奥巴马上海对话中国青年英文全文.docx

奥巴马上海对话中国青年英文全文.docx

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奥巴马上海对话中国青年英文全文

TheWhiteHouse

OfficeofthePressSecretary

ForImmediateRelease

November16,2009

RemarksbyPresidentBarackObamaatTownHallMeetingwith

FutureChineseLeaders

MuseumofScienceandTechnology,Shanghai,China

1:

18P.M.CST

PRESIDENTOBAMA:

Goodafternoon.Itisagreathonorforme

tobehereinShanghai,andtohavethisopportunitytospeakwithallof

you.I'dliketothankFudanUniversity'sPresidentYangforhis

hospitalityandhisgraciouswelcome.I'dalsoliketothankour

outstandingAmbassador,JonHuntsman,whoexemplifiesthedeepties

andrespectbetweenournations.Idon'tknowwhathesaid,butIhopeit

wasgood.（Laughter.）

WhatI'dliketodoistomakesomeopeningcomments,andthenwhat

I'mreallylookingforwardtodoingistakingquestions,notonlyfrom

studentswhoareintheaudience,butalsowe'vereceivedquestionsonline,

whichwillbeaskedbysomeofthestudentswhoarehereintheaudience,

aswellasbyAmbassadorHuntsman.AndIamverysorrythatmy

ChineseisnotasgoodasyourEnglish,butIamlookingforwardtothis

chancetohaveadialogue.

ThisismyfirsttimetravelingtoChina,andI'mexcitedtoseethis

majesticcountry.Here,inShanghai,weseethegrowththathascaught

theattentionoftheworld--thesoaringskyscrapers,thebustlingstreets

andentrepreneurialactivity.AndjustasI'mimpressedbythesesignsof

China'sjourneytothe21stcentury,I'meagertoseethoseancientplaces

thatspeaktousfromChina'sdistantpast.TomorrowandthenextdayI

hopetohaveachancewhenI'minBeijingtoseethemajestyofthe

ForbiddenCityandthewonderoftheGreatWall.Truly,thisisanation

thatencompassesbotharichhistoryandabeliefinthepromiseofthe

future.

Thesamecanbesaidoftherelationshipbetweenourtwocountries.

Shanghai,ofcourse,isacitythathasgreatmeaninginthehistoryofthe

relationshipbetweentheUnitedStatesandChina.Itwashere,37years

ago,thattheShanghaiCommuniqueopenedthedoortoanewchapterof

engagementbetweenourgovernmentsandamongourpeople.However,

America'stiestothiscity--andtothiscountry--stretchbackfurther,to

theearliestdaysofAmerica'sindependence.

In1784,ourfoundingfather,GeorgeWashington,commissionedthe

EmpressofChina,ashipthatsetsailfortheseshoressothatitcould

pursuetradewiththeQingDynasty.Washingtonwantedtoseetheship

carrytheflagaroundtheglobe,andtoforgenewtieswithnationslike

China.ThisisacommonAmericanimpulse--thedesiretoreachfor

newhorizons,andtoforgenewpartnershipsthataremutuallybeneficial.

Overthetwocenturiesthathavefollowed,thecurrentsofhistoryhave

steeredtherelationshipbetweenourcountriesinmanydirections.And

eveninthemidstoftumultuouswinds,ourpeoplehadopportunitiesto

forgedeepandevendramaticties.Forinstance,Americanswillnever

forgetthehospitalityshowntoourpilotswhowereshotdownoveryour

soilduringWorldWarII,andcaredforbyChinesecivilianswhoriskedall

thattheyhadbydoingso.AndChineseveteransofthatwarstillwarmly

greetthoseAmericanveteranswhoreturntothesiteswheretheyfoughtto

helpliberateChinafromoccupation.

Adifferentkindofconnectionwasmadenearly40yearsagowhenthe

frostbetweenourcountriesbegantothawthroughthesimplegameof

tabletennis.Theveryunlikelynatureofthisengagementcontributedto

itssuccess--becauseforallourdifferences,bothourcommonhumanity

andoursharedcuriositywererevealed.AsoneAmericanplayer

describedhisvisittoChina--"[The]peoplearejustlikeus…Thecountry

isverysimilartoAmerica,butstillverydifferent."

Ofcoursethissmallopeningwasfollowedbytheachievementofthe

ShanghaiCommunique,andtheeventualestablishmentofformal

relationsbetweentheUnitedStatesandChinain1979.Andinthree

decades,justlookathowfarwehavecome.

In1979,tradebetweentheUnitedStatesandChinastoodatroughly$5

billion--todayittopsover$400billioneachyear.Thecommerceaffects

ourpeople'slivesinsomanyways.AmericaimportsfromChinamany

ofthecomputerpartsweuse,theclotheswewear;andweexporttoChina

machinerythathelpspoweryourindustry.Thistradecouldcreateeven

morejobsonbothsidesofthePacific,whileallowingourpeopletoenjoy

abetterqualityoflife.Andasdemandbecomesmorebalanced,itcan

leadtoevenbroaderprosperity.

In1979,thepoliticalcooperationbetweentheUnitedStatesandChina

wasrootedlargelyinoursharedrivalrywiththeSovietUnion.Today,

wehaveapositive,constructiveandcomprehensiverelationshipthat

opensthedoortopartnershiponthekeyglobalissuesofourtime--

economicrecoveryandthedevelopmentofcleanenergy;stoppingthe

spreadofnuclearweaponsandthescourgeofclimatechange;the

promotionofpeaceandsecurityinAsiaandaroundtheglobe.Allof

theseissueswillbeontheagendatomorrowwhenImeetwithPresident

Hu.

Andin1979,theconnectionsamongourpeoplewerelimited.Today,we

seethecuriosityofthoseping-pongplayersmanifestedinthetiesthatare

beingforgedacrossmanysectors.Thesecondhighestnumberofforeign

studentsintheUnitedStatescomefromChina,andwe'veseena50

percentincreaseinthestudyofChineseamongourownstudents.There

arenearly200"friendshipcities"drawingourcommunitiestogether.

AmericanandChinesescientistscooperateonnewresearchanddiscovery.

Andofcourse,YaoMingisjustonesignalofoursharedloveof

basketball--I'monlysorrythatIwon'tbeabletoseeaShanghaiSharks

gamewhileI'mvisiting.

Itisnocoincidencethattherelationshipbetweenourcountrieshas

accompaniedaperiodofpositivechange.Chinahasliftedhundredsof

millionsofpeopleoutofpoverty--anaccomplishmentunparalleledin

humanhistory--whileplayingalargerroleinglobalevents.Andthe

UnitedStateshasseenoureconomygrowalongwiththestandardof

livingenjoyedbyourpeople,whilebringingtheColdWartoasuccessful

conclusion.

ThereisaChineseproverb:

"Considerthepast,andyoushallknowthe

future."Surely,wehaveknownsetbacksandchallengesoverthelast30

years.Ourrelationshiphasnotbeenwithoutdisagreementanddifficulty.

Butthenotionthatwemustbeadversariesisnotpredestined--notwhen

weconsiderthepast.Indeed,becauseofourcooperation,boththe

UnitedStatesandChinaaremoreprosperousandmoresecure.Wehave

seenwhatispossiblewhenwebuilduponourmutualinterests,andengage

onthebasisofmutualrespect.

Andyetthesuccessofthatengagementdependsuponunderstanding--

onsustaininganopendialogue,andlearningaboutoneanotherandfrom

oneanother.ForjustasthatAmericantabletennisplayerpointedout--

wesharemuchincommonashumanbeings,butourcountriesare

differentincertainways.

Ibelievethateachcountrymustchartitsowncourse.Chinaisan

ancientnation,withadeeplyrootedculture.TheUnitedStates,by

comparison,isayoungnation,whosecultureisdeterminedbythemany

differentimmigrantswhohavecometoourshores,andbythefounding

documentsthatguideourdemocracy.

Thosedocumentsputforwardasimplevisionofhumanaffairs,andthey

enshrineseveralcoreprinciples--thatallmenandwomenarecreated

equal,andpossesscertainfundamentalrights;thatgovernmentshould

reflectthewillofthepeopleandrespondtotheirwishes;thatcommerce

shouldbeopen,informationfreelyaccessible;andthatlaws,andnot

simplymen,shouldguaranteetheadministrationofjustice.

Ofcourse,thestoryofournationisnotwithoutitsdifficultchapters.

Inmanyways--overmanyyears--wehavestruggledtoadvancethe

promiseoftheseprinciplestoallofourpeople,andtoforgeamoreperfect

union.Wefoughtaverypainfulcivilwar,andfreedaportionofour

populationfromslavery.Ittooktimeforwomentobeextendedtheright

tovote,workerstowintherighttoorganize,andforimmigrantsfrom

differentcornersoftheglobetobefullyembraced.Evenaftertheywere

freed,AfricanAmericansperseveredthroughconditionsthatwereseparate

andnotequal,beforewinningfullandequalrights.

Noneofthiswaseasy.Butwemadeprogressbecauseofourbeliefin

thosecoreprinciples,whichhaveservedasourcompassthroughthe

darkestofstorms.ThatiswhyLincolncouldstandupinthemidstof

civilwaranddeclareitastruggletoseewhetheranynation,conceivedin

liberty,and"dedicatedtothepropositionthatallmenarecreatedequal"

couldlongendure.ThatiswhyDr.MartinLutherKingcouldstandonthe

stepsoftheLincolnMemorialandaskthatournationliveoutthetrue

meaningofitscreed.That'swhyimmigrantsfromChinatoKenyacould

findahomeonourshores;whyopportunityisavailabletoallwhowould

workforit;andwhysomeonelikeme,wholessthan50yearsagowould

havehadtroublevotinginsomepartsofAmerica,isnowabletoserveas

itsPresident.

AndthatiswhyAmericawillalwaysspeakoutforthesecoreprinciples

aroundtheworld.Wedonotseektoimposeanysystemofgovernment

onanyothernation,butwealsodon'tbelievethattheprinciplesthatwe

standforareuniquetoournation.Thesefreedomsofexpressionand

worship--ofaccesstoinformationandpoliticalparticipation--we

believeareuniversalrights.Theyshouldbeavailabletoallpeople,

includingethnicandreligiousminorities--whethertheyareintheUnited

States,China,oranynation.Indeed,itisthatrespectforuniversalrights

thatguidesAmerica'sopennesstoothercountries;