Chairman Zhao,
Ambassador Barshefsky,Ambassador Baucus,
It is a great pleasure to get together in Hong Kong with all the distinguished guests from China and abroad for the 6th Hong Kong China-U.S. Forum. The Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries is delighted to partner with the China-United States Exchange Foundation in organizing this forum. The collaboration reflects our shared commitment to deepening mutual understanding, fostering people-to-people bonds and promoting constructive dialogue between the two great nations.
I'd also take the opportunity to pay our heartfelt tribute to Mr. Tung Chee-hwa, the founding chairman of the China-United States Exchange Foundation. His visionary leadership, unwavering dedication and relentless efforts have been instrumental in establishing this forum as a premier platform for China-U.S. engagement. We are deeply grateful for his pioneering spirit and enduring support.
The China-U.S. relationship, no doubt, is the most important, most complicated and most challenging bilateral relationship in the world. To discuss the relationship, we must answer a fundamental and overarching question first: are we adversaries, or partners? As President Xi pointed out, if one sees the other side as a primary competitor, the most consequential geopolitical challenge and a pacing threat, it will only lead to misinformed policy making, misguided actions, and unwanted results.
The good news Is the top leaders of both nations reaffirmed that China and the U.S. are partners in their recent summit in October. President Xi stated very clearly in his opening remarks that “China and the United States should be partners and friends. This is what history has taught us and what reality needs.” “China and the United States can jointly shoulder our responsibility as major countries, and work together to accomplish more great and concrete things for the good of our two countries and the whole world.” According to the press release from the Foreign Ministry of China, President Trump also made clear that China is the biggest partner of the U.S. Together, our two countries can get many great things done for the world and have many years of success.The two heads of state have set the tone for the bilateral relationship. The next step is how to turn their strategic decisions into concrete actions. The solution lies at the three principles: mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation.
Mutual respect is a basic requirement for partnership. In the past several years, “to approach China from the position of strength” became a catchphrase of some American politicians. Such condescending expressions exert no positive impacts on the joint efforts to establish partnership, but to damage the atmosphere for equal and constructive dialogues. Any unilateral threats and sanctions posed by the U.S. would inevitably lead to a vicious cycle of mutual retaliation. Instead, dialogues and negotiations based on equality and mutual respect could yield positive results welcomed by people of both countries and the world at large. This is the truth which has been proved again and again in recent months.
Peace is the common aspiration for Chinese, Americans and all other people in the globe. China had been a victim of colonization and foreign invasion for over 100 years, and the painful memories are still lingering in the minds of the Chinese people. Therefore, no other people than Chinese understand the pivotal importance of peace and national defense. A strong military force is to protect the Chinese territory, to deter any possible enemies and to ensure an everlasting peace for the Chinese people. As President Xi stated during his recent meeting with President Trump, China has no intention to challenge or supplant anyone. President Trump also said in an interview with CBS that the U.S. can be bigger, better and stronger by working with China. Therefore, peaceful coexistence is an important consensus reached by two leaders and peoples. We shall continuously solidify the common ground which has a tremendous bearing on the wellbeing of the two peoples.
Win-win cooperation is a cornerstone for a sustainable relationship. Both China and the U.S. reaped huge benefits from bilateral trade and investments in each other's country. A global supply chain initiated by the American businesses and energized by Chinese companies has been bringing the world higher productivity and lower costs, and thus vitalizing the world market. Generally speaking, everyone on this chain is a winner. Or course, new problems will emerge since the market and geopolitical situation keeps changing. The key is to think big and recognize the long-term benefit of cooperation. Less than one month ago, the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China adopted the Recommendations of the CPC Central Committee for Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development, outlining the action roadmap for China's economic and social development in the next five years. China's openness and cooperation will reach new levels in both scope and depth. Despite external pressure and rising protectionism, China remains committed to expanding its high-level opening-up and institutional openness. This will also offer wider space for cooperation between China and the United States.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation are not big and empty words at all. Their values had been demonstrated over 100 years ago on a small mountain named Kuliang. During that period, in the city of Fuzhou lived around 3,000 foreign businessmen, diplomats and missionaries, who built up their summer resorts on the top of Kuliang, where they lived in harmony with the Chinese villagers. Those foreign residents opened all of their facilities, like the post office, school and clinic, to the villagers, and the villagers also helped build houses and fought against the natural disasters like typhoons and landslides. Today, if you walk on the old street of Kuliang, you still can find a well where the words "Foreign and Local Public Well" were inscribed.
The foreign residents also respected the local tradition, and in return, the villagers took an accommodative attitude in embracing many things new. In consideration of the villagers' traditional concept of opposing body contact in the public between men and women, the foreign residents changed their plan and built two swimming pools respectively for the male and female, and the villagers learned eating western food and some of them became Christian followers. The head of the missionaries became a friend with the most renowned monk in the Buddhist temple on Kuliang, and their group photo are still hung in the museum on the hill.
The harmonious lives on Kuliang left beautiful memories on everyone. Mr. Milton Gardner, who spent his childhood with his Chinese friends with joy, murmured the word Kuliang again and again before he passed away. Later, with President Xi, then Fuzhou Party chief's help, Milton's wife Elizabeth finally visited Kuliang, and met nine Milton's childhood friends there. Later, some residents and their descendants formed the "Kuliang Friends" group to remember and maintain this enduring friendship. In 2023, they wrote a letter to Xi sharing their ties to the place. Xi wrote back, saying their stories once again highlight that "the Chinese and American peoples can transcend differences in system, culture and language to forge deep friendships."
In the year of 2024, more than 500 young people from both China and the U.S. gathered in Fuzhou to launch the "Bond with Kuliang: 2024 China-U.S. Youth Festival." In a letter to the event, President Xi wrote "I am pleased to see young people from all walks of life in China and the United States gather in Fuzhou to relive the story of Kuliang, pass on the love of Kuliang, and help enhance exchanges and understanding between the two peoples."
The love of Kuliang does pass on. Thanks to the initiative put forward by President Xi, over 30,000 American young people visited China in the past 2 years. “Beautiful”, “friendly”, “welcomed”, “cool”, “amazing” are the high-frequency words they used when they described their experience in China. A member of One Voice Children Choir said, “the small connections we have been making are gonna turn something big. Regardless of what's happening, I'll remember all the relationship I built in China, and friendship I made will be forever. I'll hold it in my heart forever.”Heart-to-heart connections between people are the starting point of enduring friendship — a spirit that has been reflected vividly in growing local cooperation.
Just 1 month ago, the 7th China-US Sister Cities Conference, hosted by my Association in Hangzhou, brought together more than 180 representatives from 36 counties and cities across 28 US states, as well as delegates from 26 Chinese provincial regions. Facing the headwind from Washington, DC, many American local leaders voiced their resolve in expanding the subnational and local cooperation with China.
"We need each other. We trade with each other. We benefit from the relationship. The more Americans see the benefit and the opportunities that come out of it, the more people realize this is something we should be encouraging, not discouraging," Marc Elrich, executive of Montgomery County in Maryland said.
Oregon Senate President Rob Wagner said, "It underscores the importance of subnational diplomacy at a time when global challenges — from climate change to economic uncertainty — require more dialogue, exchange and cooperation at every level."
President Xi said in his 2023 address in San Francisco, “the more difficulties there are, the greater the need for us to forge a closer bond between our peoples and to open our hearts to each other, and more people need to speak up for the relationship. We should build more bridges and pave more roads for people-to-people interactions.” This forum is one of the bridges and roads for our two peoples to exchange ideas and put forward good suggestions. The bridges and roads are still bumpy, and the improvements need our joint efforts.
Here in Hong Kong, there is a classic song named “Below Lion Rock”, in which there are some words I like very much: Life is inevitably bumpy. It is hard to be completely free of worries. Since we are in the same boat, let us help each other, cast aside our differences and face things together. Release the conflicts in our hearts, together, we chase our dreams.This is my hope to all the distinguished guests present here. Let's join our hands and together do something good to China-US relationship, so both Chinese and American people can fulfill their dreams.
