From July 9 to 10, 2014, the China-U.S. Young Think Tank Scholars Dialogue was held at Peking University, which was jointly organized by Institute for Global Cooperation and Understanding (formerly known as Institute for China-U.S. People-to-People Exchange) of Peking University and Brookings Institution, and assisted by the University of Maryland, American Mandarin Society and the World Bank Dialogue Circle Program. This Dialogue is one of the important activities of the fifth round of high-level cultural consultation mechanism between China and the United States.
Li Yansong, Vice President of Peking University, and Tom Hilly, Chairman of the Council of Fulbright Scholarship Program attended and addressed the meeting. Li Cheng, Director of John L. Thornton China Center of Brookings Institution, Richard C. Bush III, Director of Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies (CNAPS) of the Brookings Institution, Jia Qingguo, Executive Director of the Institute for Global Cooperation and Understandingof Peking University, and Li Anshan, Director of Centre for African Studies, Peking University, attended the event.
China-U.S. Young Think Tank Scholars Dialogue was composed of three parts, namely policy discussion, simulated negotiation and conference observation.
“To shape the future with more positive China-U.S. people-to-people exchanges” was the theme of the policy discussion at the Dialogue. Under the framework of forging “a new type of great power relationship”, young Chinese and American scholars discussed the strategic significance and value of people-to-people exchanges, analyzed how to develop the creativity and innovation ability of young scholars to help young scholars of both countries better understand the differences between China and the United States in terms of political systems and social cultures, and reflect on the prospects of China-U.S. people-to-people exchanges, thus to unleash the potential of China-U.S. people-to-people exchanges. Through policy discussions, young Chinese and American scholars drafted a future-oriented policy memorandum on China-U.S. people-to-people exchanges, providing policy proposals to further promote and deepen people-to-people exchanges.
In addition, this event adopted simulated bilateral negotiation between China and the United States instead of traditional academic conference. By designing specific scenarios, it encouraged young Chinese and American think tank scholars to think and explore the forward-looking issues in China-U.S. relations. On July 9, two simulated negotiation teams consisting of 6 young students from the U.S. and China respectively respectively, engaged in a simulated negotiation on the China-U.S. cooperation in Africa under the supervision and guidance of 4 senior scholars or diplomats. While perfecting knowing each other’s relevant policies and the decision-making process, the participants played the role of diplomats or decision-makers to explore the possible negotiation results. This simulated negotiation deepened the comprehensive understanding of young think-tank scholars in China and the U.S. on specific policy issues, and furthered their understanding in bilateral decision-making and the decision-making culture, which could in turn help reduce the misunderstanding between China and the U.S. and enhance mutual trust.
On July 10, young think-tank scholars of China and the US attended the fifth plenary session of the China-U.S. High-level Consultation on People-to-People Exchange. In her speech, Vice Premier Liu Yandong took the China-U.S. Young Think Tank Scholars Dialogue as an important part of the Consultation. This is a huge encouragement and compliment to the young scholars and this dialogue, and is of great importance for sublimating the theme and deepening the young think-tank scholars’ understanding of China-U.S. relations.
At present, China and the U.S. both face multiple global challenges.Under such a historical background, young leaders in both countries must assume the roles of ambassadors for cultural and economic exchanges; meanwhile, they also need problem-solving ability and innovation capability which enables them to discover common grounds and expand areas of cooperation. There’s a growing number of young students crossing the borders and engage in China-U.S. exchanges in recent years; however, their understanding of the other country’s deep culture and the bilateral decision-making process is still lacking. The misunderstandings and prejudices in bilateral relationship, especially in policies, are not clearly improved by the exchanges and communications. The innovative forms of dialogue among young scholars and simulated negotiation adopted in this “China-U.S. Young Think Tank Scholars Dialogue” breaks through the simplex conference form of traditional people-to-people exchanges. The Dialogue utilizes multiple forms for cultural exchanges, which deepens the understanding of young scholars and future young leaders in China and the U.S. on each other party’s policies and decision-making process, and cultivates the cultural exchange ability and innovation ability of future ambassadors for China-U.S. relations.
Link:http://www.cuppe.pku.edu.cn/jlhd/dwjl/230297.htm
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