U.S. President Donald Trump's belligerent tariff war against China may lead the latter to review its ancient thoughts and modern approaches while carrying on the achievements made over the past 40 years.

For every action there is a reason, and the development of China is no exception to the rule.

A forum "Reporting changes in a greater era via multimedia" held at the Beijing headquarters of Xinhua News Agency Sept. 19 endeavored to strengthen national confidence in the face of the fierce tariff wars being waged by U.S. President Donald Trump. 

During the workshop, many panelists agreed that China's rise is entirely natural and does not necessarily mean the decline or fall of the United States, let alone the inevitability of war following the assumptions contained in the "Thucydides Trap", ancient dogma that sees war as inevitable when a rising power causes fear in an established one.

Suspicion and fear are part of the instinctive human nature when there is something people don't really understand, Malcolm Clarke, a two-time Academy Award winner for his documentaries, said in his keynote speech delivered at the forum's opening ceremony.

"There are Americans and Europeans who do fear China's rise…because we don't know what China really is," he said.

According to him, average Chinese understanding of the United States is far better than American understanding of China, so it's an urgent task to tap the information gap.

Clarke made his first trip to Beijing in 1981 when the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) news department asked him to produce a documentary film on how China had changed since 1949. In those days, the young British filmmaker was amazed by the throngs of cyclists heading for work.

However, when he revisited the city around 2013, Beijing had been transformed into a first-class international city with the bicycles replaced by automobiles. In his latest documentary film - "Better Angles" - he portrays the transformation of China from the world's largest factory to the world's largest market over four decades.

"[We are] telling emotional and engaging stories that can touch people's hearts and not just their minds," Clarke said, "I believe all the feelings, the fears, the suspicions, will be replaced by admiration for everything that China has achieved."

While appreciating Clarke's efforts in exploring and presenting a true image of their country, especially to Westerners, Chinese scholars believed good cross-cultural communications cannot work without distinctive cultural identities and theoretical backing.

Ye Xiaowen, deputy chairman of the cultural and history committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said, ancient Chinese culture could better serve modern society with its invaluable essence.

Age-old philosophies, such as, "sincerity is fundamental to undertakings and magnanimity is the foundation of friendships", and "personal interests and desires can only be fulfilled mutually", can still work as tenets for today's international relations, Ye said.

Li Daokui, professor of economics at Tsinghua University, said that fundamental theories are essential when China is telling its stories to Western audiences. 

"Every Hollywood story comes from a major idea, and now what we lack is not stories but the ideas to back them," Li said.

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