On August 8, the commemorating event of the 140th birth anniversary of General Joseph Stilwell, organized by Stilwell Research Center (China) and supported by iGCU, was held in Chongqing. More than 150 attendees, including representatives of the Chinese and American governments, academia, businesses, and media, participated in the events, including Gen. Stilwell’s great-granddaughters, Susan Mai Easterbrook Cole, and Nancy Easterbrook Millward.
Dr. ZHAO Baige (Vice Chairwoman, Foreign Affairs Committee of the 12th National People’s Congress, PRC; iGCU Acad. Comm. Member) spoke at the event, indicating that the Stilwell museum is meaningful to both the Chinese and American people, and will greatly affect young generations in China. Talking about China-US relations, Dr. ZHAO stated that it is of great significance to establish a rational, fair, and equitable resource sharing mechanism in different fields. Both sides should actively promote the building of the community of common destiny for mankind.
Dr. Zhang Baijia (Former Dep. Dir., CPCCC Party History Rsch. Center; iGCU Acad. Comm. Member) stated in his speech that it is vital for the 2 nations to learn from the history, recognize their responsibilities, and be aware of how China-US relations can affect the peace and common prosperity of the world.
Amb. Chas Freeman (former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs; Invited Expert of iGCU) noted in a pre-recorded video that, Generneral Stilwell personifies all the Americans who did their best to help China when it most needed help. "General Stilwell and the Stilwell Museum in Chongqing dedicated to him symbolize a shared Sino-American history of cooperation under difficult circumstances, inspiring hope for renewed cooperation in the face of challenges to common interests," said Amb. Freeman.
In the speech of Ms. Jan Berris (Vice President of NCUSCR; Invited Expert of iGCU), the current state of China-US relations was mentioned. She believes both nations can eventually overcome difficulties, although this requires intense work. “The Stilwell family’s devotion provides a wonderful example to us all of how deep, abiding, and important the China-US friendship can be and how much effort we need to take to make sure that our children can enjoy a fruitful relationship between our two peoples,” said Ms. Berris.
During the event, Prof. Wang Dong (Executive Director of iGCU) stressed that China-US relations is one of the most important bilateral relations in the world. Gen. Stilwell is a bridge for friendship between China and the U.S. Both sides need to continue to cherish the friendship, promote people-to-people exchanges, strengthen communications, and facilitate mutual learning and understanding through different channels, eventually providing a more solid foundation for the positive development of China-US relations.
To read more about the event in Chinese, please visit: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/LoFbOYaQ0T14hEsXY9l3WA
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