Chinanews.com, Shanghai, September 11 (Reporter: Xu Jing) Themed “Youth as Bridge: Learning, Experience and Connection”, the 2014 China-U.S. Young Leaders Symposium concluded successfully in Shanghai on September 11. Sixty outstanding youths from China and the United States exchanged and interacted with each other in the form of people-to-people diplomacy in three days, gaining fruitful results.
This symposium was jointly sponsored by the Overseas Chinese Charity Foundation of China,Institute for Global Cooperation and Understanding (formerly known as Institute for China-U.S. People-to-People Exchange)of Peking University, Shanghai Overseas Chinese Foundation, Shanghai International Cultural Association and 100,000 Strong Foundation of the US, and hosted by the School of International Relations and Public Affairs of Fudan University.
Jia Xizi, a doctoral student of the School of Management of Fudan University, participated in the 2012 China-U.S. Outstanding Youth Exchange Program organized by the Shanghai Overseas Chinese Foundation last year, thus forming friendship with many teachers and others devoted to the development of China-US relations. Regarding herself as a beneficiary of a series of China-U.S. relations activities, she said that because of her trip to the U.S. last year, she had a more genuine feeling for the country, and young American students also had an authentic understanding of Chinese youth. “It’s a very good thing that everyone has become friends in a short time.”
Talking about participating in this symposium, Jia Xizi said that it has extended the friendship and growth. There are many topics for young people to choose. In the process of preparing and speaking, everyone has become very good friends as well. During the discussion, we found there are many differences between us, but there are more similarities. “I think this is a very good experience.”
Brandon, an American student from the University of Science and Technology of China, has been very interested in the topic of China-U.S. relations since he came to China, especially in the exchanges between young people from China and the U.S. He told the reporter that Chinese and American young people of his generation have already had some respect for each other with good attitudes from both sides, which can help solve some problems that could not be solved in the past.
As one of the sponsors of the forum, 100,000 Strong Foundation is a non-profit organization established in 2013 with the mission of strengthening China-U.S. relations by encouraging American students to study in China and learn Chinese. Travis Tanner, Vice Chairman of 100,000 Strong Foundation, said that China-U.S. relations are of great significance in the world, and the two countries are also working closely together.While facing some problems and challenges, such as air and economic issues, the two countries are working very closely with each other at present.
Tanner said that there were 235,000 Chinese students studying in the U.S. last year, while only 25,000 American students were studying in China. Currently, the number of Chinese students studying English is 600 times more than that of American students studying Chinese. To maintain economic competitiveness and carry out effective cooperation with China in solving global challenges, the United States must encourage more American students with diverse backgrounds to study in China.
Tanner said that in the future, the 100,000 Strong Foundation will continue to promote Chinese language learning programs vigorously and facilitate more American colleges and universities to establish credit exchange systems with Chinese universities.
According to Shen Yi, Associate Professor of the School of International Relations and Public Affairs at Fudan University, people-to-people exchange between Chinese and American youths has always played a very special role in China-US relations. The 100,000 Strong Initiative launched by President Obama has opened a new chapter of people-to-people exchange between China and the United States. A very interesting thing is that now the U.S. has noticed the imbalance in it. He believes that today China and the United States have reached a new critical crossroad. This crossroad is how China and the United States can understand each other correctly and avoid the so-called traditional great power politics background when major changes take place in the strength of the two.
Shen Yi said that young people are the future leaders of the countries. The future national leaders are very likely to rise from these young people or their classmates in the exchanges, or their social relations. This exchange program, or the launch of the 100,000 Strong Initiative, is a long-term strategic investment in the future of China-U.S. relations, and provides a possibility for future China-U.S. relations.When they start working on various posts in the future, they can understand China-U.S. relations accurately and avoid turbulence in our bilateral relations because of unnecessary wrong cognition or judgments. “From a more positive point of view, such a group of young people will help the two great countries make joint efforts to solve the common problems facing mankind when they grow up.”
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