Speech by Consul General Gao Zhansheng at University of California, Davis

(November 19, 2012, Davis, California)

 

Good afternoon, everyone! It is truly a great pleasure and honor for me to be here at UC Davis, one of the world-class public research universities in the world.

 

Standing at this podium and seeing so many eager young faces, I cannot help but remember that I read somewhere many years ago--- It's all that the young can do for the old, to shock them and keep them up to date. Being with young folks is always such a pleasant thing for me: not only because I learn many things from you, but also you make me feel like I'm young again.

 

Today, I would like to share with you some of my personal observations on China-US relationship. But before that, please allow me to read out a letter. This letter carries special meaning both for my country and this university; it stands as a valuable record of another milestone in China-US friendship.  

 

This letter, dated July 3, 2012, was written to Chancellor Linda Katehi by Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, who was just elected as general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China last week.  It reads:

 

Dear Chancellor Katehi,

 

I was delighted to receive your latter of 26 March. Thank you for the information about UC Davis and your interest in China-US relations. Indeed, Professor Gardner was held in high esteem by both fellow colleagues and students of UC Davis. Your letter reminds me again of the trip Mrs. Gardner made to Guling in 1992. For her, it was a dream coming true.

 

Amity between people is what underpins good relations between countries. People-to-people exchanges can help to deepen understanding and friendship between our two countries. I hope UC Davis will continue to support and promote China-US cultural and people-to-people ties, especially exchanges and cooperation in education, science and technology, and play an active role in building Sino-US friendship.

  

In her letter to Vice President Xi, Chancellor Katehi said: "Your efforts in 1992 to help Elizabeth Gardner visit the small village Milton remembered so fondly from the years he spent as a child was a powerful example of how relations between China and the United States can be advanced by one-to-one acts of kindness and generosity such as those you displaced toward this American Family."

 

For those of you who have not yet heard the story, you may ask: where is Guling? How did the place become relevant to China's top leader and this university? How did it link Vice President Xi himself with the American family mentioned in both letters?

 

Well, Guling is a mountainous area on the eastern outskirts of Fuzhou, capital of southeast China's Fujian Province. Its moderate climate makes it an ideal summer resort destination.

 

Milton Gardner, mentioned as "Professor Gardner" in Vice President Xi's letter, went to China with his parents in 1901 and was a regular resident in Guling until returning to the United States in 1911. Afterwards, Milton became a professor of physics in UC Davis and taught in this university for more than 30 years till his retirement. Ten years' life in Guling condensed Milton's happiest childhood. Revisiting the place became his biggest dream in his late years. Unfortunately he suffered from paralysis for years after 1972 and passed away in 1986.

 

His widow Elizabeth, although familiar with the name Guling, had no idea of its exact location. But still she went to China several times, hoping to find the place which meant so much to her husband. But her efforts were in vain until finally a Chinese student who home-stayed at the Gardner's helped her locate the place.

 

The student told Elizabeth that the Chinese characters on the postmark that Milton kept was "Guling, Fuzhou." Then he wrote an article about Elizabeth's story entitled Ah, Guling! and got it published in the newspaper in April, 1992.

 

Vice President Xi, who then served as secretary of the Communist Party of China of the Fuzhou Municipal Committee, happened to read the article and then immediately contacted Mrs. Gardner and invited the then 76-year-old Elizabeth to visit her husband's childhood home. Four months later in August 1992, they met with each other.

 

In Guling, Elizabeth brought Milton's photos and the envelope with the Guling postmark, climbed hills in Guling to overlook the Minjiang River and met with her husband's childhood friends, all of whom were then in their 90s, and listened to them reminiscing about the past. It was a happy occasion.

 

Mrs. Gardner was so excited that she finally fulfilled her husband's last wish. And she said that she would cherish this bond of friendship between her husband and the people of China, because after seeing for herself the beautiful Guling and the warmth of the Chinese people, she now understood why her husband had been so deeply attached to China.

 

That is the story. The most touching part of it, for me, is we, as individuals, have much more that unite us than divide us; the spirit of homely goodwill and genuine affection lies in the heart of hundreds of millions of Chinese and Americans; it is always there, no matter how much our two countries have been evolving and changing. It binds our countries even closely together in spite of cultural differences and ideological gaps. It gives our state-to-state relationship a very strong foundation going into the future.

 

With that, I want to tell you another story, which is also relevant to the topic I choose today. This story is about two young folks, who, by an unexpected and dramatic encounter, got their names written in the annals of China-US relations.

 

On April, 1971, in Nagoya, Japan, during the 31st World Table Tennis Championship, an American player named Glenn Cowan missed the US team bus back to his hotel. When long-haired, hippie-type and flamboyant Cowan looked in vain for his team bus, Zhuang Zedong, the Chinese player, waved to him and invited to get on the Chinese team bus.

 

For Cowan, it was a great surprise; for Zhuang, it was not an easy decision. As he recalled later, the trip on the bus took 15 minutes, but he had hesitated for 10 minutes before he talked to Cowan. At that time, China and the US were very hostile towards and totally isolated from each other, so the sight of an athlete of so called 'communist China' with a US athlete was sure to make headlines.

 

This event, dubbed as Ping Pang Diplomacy later, marked the beginning of contact between our two countries and a thaw in China-US relations, and paved the way to the historic visit by President Richard Nixon in 1972 that laid the foundation for the establishment of diplomatic relations between our two countries in January 1979. 

 

Whenever I read this story, I am inspired by the energy, boldness and courage of young people, who, with these valuable attributes, often make a huge difference in history. As American writer Pearl S. Buck said, "The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible -- and achieve it, generation after generation."

 

These two stories, as I see it, are a great validation of the importance of people-to-people exchanges. No doubt our politicians are essential in growing our relationship, but the work to strengthen our ties should not just happen at the White House or within the walls of Zhongnanhai. It is also about relationships between our students, teachers, athletes, artists, business people, reporters, scientists, technicians, tourists and volunteers. It is their convictions, talents, passions and hard work that make this relationship far deeper and more resilient, vigorous and durable.

 

That is why both our top leaders give prominent place to the exchanges between our people. As a matter of fact, people-to-people exchange is now among the three pillars of China-US relationship, alongside with political trust and economic cooperation.

 

Over the past three years, we have held three meetings of the China-US High-Level Consultation on People-to-People Exchange (CPE), and have seen very positive and productive results in the areas of education, science and technology, culture, sports, women's issues and youth, benefiting hundreds of thousands of Chinese and Americans.

 

Let me focus on education first.

 

--The US "100,000 Strong" initiative and China's "Three Ten-thousand Programs" are well underway. Over the last three years, a total of 43,000 American students have come to China to study. Over 7,100 school principals, teachers and students from 45 American states have come to study in China with the support of the Chinese Bridge scholarships, and 2,100 American college students have come to study in China under the CPE Study-in-China scholarships. American students account for 8% of the international students in China, making the US the second largest source of international students for China.

 

--China is now the largest source of international students for the US. There were 158,000 Chinese students in the US in the academic year of 2010-2011. Right here in this university, 972 Chinese students enrolled last academic year, enriching this campus academically and culturally as well as receiving outstanding education here.

 

--More than 300 million Chinese, almost the total population of the U.S., are learning English; over 200,000 American students are learning Chinese.

 

--In the US, over 80 Confucius Institutes and more than 300 Confucius classrooms have been established.

 

Here, I must say a word on the Confucius Institute at UC Davis, which will be formally launched next year.

 

I am happy to learn that the Confucius Institute at this campus is very special: it focuses mainly on Chinese cuisine and traditional costume in partnership with Jiangnan University in Wuxi, China. I think food and clothing are two of the important windows through which people learn about the nation's culture and people. I guess some of you may have seen the pictures about Chinese cuisine and costume yesterday in Chinese Culture Day Exhibition. UC Davis has very strong programs in agriculture and fashion design. By leveraging your strengths, this new program is going to set another fine example of our deepened educational cooperation.

 

Here, I want to take a moment to thank the leadership, students, faculty and staff of UC Davis who for many years involve themselves in the efforts to promote our educational and cultural exchanges and build our friendship. What you have done serves as building blocks towards a steadier and more robust China-US relationship in the future. 

 

Dear Students, Faculty and Staff,

 

This year is unusual: it marks the 40^th anniversary of President Nixon's historic visit to China.

 

Over the past four decades, thanks to the joint efforts made by both sides, China-US relationship has developed into one of the most important, dynamic and promising bilateral relationships in the world.

 

--Today, we are each other's 2nd largest trading partners. Our bilateral trade jumped to US$447 billion last year from less than $2.5 billion in 1979, which is a 182-fold increase. That means we can now complete the work we did in the entire year of 1979 in just 2.5 days. Every day, more than $1billion worth of goods and services are traded between the two countries. Last year, Chinese imports of US goods and services exceeded US$100 billion for the first time, making China the fastest-growing US export market. 29 states out of 50 in this country now count China as one of their top three export markets. The most recent report by the US-China Business Council shows that 418 out of 435 U.S. congressional districts have seen their exports growth to China hit triple digits for the last ten years.

 

--Our two-way contracted investment is now approaching US$170 billion. By the end of this past June, there had been 61,700 projects of American direct investment in China, with a paid-in investment of US$69 billion. Accumulated Chinese direct investment in the U.S. had amounted to US$22.6 billion by the end of this September.

 

--More than 3.5 million mutual visits were made last year, which means we have nearly 10,000 people traveling across the Pacific each and every single day.

 

--There are now 39 pairs of sister province/state and 183 pairs of sister city between our two countries.

 

To some extent, our two countries are developing a "community of interests".

 

We have every reason to be proud of what we have achieved over the last four decades. We, however, cannot just rest upon past achievements. We must make greater strides in unlocking the full potential of this relationship.

 

China-US relationship now stands at a new starting point.

 

About 2 weeks ago, President Obama won the re- election; last week, China completed its leadership transition. In this context, opportunities await this consequential bilateral relationship.

 

All we have to do is to recognize and take advantage of the opportunities so as to let them better serve our common endeavor to build a cooperative partnership based on mutual respect and mutual benefit and embark on the path of a new-type relationship between major countries.

 

Nobody can claim that he has already got the answer as to how China and the United States should build and develop a new-type relationship. It is a pioneering undertaking in the history of international relations. China and the U.S. must and can work cooperatively to set a good example of constructive and cooperative state-to-state relations for countries with different political systems, historical and cultural backgrounds and economic development levels, an example that finds no precedent and offers inspiration for future generations.

 

This is our challenge; this is our opportunity. 

 

I encourage young people in both countries, including all of you in this room, to make the most of your talents, actively participate in our people-to-people exchanges and our joint exploration to build a new-type China-US relationship and defy skeptics who only see limitations and challenges, where opportunities are so much more abundant.

 

Dear students,

 

American writer Helen Keller says: it is not possible for civilization to flow backwards while there is youth in the world.

 

The future direction of China-US relations is not preordained; it is in our hands, and soon will be in your hands-to guild, shape and lead.

 

Young folks like Cowan and Zhuang made a difference in our history.

 

I am sure you will make a difference as well.

 

Thanks so much for having me.