

On the question of civilization and global governance, Zepp-LaRouche dismissed Samuel Huntington’s “clash of civilizations” theory as mere propaganda, contrasting it with President Xi Jinping’s Global Civilization Initiative. She sees Xi’s approach as a necessary step toward resolving global tensions and fostering genuine cultural dialogue. “The idea that you have a group of nations who have the right to impose their will on another group of nations … this geopolitical outlook has caused two world wars,” she warned. Instead, she called for a new paradigm rooted in mutual respect and cooperation, arguing that embracing diverse cultural traditions can lead to a more harmonious global order.

“The most important task … is that we have to convince the countries of the West that it is in their interest and the interest of the whole world to cooperate with China,” she said.

The interview, conducted in English and subtitled in Chinese, is available on X, and as web postings with transcripts in English and Chinese.

TASS Interviews Schiller Institute Founder Zepp-LaRouche on U.S.-Russian Relations

February 20, 2025by tobi in General, Helga media coverage or interview

Feb. 19, 2025 (EIRNS)—Russia’s leading news agency TASS interviewed Helga Zepp- LaRouche, the founder of the Schiller Institute, today on her evaluation of the significance of the just-concluded discussions in Riyadh between high-level diplomats from the U.S. and Russia. TASS published their report under the headline “U.S.-Russia Negotiations To Help Create Inclusive Security Architecture—Expert,” with the subhead: “The pathway laid out how to approach all problems on the table by taking into account the interest of all sides is very hopeful,” Helga Zepp-LaRouche said. The TASS article included the following quotes:

WASHINGTON, February 19. /TASS/. The Russian-U.S. discussions in Riyadh are a historic turning point that will help create an inclusive security framework in the world, said Helga Zepp-LaRouche, founder of the International Schiller Institute.

“The outcome of this long awaited meeting between the high ranking delegations from Russia and the U.S. represents a relief for the entire world. The pathway laid out how to approach all problems on the table by taking into account the interest of all sides is very hopeful,” she told TASS.

“This was a game changer moment in history and hopefully a first step towards an all inclusive security and development architecture, which overcomes the disease of geopolitics forever.”

“There was no reason to invite the participation of the Europeans at this stage of the discussion, given the fact that they had at no point since the beginning of the war, which according to Jens Stoltenberg started in 2014, tried to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict,” she said.

“Even after it was clear that their aim to ‘ruin Russia’ had failed, there was no moment of reflection or change of mind. Even at the recent Munich Security Conference, the unrelenting Russophobia prevailed, led as usual by the British.”

“If this Russophobia is kept up, it will lead to a split-up of the EU, where the countries who want peaceful relations with Russia, will possibly disassociate themselves,” the expert said. “Given the fact that the Ukraine conflict is the result of a proxy war between NATO and Russia, it makes total sense, that it would be the U.S. as the dominant force in NATO and Russia would sit down at the negotiating table, and that the proxy forces come in at a later point.”

Helga Zepp-LaRouche to Global Times: ‘We Are Currently in the Most Dangerous Period in History Ever’

December 29, 2024by madeleine in Helga media coverage or interview

On Dec. 26, China’s Global Times published an article by Schiller Institute founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche, titled, “BRI Offers Opportunities for All Nations in the Second Decade of Growth.” The article was assembled by the editors based on a recent exclusive Global Times interview with Zepp-LaRouche.

Zepp-LaRouche describes how China’s innovation-driven economic policy has fostered an era of high quality development in many nations of the Global South, during the just concluded first decade of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

However, she warns, “We are currently in the most dangerous period in history ever, because some forces in the West cannot reconcile themselves with the fact that the unipolar world has been replaced already with a multipolar order.

“In any case, the China-proposed initiative, with the ultimate aim of building a community with a shared future for mankind, is one of the global cooperation platforms on the table to overcome the geopolitical divide in the world. It is also a natural and essential way to bring infrastructure development into all corners of the world as a precondition for industrialization.”

Helga Zepp-LaRouche Raises Nuclear War Danger at Berlin China-Europe Conference on Human Rights

October 23, 2024by tobi in Helga media coverage or interview, Media coverage of our activity

Sixty scholars from 16 countries gathered today in Berlin at a conference on, “The Protection of New and Emerging Rights: Views from China and Europe.” One of the featured speakers was Helga Zepp-LaRouche, founder of the Schiller Institute, whose comments were prominently covered in China’s Global Times.

Global Times paraphrased Mrs. LaRouche: “It is probably impossible to speak about human rights without addressing the immediate danger to the very existence of the entire human species—war in Ukraine and war in the Middle East, which risk escalating into a global nuclear war. The highest priority for all people must be to rise above geopolitics, and the notion that nations or groups can impose their interests on others by any means is fundamentally flawed.”

Xinhua News Agency also covered Mrs. LaRouche’s comments, but failed to include her warnings of the war danger. According to Xinhua’s coverage, Zepp-LaRouche “praised China’s vision of a shared future for mankind, as well as initiatives like the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative, which transcend narrow geopolitical interests to address modern human rights needs.”

This was the eighth such conference, which was started in 2015. This year’s seminar was co-hosted by the China Society for Human Rights Studies and the Central South University Human Rights Center. Organizers for the event included the German and Chinese Culture Foundation, the University of Münster, and the International Academy for the Philosophy of the Sciences.

Global Times, Reporting on the CPC’s Economic Policy Meetings, Cites Helga Zepp-LaRouche on Their Significance

July 31, 2024by madeleine in Helga media coverage or interview

China’s Global Times, in “CPC Leadership Sets Out Economic Priorities for H2 2024,” reports on the meeting today the Communist Party of China leaders, chaired by President Xi Jinping, to implement the policies developed and adopted at the third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee over July 15-18. Today’s meeting took up the nuts and bolts that will guide the Chinese economy to reach its 5% growth target for the second half of 2024, and to implement the science- and innovation-intensive policies that are increasingly fostering the Chinese economy.

Furthermore, reported Global Times, the CPC Central Committee held a symposium with non-CPC personages to seek opinions and suggestions on the country’s current economic situation and economic work for the second half of the year; Xi presided over the symposium and delivered an important speech on Friday.

Scholars summarized that China’s economic plans could encourage other Global South countries to follow an independent development path, which they considered in many ways could facilitate developing countries, as Global Times put it: to “leapfrog to more advanced levels.”

Global Times spoke to some individuals about the meeting, on their evaluation of the trajectory of the Chinese economy. “Helga Zepp-LaRouche, founder of Germany-based political and economic think tank, the Schiller Institute, told the Global Times that the economic development blueprint put forward by the CPC leadership has laid the foundation for China’s increased productivity and technological breakthroughs. She voiced strong optimism that the world’s second-largest economy will sustain its recovery momentum this year, channeling a sense of continuity and certainty to the Global South.”

The feature notes some of the challenges the Chinese economy faces, such as, “there are still risks and potential dangers in major sectors, as well as challenges resulting from the replacement of traditional growth drivers with new ones,” referring to the shift to higher scientific platforms. They also report that the CPC third plenary adopted a Resolution on Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively To Advance Chinese Modernization, “with economic reform as the spearhead, [that] includes more than 300 important reform measures, all of which involve reforms across systems, mechanisms, and institutions.”

Global Times concludes its feature: “Zepp-LaRouche said that she was impressed by the innovation-driven strategy China put forward through the conferences, which puts the development and expansion of emerging industries and future industries at the core. She suggested all countries across the Global South apply the principle of continued innovation in the same vein as China, so they ‘don’t have to repeat a prolonged process of industrialization.’”

Global Times Quotes Helga Zepp-LaRouche on German China Policy

April 16, 2024by tobi in General, Helga media coverage or interview

April 15, 2024 (EIRNS)—Giving an overall positive perspective on German-Chinese economic cooperation upon Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s arrival in Chongqing, Global Times however, also addressed the worrisome loyalty of Germany to Western geopolitics, which undermines cooperation potentials:

“In July [2023], the German government released a toughly-worded China strategy that shifted the focus to de-risking, diversification, and a reduction of dependencies on China. Despite internal pressure, the current German government remains pragmatic and is putting its own economic interests at the top of its priorities.

“Helga Zepp-LaRouche, founder of the Germany-based political and economic think tank the Schiller Institute, told the Global Times over the weekend that for an export economy like Germany, it would be ‘suicidal’ to follow these calls for ‘de-risking.’

“‘Germany is presently experiencing a dramatic economic downfall. Meanwhile, the U.S. has been luring German enterprises to invest in the U.S. instead of Germany with incentives provided by the Inflation Reduction Act. In this adverse environment, the expansion of economic cooperation with China represents an anchor of stability for Germany,’ she said.” If Germany does not effectively resist geopolitics, its relations with China will suffer.

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