President Xi's speech on March 15, 2023, announcing the initiative, revolved around one fundamental questionGlobal civilisation initiative and western hubrisThe term civilisation entered popular imagination in 1993 when Professor Samuel Huntington published his seminal article, The Clash of Civilizations, in Foreign Affairs magazine. In this context, Western policymakers received China's Global Civilization Initiative, launched by President Xi Jinping in 2023. Western countries continue to interpret China's diplomatic moves and global initiatives through the lens of Cold War vocabulary – ideological divide, spheres of influence, and containment. The West, however, interprets China's initiative not as a win-win situation but a zero-sum game. The failure of Western intellectual and political leaders to understand the initiative reflects their historical and cultural bias.