WASHINGTON/BEIJING, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Injecting "youth power" into China-US friendship
Xinhua News Agency reporters Yang Shilong, Xiong Maoling, and Chen Shan
"The achievements of Sino-US relations are primarily due to the joint efforts of the two peoples, and the continued development of Sino-US relations requires more reliance on the people of the two countries. President Xi Jinping wrote in a reply letter to Sarah Landy, a friend in Iowa, on the 4th.
"I am very honored to receive President Xi's reply. At his home in Muscatine, Iowa, Randy, the first time he replied to a written interview with a Xinhua News Agency reporter.
The hope of China-US relations lies in the people, the foundation lies in the people, the future lies in the youth, and the vitality lies in the localities. Recently, China and the United States have implemented the "San Francisco Vision" agreed by the two heads of state, promoted people-to-people exchanges, especially among young people, built more bridges of mutual understanding, and written more new stories for the future.
"The vision is admirable"
"I am especially grateful that President Xi has readily agreed to allow Muscatine students to participate in China's program to invite 50,000 American youth to China for exchanges. Randy told reporters, "President Xi has an admirable vision for the younger generation to drive the future of China-US relations." ”
Randy is President Xi Jinping's "old friend of Iowa." In 1985, Xi Jinping, then secretary of the Zhengding County Party Committee in Hebei Province, visited the United States for the first time and met Randy and other friends in Iowa. In November 2023, in his speech at the joint welcome banquet of American friendship groups, President Xi Jinping once again recalled this unforgettable experience and issued a sincere invitation: "We look forward to more movement, more contacts and more exchanges between the two peoples, and jointly continue to write the story of friendship between the two peoples in the new era!"
In this speech, President Xi Jinping announced: "In order to expand exchanges between the Chinese and American peoples, especially the younger generation, China is willing to invite 50,000 American youths to China for exchange and study in the next five years." ”
At that time, Randy, who was invited to the meeting, was very excited to hear the news from the audience. In a letter to President Xi Jinping, Randy expressed hope that Muscatine High School would also participate in the program.
In his reply to Randy, President Xi Jinping wrote: "I announce that I will invite 50,000 American teenagers to China for exchange and study in the next five years, in the hope that more American teenagers will visit China, observe China with their own eyes, listen to China with their own ears, measure China with their own steps, experience a real, three-dimensional and comprehensive China, and build more bridges between the two peoples." ”
"I welcome Muscatine's students to participate in this project. President Xi Jinping wrote.
"I'm so happy to hear this! I'm glad to have the opportunity to participate in the project!" Skye Foster, a student at Muscatine High School who is studying Chinese, told reporters, "I look forward to studying in China and learning more about Chinese history and culture." ”
"This is exciting good news!" Dennis Simon, a distinguished fellow at the Center for China-American Studies in the United States, said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua News Agency that the measures announced by President Xi Jinping can promote youth exchanges between the two countries and are of strategic significance for the long-term development of bilateral relations. "Young people on both sides of the Pacific should get closer to each other and get to know each other better. We look forward to building more bridges of understanding for the future. ”
Madeleine Rose, who has long been concerned about and promoted educational exchanges between the United States and China, pointed out that the exchange of American teenagers in China is not only beneficial to these young people'Chinese s learning of Chinese language and culture, but also beneficial to their career development and life planning, "which will ultimately have a huge positive impact on the development of bilateral relations."
"I was touched by the hospitality of the Chinese people"
After the China-US summit in San Francisco, people-to-people exchanges between the two countries have become more active, and a number of youth exchange programs are being vigorously launched, injecting "youth power" into China-US friendship.
"I love China because it's really cool!" said Miriam Güblay, a student at Cascade Elementary School in Utah, USA, who speaks Chinese fluently.
From January 7th to 13th, the Utah Friendship Delegation of the United States was invited to visit China, and Jublay was the youngest member of the delegation. In the past few days, the little girl happily visited the Palace Museum, Fudan University and other places, and experienced traditional Chinese cultural elements such as chimes, paper-cutting, and Peking Opera.
According to the reporter's understanding, there are 35 schools in Utah that provide Chinese teaching. Cascade Elementary School was one of the first schools in the state to offer Chinese immersion programs. At the beginning of 2020, students at Cascade Primary School wrote New Year's greeting cards to President Xi Jinping in Chinese, introducing their learning of Chinese and expressing their love for Chinese culture. In his reply, President Xi Jinping cordially encouraged the children to continue to study Chinese, understand Chinese culture, and contribute to the friendship between the Chinese and American peoples.
Michael Levitt, the former governor of Utah, who visited China with the delegation, told Xinhua that this was a renewed friendship trip, "For these children who learn Chinese, coming to China to walk around and see can broaden their horizons and make new friends." ”
Another member of the delegation, Jiang Lin Rushan, coordinator of the Utah Chinese Immersion Program, told reporters that enhancing understanding of each other's cultures will help promote the good development of Sino-US relations, and "I hope that these young Americans who learn Chinese can contribute to deepening mutual understanding between the two peoples."
From January 3rd to 12th, a delegation of young students from Columbia University was invited to visit Beijing, Chengdu, Shenzhen and other cities. In Chengdu, the young people visited the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base, Dujiangyan Water Conservancy Project, Southwest Jiaotong University National Key Laboratory of Rail Transit Carrier System and other places to feel and experience the local historical and cultural heritage and the current situation of economic and social development, and feel the real, vivid and three-dimensional China.
"We talked to our Chinese peers about everything, and we got to know each other better. William Simku, a student at Columbia University, said that his perception of China is more intuitive and rich, "I am deeply impressed by the Great Wall and Dujiangyan."
"I was touched by the hospitality of the Chinese people. Brianna Patterson, a student at Columbia University, told reporters, "I believe that we will have a bright future." ”
"The spirit of 'ping-pong diplomacy' is to seek friendship"
In the friendly exchanges between young people between China and the United States, the visit of the Peking University table tennis team to the United States and the visit of the University of Virginia table tennis team to China have attracted widespread attention because they have continued to write a friendly chapter of "table tennis diplomacy" between China and the United States.
"Table tennis has become a bridge for people to get to know each other. Former American table tennis player Dale Swillis, who is in his eighties, is a first-hand witness of "table tennis diplomacy" and watched the Peking University table tennis team play in Ontario, California last December. He told reporters: "The spirit of 'ping-pong diplomacy' is to seek friendship. ”
Zhang Yuwen, a student at Peking University, told reporters that he had the honor to talk with Sveris when he went to the United States for exchanges, "He hopes that our younger generation will continue the good story of 'ping-pong diplomacy' between the United States and China." What made Zhang Yuwen feel more memorable was that the American people were very friendly, "seeing the word CHINA printed on our clothes, they also gave us a thumbs up and wished us good results in the competition."
This year marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States. Over the past 45 years, the relations between the two countries have grown into towering trees and borne the fruits of cooperation, benefiting both the two countries and the world.
President Xi Jinping said in his reply letter on the 4th, "China is ready to work with the US to promote stable, healthy and sustainable development of China-US relations, seek more benefits for the two peoples, provide more public goods for the international community, and jointly build an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world with lasting peace, universal security and common prosperity." ”
John Thomson, a former U.S. diplomat in China, told Xinhua that President Xi Jinping's message on the development of U.S.-China relations was "clear and unambiguous." The two countries should work together to address global challenges by "taking a long-term view, being more patient, and taking more action."
Taylor Lucas, a young man from Muscatine, is now a student at the University of Chicago. He is looking forward to his first trip to China this summer: "I want to go to Beijing to experience Chinese history, and I want to make good friends in China." In the United States, there are many young people who like China as much as I do, and we all look forward to a stronger friendship between the United States and China. (Participating reporters: Zheng Kaijun, Ma Zheng, Zhang Chaoqun, Yuan Qiuyue, Yin Heng, Liu Si, Huang Heng) (end)