EP-097 丁学良:中美交流的历史性赤字 | 丁学良 | 中国经济 | 中美关系 | 布林肯 | 留学生 | 川普 | 贸易战 | 特朗普 |

不明白播客列表
24 May 202454:04

Summary

TLDRThe Bumingbai Podcast, hosted by Yuan Li, discusses the historical and current state of Sino-US relations with guest Ding Xueliang, an emeritus professor from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. They explore the significant decline in exchanges between the two nations, including the drop in international students and the cooling of economic ties. The conversation delves into the impact of political tensions, the role of cultural and academic exchanges, and the potential future trajectory of Sino-US relations. The podcast emphasizes the importance of understanding and fostering positive interactions between the two countries.

Takeaways

  • 🇨🇳🇺🇸 The podcast discusses the historical context and current state of Sino-US relations, noting a significant downturn in recent years.
  • 📚 The number of international students from the US to China has dropped sharply, with only 350 in 2022, rebounding to 700 by the end of 2023.
  • 📉 Economic and trade relations between the US and China have cooled, with Mexico overtaking China as the largest source of imports for the US in 2023.
  • 👎 According to Pew Research Center data, 81% of Americans hold a negative view of China, a stark increase from the 29% recorded in 2006.
  • 🎬 Successful Chinese movies at the box office in recent years have been about the Korean War, reflecting ongoing tensions with the US.
  • 👨‍🏫 The guest, Ding Xueliang, an emeritus professor with expertise in globalization and international competition, shares his insights on Sino-US exchanges.
  • 🎓 Ding emphasizes the importance of funding social sciences for Chinese students in the US, given the significant gap in this field compared to science and technology.
  • 🏛️ He recounts his experiences and observations from the 1980s, highlighting the dynamic exchanges between the US and China at that time.
  • 🔍 The discussion points to the trade war initiated by the Trump administration in 2018 as a pivotal moment leading to a sharp decline in Sino-US relations.
  • 🌐 The script mentions the challenges faced by students and scholars due to internet restrictions and the impact on their ability to engage in international学术交流.
  • 📉 The transcript reflects a general sentiment of pessimism about the future of Sino-US exchanges and their implications for both nations.

Q & A

  • What significant event marked a historic deficit in Sino-US relations in 1949?

    -The publication of Mao Zedong's famous commentary 'Farewell, Leighton Stuart' marked a historic deficit in Sino-US relations in 1949.

  • When did Sino-US relations begin to thaw after the initial deficit?

    -Sino-US relations began to thaw with Nixon's visit to China in 1972.

  • What has been the trend of Sino-US relations over the past 50 years?

    -Over the past 50 years, Sino-US relations have experienced ups and downs, but economic, trade, academic, and cultural exchanges have not been interrupted.

  • How has the number of international students from the United States to China changed in recent years?

    -The number of international students from the United States to China dropped sharply, with only 350 in 2022, but rebounded to 700 by the end of 2023.

  • What was the impact of the trade war between the United States and China on Sino-US relations?

    -The trade war between the United States and China, which broke out in 2018, led to a sharp decline in Sino-US relations and significantly cooled economic and trade relations.

  • What was the percentage of Americans holding a negative view of China according to Pew Research Center data from May 1?

    -According to Pew Research Center data from May 1, 81% of Americans hold a negative view of China, with 43% holding a very negative view.

  • What is the significance of the T-shirt Ding Xueliang wore during the podcast?

    -The T-shirt Ding Xueliang wore was from the summer of 1988 when he was a PhD student at Harvard University, commemorating the tenth anniversary of China's reform and opening up, symbolizing a time of positive exchange between the United States and China.

  • What were the two main suggestions Ding Xueliang made during his discussion with the U.S. State Department regarding Chinese students in the U.S.?

    -Ding Xueliang suggested that the U.S. should fund social sciences for Chinese students, given the large gap in this field in China, and organize summer groups to show Chinese students the positive aspects of America, to leave a good impression of the U.S.

  • What was the peak period for Sino-US exchanges according to Ding Xueliang's observation?

    -According to Ding Xueliang's observation, the peak period for Sino-US exchanges was around 2008, 2009, and 2010, influenced significantly by the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

  • What is the current situation regarding the number of American students in China?

    -As of 2023, there are only 700 American students in China, a significant drop from the peak in 2018 when there were more than 11,000.

  • What are the implications of the decline in Sino-US exchanges for the future of both countries?

    -The decline in Sino-US exchanges could lead to a negative impression of each other among the younger generations, potentially impacting future relations and cooperation between the two countries.

Outlines

00:00

📜 Historical Reflections on Sino-US Relations

The host, Yuan Li, introduces the podcast by reflecting on the historical context of Sino-US relations, highlighting Mao Zedong's 1949 commentary as a pivotal moment. The conversation acknowledges the warming of relations following Nixon's 1972 visit and the subsequent decades of fluctuating engagement. A notable concern is the recent decline in student exchanges and trade, with 2023 marking a significant economic shift as Mexico becomes the largest importer to the US. The discussion also touches on the growing negative perceptions between the two nations, as evidenced by Pew Research data. The episode's guest, political sociologist Ding Xueliang, provides expert insights, sharing his experiences as a Harvard graduate and former American think tank worker, with a focus on his areas of research including globalization and political economy.

05:01

🎓 Ding Xueliang's Academic Journey and US-China Exchanges

This paragraph delves into Ding Xueliang's personal narrative, starting from his time as a PhD student at Harvard in 1988, to his significant contributions to US-China academic exchanges. It recounts his memorable experiences, such as receiving a T-shirt after a report at MIT and the dynamic nature of US-China relations during his first week in the US, which included invitations to seminars at Harvard and Princeton, and a discussion with a high-ranking official from the US State Department. The summary underscores the importance of funding social sciences and the living conditions of Chinese students in the US, as well as the impact of these experiences on their perceptions and subsequent contributions to bilateral relations.

10:02

🌐 The Changing Landscape of US-China Relations

The conversation captures the evolution of US-China relations, noting a peak around the 2008 Beijing Olympics due to China's aggressive outreach. It discusses the subsequent decline, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the lack of a rebound in exchanges post-pandemic. The trade war initiated by the Trump administration in 2018 is highlighted as a significant downturn, with a surge in US complaints and China's retaliatory policies. The impact of these political decisions on the academic and cultural exchanges is emphasized, reflecting a broader concern about the future of US-China relations.

15:03

📉 The Decline in US-China Educational Exchanges

This section addresses the sharp decline in the number of American students in China and the dwindling enthusiasm of young people from the US, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region for exchanges with China. It discusses the economic and practical considerations that influence these decisions, including the cost of studying abroad and the perceived benefits of such experiences. The narrative suggests that unless there is a significant improvement in China's openness and opportunities, the trend of decreasing educational exchanges is likely to continue, with lasting implications for bilateral relations.

20:05

🤝 The Challenges of Reviving US-China Exchanges

The paragraph examines the difficulties in revitalizing US-China exchanges, referencing the Trump administration's legacy of a new direction in China policy, which has been continued by the Biden administration. It raises questions about China's efforts to invite American youth for exchanges and the lack of a strong response from the US. The discussion suggests that without addressing significant barriers such as academic freedom and access to information, it will be challenging to attract American students to China.

25:08

🔍 Blinken's Suggestions for Enhancing Sino-US Relations

This section focuses on the recommendations made by US officials, particularly Antony Blinken, for improving the conditions that would facilitate学术交流 and foster a positive environment for American students in China. It discusses the possibility of incremental changes and the need for significant decisions from Beijing to address systemic issues. The conversation also contemplates the potential impact of these changes on the perceptions and future of Sino-US relations.

30:09

🏛 The Generational Impact of Sino-US Exchanges

The narrative explores the long-term consequences of the current state of Sino-US exchanges, emphasizing the importance of positive interactions between the youth of both nations. It recounts personal experiences and historical examples of individuals who played significant roles in shaping bilateral relations, highlighting the potential loss of such contributions in the future due to the decline in exchanges. The summary underscores the need for optimism and the potential for China to continue opening up to foster better relations.

35:11

🌍 Economic Interdependence and the Future of Sino-US Relations

This paragraph discusses the economic prosperity of China and its reliance on trade with the US and other Western countries. It reflects on the potential risks and challenges posed by the ongoing decoupling and the shifting of supply chains outside of China. The conversation considers the implications of these trends for China's economic growth and its ability to avoid the middle-income trap, emphasizing the importance of maintaining positive relations with developed countries.

40:12

🏙️ The Shift in International Opportunities and Concerns

The section highlights the shift of international opportunities from mainland China to places like Taiwan and Singapore, due to the changing landscape of Sino-US relations. It discusses the implications for Chinese intellectuals and businesses, the loss of Hong Kong as a bridge for understanding China, and the concerns of the middle class regarding their future, particularly in terms of education and investment opportunities abroad.

45:15

👨‍👧‍👦 The Middle Class and the Future of China's Economy

This paragraph addresses the concerns of China's middle class, particularly the challenges faced by middle- and lower-income families in ensuring a better future for their children and securing their financial assets. It discusses the impact of globalization on job opportunities and the changing economic landscape in China, as well as the aspirations of ordinary Chinese people in the face of an uncertain future.

50:16

📚 Book Recommendations on US-China Relations

The final paragraph offers a selection of book recommendations that provide insights into the history and nuances of US-China relations. The recommendations include 'The United States and China' by John King Fairbank, 'Li Shenzhi and the American Institute' by Zi Zhongyun, and 'Mao Zedong's Last Revolution'. These books are highlighted for their ability to deepen understanding of the past and present dynamics between the two nations.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Sino-US relations

Sino-US relations refer to the diplomatic, economic, and cultural ties between China and the United States. The video discusses the historical context and evolution of these relations, highlighting key events such as Mao Zedong's commentary 'Farewell, Leighton Stuart' and Nixon's visit to China in 1972. The theme of the video revolves around the ups and downs of this relationship and its impact on various exchanges between the two nations.

💡Exchange programs

Exchange programs in the context of the video pertain to academic, cultural, and people-to-people interactions between China and the U.S. The script mentions a significant drop in the number of international students from the U.S. to China and vice versa, indicating a decline in these programs. These exchanges are crucial for fostering mutual understanding and goodwill between the two countries.

💡Trade war

The trade war refers to the economic conflict initiated by the Trump administration in 2018, imposing tariffs on Chinese goods and escalating tensions between the U.S. and China. The video script discusses the sharp decline in Sino-US exchanges following the trade war, indicating its detrimental effect on the relationship and highlighting the trade war as a critical juncture in recent Sino-US relations.

💡Public perception

Public perception is the general view or attitude of the public towards a particular issue or entity. The script cites data from the Pew Research Center showing an increase in negative views of China among Americans. This concept is key to understanding the sentiment and attitudes shaping the Sino-US relationship and the potential implications for future interactions.

💡Cultural Revolution

The Cultural Revolution was a socio-political movement in China from 1966 to 1976, which had profound effects on Chinese society and its international relations. The video mentions the Cultural Revolution in the context of the experiences of the guest, Ding Xueliang, and its impact on the generation's understanding of China and the world. It serves as a historical reference point for the changes in Sino-US relations.

💡Globalization

Globalization is the process of increased interconnectedness and interdependence of countries worldwide through economic, social, and cultural exchanges. The script discusses the challenges of globalization to U.S.-China relations and the impact of decoupling on China's economy. Globalization is a central theme as it underpins the economic and cultural exchanges that are vital to the relationship between China and the U.S.

💡Decoupling

Decoupling refers to the deliberate separation or reduction of interdependencies between two economies, typically in trade, technology, and investment. The video script mentions decoupling in the context of the U.S. and China, indicating a strategic shift away from economic interdependence. This concept is significant as it reflects current trends and potential future scenarios in Sino-US relations.

💡Harvard University

Harvard University is a prestigious Ivy League institution in the United States. It is mentioned in the script as the place where guest Ding Xueliang received his doctorate and as a symbol of academic excellence. The reference to Harvard serves to establish the credibility of the guest's perspective and experiences in the context of Sino-US exchanges.

💡Think tank

A think tank is an organization that conducts research and provides expert advice and analysis on various subjects. The script mentions that Ding Xueliang once worked in an American think tank, which underscores his background in policy research and his insights into the complexities of international relations, particularly between the U.S. and China.

💡Political economy

Political economy is the study of the relationship between politics and economics. The video script notes that Ding Xueliang's research areas include the political economy of transformed societies, indicating the importance of understanding the interplay between political systems and economic development in the context of Sino-US relations and China's societal changes.

💡Economic prosperity

Economic prosperity refers to a state of economic growth and stability. The script discusses China's economic prosperity in the context of its trade surplus with the U.S. and Europe, highlighting the role of trade in China's economic rise. This concept is central to understanding the stakes and motivations in Sino-US economic relations.

Highlights

Mao Zedong's famous commentary 'Farewell, Leighton Stuart' marked a historic deficit in Sino-US relations in 1949.

Nixon's 1972 visit to China initiated a thaw in Sino-US relations.

Sino-US relations have experienced significant ups and downs over the past 50 years.

Economic, trade, academic, and cultural exchanges between the US and China have remained uninterrupted.

A recent historic surge in Sino-US exchanges has been observed, despite some setbacks.

The number of US international students in China dropped sharply to 350 in 2022, then rebounded to 700 by the end of 2023.

Chinese students in the US also began to decrease, affecting the academic exchange.

Mexico replaced China as the largest source of US imports in 2023, indicating a shift in trade relations.

81% of Americans hold a negative view of China according to Pew Research Center data.

China's box office hits about the Korean War reflect the ongoing tension with the US.

Political sociologist Ding Xueliang shares his insights on the current state of Sino-US relations.

Ding Xueliang's personal experiences highlight the dynamic exchanges between the US and China in the 1980s.

Ding suggests that the US should fund social sciences for Chinese students to improve Sino-US relations.

The impression of the US among Chinese students is crucial for future bilateral relations.

The decline in Sino-US exchanges and cooperation is a cause for concern.

The peak of Sino-US exchanges was around 2008, influenced by the Beijing Olympics.

The trade war in 2018 marked a significant downturn in Sino-US relations.

The Biden administration has continued Trump's China policy, indicating a lasting impact.

China's invitation for American teenagers to visit is not met with a strong response from the US.

Secretary Blinken suggests improvements for China to attract more American students.

The future of Sino-US exchanges depends on significant policy changes and mutual efforts.

Transcripts

play00:00

Hello everyone, welcome to the Bumingbai Podcast. I am the host Yuan Li.

play00:06

In August 1949, on the eve of the founding of the Communist Party of China,

play00:09

Mao Zedong published the famous commentary "Farewell, Leighton Stuart",

play00:13

marking a historic deficit in Sino-US relations.

play00:17

Since then, the relationship between the two countries has It was

play00:20

not until Nixon's visit to China in 1972 that the relationship between the two countries began to thaw.

play00:25

Over the past 50 years, Sino-US relations have had ups and downs

play00:28

, but the economic, trade, academic and cultural exchanges between the two countries have not been interrupted.

play00:32

However, in recent years, Sino-US exchanges have once again experienced a historic surge. Deficit:

play00:36

The number of international students from the United States to China dropped

play00:39

sharply . In 2022, there were only 350. They rebounded to 700 by the end of 2023.

play00:44

The number of Chinese studying in the United States also began to decrease.

play00:47

The economic and trade relations between the two countries also cooled significantly.

play00:50

In 2023, Mexico replaced China as the largest source of imports for the United States. Foreign

play00:56

data released by the Pew Research Center on May 1 showed that

play01:00

81% of Americans hold a negative view of China

play01:04

, of which 43% held a very negative view of China.

play01:08

In 2006, only 29% of Americans held a negative view of China. Negative views

play01:13

China does not have reliable data in this regard

play01:16

, but several of China’s most successful movies at the box office in recent years

play01:19

are about the Korean War,

play01:21

that is, movies about the war between China and the United States.

play01:24

Why will the exchanges between China and the United States once again enter a historic deficit

play01:28

in the future ? Will it continue to get worse?

play01:30

What impact will this deficit have on the relations between the two countries and the two countries themselves?

play01:34

In this issue, we invited political sociologist Ding Xueliang

play01:38

to share his observations and insights.

play01:40

Ding Xueliang is an emeritus professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

play01:44

. In 1984, he went to study in the United States and

play01:46

received his doctorate from Harvard University in 1992.

play01:49

He once worked in an American think tank.

play01:52

His main research areas include comparative modernization

play01:55

, globalization, international competition

play01:57

, public governance, the political economy of transformed societies, etc.

play02:00

His major works include

play02:03

"For and Against the Chinese Model" and China’s economy will rise again.

play02:07

Hello, Mr. Ding. Hello

play02:08

, hello. Hello. Hello. Hello

play02:09

. Your dress looks very good today.

play02:12

It’s very suitable for the camera.

play02:13

This dress is very memorable. I was

play02:15

rummaging through boxes and cabinets to find this one

play02:17

for this show.

play02:19

This piece of clothing was from the summer of 1988

play02:24

when I was a PhD student at Harvard University.

play02:27

In order to commemorate the tenth anniversary of China's reform and opening up

play02:31

, the MIT student union

play02:33

invited me to give a report

play02:36

through the Harvard student union.

play02:39

After the report was completed,

play02:41

I was given this T-shirt. When I

play02:42

gave the report at that time,

play02:44

the enthusiasm of the audience's enthusiasm

play02:48

for the development of Chinese students,

play02:50

that kind of emotion that burst out immediately,

play02:55

is like recalling a century ago.

play02:56

This year is my 40th year

play02:59

to study in the United States.

play03:01

There are not many 40-year

play03:02

anniversaries in life

play03:05

, right,

play03:06

because I remember very clearly

play03:07

that it was August 29, 1984, when I left Beijing.

play03:11

It was the first time in my life that I took a plane

play03:13

and left China for the United States

play03:16

. And I remember

play03:18

August 30, which was very impressive.

play03:21

After I arrived in the United States,

play03:23

I received three very important invitations within

play03:27

a week. I remember

play03:29

how dynamic

play03:31

the exchanges between the United States and China were at that time. One invitation was that Harvard University invited me to attend a seminar,

play03:36

and we were

play03:37

the organizers

play03:39

. Everyone knows that MacFarquhar, the

play03:42

world's number one authority on the Chinese Cultural Revolution, whose Chinese name is Ma Ruode, is one of my mentors

play03:46

who has passed away.

play03:48

He invited me to attend a seminar at Harvard.

play03:51

The second invitation

play03:52

came from Princeton. The person who invited me to the International Studies Center of the university

play03:55

is still alive

play03:57

because he is about the same age as me.

play03:59

He studies the relationship between three major countries.

play04:03

One is China,

play04:04

the other is Soviet Russia, such as the Soviet Union, Russia

play04:07

, and Japan.

play04:08

He is fluent in three languages

play04:09

. The language genius

play04:11

asked me to attend a very important seminar at

play04:15

the Princeton International Center.

play04:18

So what about the third invitation?

play04:20

Now that I think about it, it’s basically

play04:22

like a dream.

play04:25

I received an invitation from the U.S. State Department.

play04:27

There is a very senior researcher in the U.S. State Department.

play04:31

He represents the U.S. State Department.

play04:33

It is this Debut Secretary who

play04:37

invited me to Washington to have a discussion

play04:39

with him. I am the Deputy Secretary of State

play04:40

who came to study.

play04:44

I was surprised

play04:45

when I received this invitation.

play04:46

He asked What are you doing?

play04:47

Oh, I was very nervous at the time.

play04:49

My spoken English is so broken now.

play04:53

Then I went to the U.S. State Department

play04:56

to talk to such a high-ranking official.

play04:57

I am not a diplomat , and I received

play04:59

some so-called revolutionary education in China

play05:01

before I went abroad.

play05:03

After going to the United States, you have to pay attention

play05:05

to being influenced by the United States.

play05:08

When you go abroad, you have to pay attention to spies and so on.

play05:12

There is a lot of revolutionary education.

play05:14

So when I went to Washington,

play05:16

I was very surprised.

play05:20

I brought my passport and

play05:21

my student ID.

play05:22

I brought all the papers with me

play05:25

because I thought the State Council would be fine.

play05:28

Then when I arrived at the gate of the State Council,

play05:30

I was surprised that

play05:31

no one checked my documents

play05:34

and then asked me if I had an appointment.

play05:36

I said yes. What time, what time?

play05:39

I think who called me

play05:41

, and then he took a piece of paper and

play05:42

looked at it.

play05:43

He said yes. He said you go in. He

play05:45

didn’t even look at the ID and let me go to the U.S. State Department

play05:47

to talk about the issue at that time. The United States is very concerned about

play05:51

you, the best-educated people in China

play05:55

, and you have also experienced China’s Cultural Revolution

play05:59

and many movements before the Cultural Revolution

play06:03

, including earth-shaking things,

play06:05

because of their background to me. ) I have checked

play06:08

and I know

play06:10

what my situation was like when I was a child. I came from a rural area.

play06:13

His question

play06:14

focuses on the exchanges between the United States and China.

play06:19

In addition to high-level diplomacy,

play06:23

the knowledge of a young man like you From the molecular point of view,

play06:27

what else can the United States do more

play06:32

and get a positive response from China?

play06:36

I made a lot of specific suggestions at that time,

play06:38

including two suggestions.

play06:39

I was studying in the United States at the time. It didn’t last long.

play06:42

I just listened.

play06:45

What is one thing

play06:46

that resonates with me the most ? First, when you provide scholarships

play06:53

to students from China,

play06:55

you must pay attention to

play07:00

the Chinese government-funded projects of the Ministry of Education.

play07:03

They give priority to students majoring in science and engineering,

play07:08

but China The government

play07:13

basically doesn’t give priority

play07:17

to students from the United States studying social sciences.

play07:19

So if the United States wants to fund Chinese students,

play07:23

it must fund social sciences.

play07:25

I was talking about China’s science and technology at that time

play07:28

. In fact, there is a huge gap between

play07:31

China’s science and technology

play07:34

and that of the United States.

play07:36

The gap in China’s social sciences is even greater. If

play07:38

there is no funding from the United States in this field , then the opportunity

play07:41

to study social sciences and get a doctorate in the United States

play07:44

is very slim in China.

play07:46

This is the first important thing I mentioned.

play07:49

The second important thing is what is it

play07:51

now? For international students from mainland China who come to the United States,

play07:55

if they are sponsored by the Chinese government,

play07:57

I have heard a lot of these very negative remarks

play08:00

because China was relatively poor at that time. They

play08:03

paid more than 300 US dollars per month

play08:05

and deducted part of the money for medical insurance.

play08:09

Under this situation,

play08:11

Chinese government-sponsored international students

play08:14

can only live in the poorest and worst places. If these students

play08:19

stayed in such an environment after

play08:23

spending several years in the United States,

play08:26

even if they were not affected by crime or violence,

play08:29

their impression of the United States would be a mess.

play08:32

Then the State Department officials would understand very well after hearing this.

play08:36

He said that some of our cities in the United States

play08:39

are so-called inner cities,

play08:40

which are the central parts of old cities.

play08:43

He said that many of our middle class have left and

play08:46

are like shabby areas.

play08:47

We know these situations.

play08:49

But you can't let Chinese students come to the United States

play08:52

with such an impression and then return to China. Their

play08:55

impression of the United States will be a mess.

play08:58

You can organize some groups in the summer

play09:01

and don't spend too much money to get a bus.

play09:03

Just take them. Go to monumental places in America

play09:05

and let them see that

play09:06

there are some really amazing things in America. Let them see

play09:11

and let them remember.

play09:12

Let them leave those impressions of America that are very worthwhile.

play09:17

Except the places where they did a terrible job

play09:19

are also part of America

play09:20

. But that It’s not all about the United States.

play09:22

At that time, I felt that I also made some realistic remarks about

play09:25

the exchanges between the United States and China.

play09:27

What you said really made

play09:28

me sigh with emotion.

play09:30

The relationship between China and the United States is very, very different

play09:32

now than in the 1980s.

play09:37

Hello everyone, I am Yuan Li

play09:38

There are dozens of hours of careful preparation and production

play09:41

behind the wonderful conversation you just heard.

play09:44

This requires reading a lot of data

play09:46

and taking time to communicate with the interviewees.

play09:48

Only in this way can you ask good questions

play09:51

and have in-depth conversations.

play09:53

Bumingbai podcast will continue to be committed to

play09:56

producing high-quality news content

play09:58

so that Chinese people can hear profound thoughts and real emotions.

play10:02

In this era of darkness and uncertainty,

play10:04

we can hear a little persistence in each other’s hearts.

play10:07

Please continue to support the I Don’t Understand podcast

play10:10

and let us continue this business for a long time.

play10:13

Listeners are welcome

play10:15

to click on the donation link in our content introduction for this issue

play10:19

or visit the donation page of our website

play10:20

Bumingbai.net.

play10:25

I would like to ask a question.

play10:26

I also said in this introduction that from the data,

play10:28

the exchanges and cooperation between China and the United States

play10:30

are in There has been a very obvious decline in recent years.

play10:32

When do you think this situation started

play10:35

and what caused it?

play10:37

Because before this, it had a peak.

play10:40

Before this peak, there was also a twists and turns.

play10:43

Just like you said, there are still ups and downs,

play10:44

but The general trend is upward. When will it

play10:47

reach its peak?

play10:50

In my observation, it probably reached

play10:56

its peak in 2008, 2009, and 2010.

play10:59

Of course, those of us who study China and observe China know that

play11:03

this is the most important reason

play11:05

. The peak at that time was because of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

play11:09

In the years before the Olympics,

play11:12

Chinese officials used all channels

play11:15

, including the channels of overseas Chinese

play11:17

, including the so-called old friends of the Chinese,

play11:21

to expand the doors or windows of China's opening to the outside world.

play11:26

Whether it’s a trail,

play11:28

a front door, or a back door,

play11:30

this thing left a very deep impression on me

play11:32

because from 2005 to 2008,

play11:36

as you know, I was

play11:40

appointed by the Carnegie Foundation of the United States

play11:43

to work on the project as a representative of Beijing.

play11:45

It is the challenge of globalization to US-China relations.

play11:48

Where is my project? You are very familiar with

play11:51

it. The Friendship Hotel

play11:54

receives various people from the West almost every day,

play11:59

including academics, media,

play12:01

diplomats, and business people. Of course

play12:04

, it occasionally receives some exchange students,

play12:08

so

play12:10

I think it was the peak during that period.

play12:12

After the peak in 2009 and 10,

play12:15

there was a slow decline

play12:18

, but not a sharp decline.

play12:20

The real sharp decline was in the following years

play12:23

. In the following years,

play12:25

of course, we have to

play12:28

put aside the epidemic of more than three years, because there is nothing we can do about it.

play12:32

Because of the epidemic for more than three years,

play12:34

people like us have lost

play12:37

the right to move freely, not to mention foreigners.

play12:41

Putting aside the fact that

play12:42

it had been declining significantly for more than three years

play12:48

before the epidemic , one of our hopes

play12:50

was that after the strict epidemic prevention was lifted,

play12:53

just like China's economy, many people were hoping

play12:56

for a rebound and recovery.

play13:00

So now it obviously looks like

play13:02

China's economy has not risen as sharply as people expected

play13:04

after the epidemic prevention and control was lifted,

play13:09

and the exchanges between the United States and China

play13:12

have not shown this momentum.

play13:15

This is a very regretful thing.

play13:17

You said you want to ask from When did it start

play13:19

? According to my observation , it has been declining continuously

play13:23

since 2010.

play13:25

And this continuous decline soon

play13:28

reached an extremely serious critical point

play13:32

, that is, in 2018,

play13:34

the trade war between the United States and China broke out

play13:37

. It suddenly dropped sharply. Before this, China

play13:40

already had many policies

play13:41

, but the United States came out with these policies under Trump. The treatment

play13:44

was dramatic, and communication

play13:48

suddenly entered winter.

play13:50

This is a result of the joint efforts of the decision-makers of both sides,

play13:54

isn't it? Because before Trump started the trade war,

play13:57

the United States had a lot of complaints about China.

play14:00

We all know this

play14:01

, but most of those complaints came from

play14:05

the education and academic circles, and a small number came from

play14:08

the media. Of course, the media complained the most,

play14:10

but At that time, U.S. government officials also complained

play14:14

, but their complaints at that time

play14:16

were based on the expectation

play14:19

that their complaints would elicit a positive response from Chinese officials,

play14:26

and then the complaints from China would be eliminated.

play14:31

Those measures, practices

play14:36

, or rules and regulations that

play14:38

are not conducive to exchanges between the two sides

play14:42

. After Trump started the trade war in 2018, the dissatisfaction, resentment , and complaints

play14:47

from the United States that had been accumulated for many years

play14:49

exploded out. What

play14:55

impressed me very deeply was that when the two sides were quarreling

play14:58

, for example, Chinese diplomats in the United States,

play15:02

whether in Washington or in several other cities,

play15:05

had to leave their offices in the city center

play15:09

within a few miles, which was OK (ok)

play15:12

but beyond. If you go beyond those miles, you must report it first,

play15:16

and then China will be very angry. Officials

play15:19

think that this is very detrimental to the activities of Chinese diplomats in the United States.

play15:23

Then American officials will say

play15:25

that China has been doing this to us for decades.

play15:30

In fact, The U.S. has

play15:35

begun to treat these things as equals, right, and

play15:36

demands reciprocity. But in the past,

play15:41

when the U.S. was too embarrassed to say this, Trump

play15:45

slowly started to say all the things he had said before.

play15:49

Then this relationship will no longer work

play15:51

, and what I said before about the United States

play15:54

, because what we are talking about today is that we are the United States and China

play15:56

. In fact, it is not only the United States,

play15:58

but also Europe, including the Asia-Pacific region, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and South Korea.

play16:03

They also have similar complaints.

play16:05

China probably started from In 2015,

play16:10

maybe this website started in 2014.

play16:12

Basically, the outside world saw

play16:19

what we talk about decoupling. Decoupling refers to

play16:22

the decoupling of economy, trade and technology

play16:24

. But on the Internet, this decoupling

play16:28

is far ahead of the post-economic, trade and technology.

play16:31

This also makes it

play16:35

very, very difficult

play16:37

for students, scholars, etc.

play16:40

from the United States, Europe,

play16:42

or the outside world in the Asia-Pacific region to get used to it after arriving in mainland China,

play16:46

because it has nothing to do with outside friends or relatives. connect

play16:51

It becomes basically impossible

play16:53

, so these complaints

play16:56

have erupted like a volcano

play16:59

in 2018.

play17:00

Chinese decision-makers expressed their hope to strengthen exchanges between the two sides

play17:04

and expressed their willingness to invite 50,000

play17:08

American teenagers in the next five years.

play17:10

Go to China for exchange and study . However, there will still be only 700

play17:13

American students in China in 2023.

play17:14

In 2018, this number was still more than 11,000.

play17:18

Do you think this is why there has been a sudden drop in the number of American students willing to come to China?

play17:23

We all know that in In the United States,

play17:25

you ask those American youths, whether they are Asian or non-Asian,

play17:31

no matter which ethnic group they are,

play17:33

to make them spend so much energy and time to come to China.

play17:38

Even if they receive part of the funding

play17:41

, they still have to have additional funds. In addition to the cost of his own

play17:44

time, why did he come to China

play17:48

? Either he is very positive about you emotionally, likes you here

play17:53

, or is even fascinated.

play17:54

There is another reason that is more important than this reason,

play17:58

which is his own studies

play18:01

and employment after studies. Is it an important investment

play18:07

? If China's economy becomes better and better

play18:13

and more open to the outside world

play18:15

, then the economic, technological, and cultural channels between the United States and

play18:19

China will become wider and wider in the future . Then these young people will come to China.

play18:23

I don’t think people who come here to study and exchange are

play18:26

the kind of tourists who

play18:30

come for a week or two and then leave. I think they come to China for at least a semester

play18:33

or even an academic year or even two or three years.

play18:37

Why do they invest so much?

play18:39

Either there is hope in the future, that is,

play18:42

because he has made such an investment in China

play18:46

, he will be rewarded for the growth of his young people.

play18:50

But since 2016,

play18:52

what I have met is the United States, Canada, Australia, and

play18:59

Europe. Young people

play19:01

, I say, young people from the age group of 20 to 35

play19:05

are increasingly less optimistic about the return on their investment in China. This

play19:09

is because American students and young people want to come to China

play19:13

unless their family’s economic situation is very good

play19:16

and these young people The person himself is also willing to invest his financial resources

play19:23

in exchanges in China.

play19:25

Otherwise, he will have to obtain a lot of funding from outside the family.

play19:31

We all know that in the United States, there are many foundations in the United States and

play19:36

exchange scholarships in good universities in the United States. Scholarship)

play19:41

This fellowship is this scholarship,

play19:44

what is it, Program (project), there are many

play19:47

, but the United States does not only deal with China,

play19:54

it deals with so many countries,

play19:56

why is it able to sponsor (fund)

play19:59

if it is not related to it? Provide funds to support these young people

play20:04

, and it is not just a small number,

play20:07

and it is not a short-term but medium- to long-term support for them to come to China.

play20:12

There must be a strong driving force behind

play20:16

this. At least part of this strong driving force is political. I have a positive expectation

play20:23

that China is not my enemy.

play20:24

We sponsor our young people from the United States to come to China

play20:28

for the sake of future friendly cooperation.

play20:32

In recent years, this positive attitude has been

play20:36

basically wiped out. Isn’t this the case? You didn’t

play20:39

see it at all. There was an article in the New York Times today.

play20:45

The author is an associate professor at Princeton University.

play20:48

He just said something above. He said that in the United States, especially in Washington,

play20:53

as long as you add Chinese in front of anything you say,

play20:58

the other party will immediately speak. It makes me very nervous

play21:00

. There is so much negativity in politics

play21:05

. These problems are definitely not entirely attributed to

play21:09

Trump alone. It is not like this.

play21:13

Trump’s contribution in this regard is definitely not attributed to him.

play21:17

There are many American mainstream media analyzing

play21:19

what positive or negative things they have done in the past four years.

play21:22

There is one sentence that impressed me so deeply.

play21:24

If Trump still leaves a legacy

play21:28

that will not be abandoned by future generations,

play21:30

there is only one sentence. That is, he has adopted

play21:33

a different policy towards China than before.

play21:36

This may be the most important legacy he left behind.

play21:40

We can see clearly now that the

play21:42

Biden administration has actually inherited the Trump administration’s China policy

play21:47

. The direction is the same

play21:49

, and now China policy is

play21:53

the easiest issue for the two parties in Congress to reach consensus.

play21:57

I would also like to ask you about the Chinese decision-makers who want to invite 50,000 Americans to China.

play22:02

This reminds me of China in 1984.

play22:04

Inviting 3,000 Japanese youths to visit China.

play22:07

At that time, we all watched a lot of news footage on TV.

play22:11

It was very, very enthusiastic.

play22:12

You can say that it was the most eager era for China to develop relations with the world.

play22:16

I would like to ask this decision-making team. Now they suddenly hope The two sides have strengthened exchanges

play22:21

, but why does it seem that the United States has not responded strongly to this call?

play22:25

This is something we pay close attention to

play22:29

and need to collect enough information to explain why this is the case.

play22:34

In my observation, it is because

play22:37

China has now proposed a formal One of the goals

play22:41

proposed

play22:43

is that 10,000 American students will come here every year in five years.

play22:47

But Blinken said it when he visited China not long ago.

play22:52

If you really want more American young people to come to China,

play22:55

you should In what aspects should you consider

play22:59

improving China's current practices, regulations

play23:04

, or specific obstacles

play23:06

? If you don't solve these problems, if

play23:08

you just put forward a goal, there is nothing you can do.

play23:11

We all know that the United States is different from China.

play23:13

If it is the United States. It is proposed that

play23:16

in the next five years, not 50,150,000

play23:20

Chinese students will be welcomed to the United States.

play23:22

Even if Chinese students are not willing to come to

play23:26

the United States , as long as a group of political party organizations in China arranges it,

play23:32

it will be solved immediately.

play23:33

However, American students, the United States government, and

play23:36

this American university Fortunately,

play23:38

it can't make American students do things

play23:43

they don't want to do.

play23:45

This is the crux of the problem.

play23:46

It's what Blinken said.

play23:48

You must think about why they are unwilling to come. Let

play23:51

me talk about what Blinken said at the time. What's happening

play23:53

is that in April

play23:55

he said that if China wants to attract more Americans to come,

play23:59

his best way is to create conditions

play24:01

that allow academic activities to develop and progress anywhere,

play24:05

to discuss ideas freely and openly,

play24:07

to have access to a wide range of information, and to facilitate travel.

play24:10

Confident

play24:12

in the safety and security and privacy of participants,

play24:14

I would like to ask

play24:15

if you think it is possible for Beijing to make these changes.

play24:18

There are no significant signs yet

play24:21

that they are going to make these changes.

play24:23

I think small changes are possible,

play24:27

but on a large scale. To make this change,

play24:30

it must be

play24:32

the central government in Beijing and an extremely important decision can be made.

play24:37

Otherwise, no local government

play24:40

can change this situation. It is impossible.

play24:44

This is a national institutional problem.

play24:46

Of course, we will know that

play24:47

China Whether it is a teaching institution,

play24:51

a foreign exchange institution, a cultural institution,

play24:54

a science and technology institution,

play24:55

or even a religion, art, etc.,

play25:00

if the highest level of China proposes a goal,

play25:03

they will definitely try their best to achieve it. The numbers are filled up

play25:07

, but I don’t care

play25:09

whether there is any actual effect.

play25:11

You have to know that in China

play25:12

, only the highest level proposes a numerical goal.

play25:15

This numerical goal can always be exceeded , but in fact,

play25:18

I don’t care whether it really has such an effect.

play25:21

You don’t have this kind of confidence.

play25:24

Are you willing to look ahead to

play25:27

the best and worst possibilities for Sino-US exchanges in the next five or ten years? And

play25:31

what impact will they have on Sino-US relations

play25:33

and the two countries themselves?

play25:36

This is A very, very, very important, profound

play25:41

or meaningful issue.

play25:43

We are now looking at it in the current time frame.

play25:47

If China can

play25:55

implement what Blinken said during his visit to China

play25:58

in the second half of this year or within the next year and a half.

play26:03

Solve the problems that are relatively easy to solve first among obstacles.

play26:10

For example, can we allow students from the United States to build

play26:16

facilities after they

play26:18

come to China , or the reading rooms they use

play26:21

, or the Facilities and equipment they use, etc.

play26:25

Just like some very important companies

play26:29

and manufacturers in China and foreign-funded manufacturers

play26:31

can I think this can be done

play26:36

smoothly through external networks.

play26:39

For example, every university, especially important universities,

play26:42

will approve a conference room if dozens of American students come to

play26:45

exchange students.

play26:47

They have to communicate with the outside world

play26:50

in a room.

play26:53

They

play26:55

only allow them to communicate here. After all, you still have to show that you have this understanding or support. I would like to say

play27:01

that the obstacles that will be raised by Blinken

play27:03

in the second half of this year or next year

play27:05

are to identify three first. There are three basic solutions that are relatively easy to solve.

play27:10

Then your sincerity comes out because

play27:13

most of the young people

play27:15

in the United States who have been in the United States are relatively open.

play27:21

If they have heard anything

play27:24

or read anything negative about China

play27:27

before, If

play27:28

he had not encountered this kind of reality when he came to China,

play27:32

they would have quickly changed their previous negative impression

play27:35

. They were afraid that when they went to China,

play27:38

they would find that it was worse than what they heard outside, and

play27:41

the people behind would not come over,

play27:43

right? You're right.

play27:44

I've been telling you that in the United States,

play27:45

there is no institution that can force American students to do things they don't want to do.

play27:49

Another example

play27:50

is that the Chinese website includes those about China overseas.

play27:53

The United States is now unfriendly to international students from China.

play27:57

Then What about visa rejections, etc.

play27:59

For your program, I went to consult

play28:03

someone who specializes in this exchange. Statistics said

play28:06

that last year, the number of mainland Chinese students who were denied visas in the United States

play28:11

was 1 in 4,250 . That is 1 in 4,250

play28:15

that was obtained by the United States last year.

play28:17

The proportion of Chinese students who have visas

play28:20

but are refused entry when entering the country

play28:23

is one in 4,250,

play28:26

which is actually a very small

play28:27

proportion.

play28:29

So if you talk about reciprocity,

play28:31

the conditions in

play28:31

China are not as good as those in the United States in many aspects, but

play28:34

you just can't fully Equivalent

play28:36

, but your gap cannot be too big.

play28:38

When I came to the United States to study from China,

play28:39

many conditions in China were very poor, very poor, very poor.

play28:43

But at that time, whether you were people like us who went abroad to

play28:47

introduce China to foreigners

play28:48

, or When people from abroad come to China,

play28:50

they have very optimistic expectations.

play28:52

We are sincere.

play28:53

We do not go to foreign countries to confuse foreigners.

play28:55

We all know that

play28:56

there are many problems in China today

play28:58

, but China today is much more open than yesterday and the day before yesterday.

play29:04

China will definitely be more open tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. Do

play29:07

you really think so? Is it true

play29:08

that China will be more open tomorrow and the day after tomorrow?

play29:12

That was

play29:13

when I came to the United States to study in 1984.

play29:15

I had this confidence. Did

play29:16

you think so before

play29:18

? Do you still have the confidence now?

play29:20

No,

play29:21

I can't do anything now.

play29:22

I can't do anything now.

play29:23

Just say that

play29:23

today's China is better than yesterday. The day before yesterday

play29:25

, it's a big deal. The epidemic may be better than last year.

play29:27

I can't think of other aspects of

play29:29

epidemic prevention and control.

play29:31

You ask this question. What kind of consequences will it cause in the future?

play29:33

I think the consequences will be very, very, very

play29:36

high, and the cost will be very, very high.

play29:39

Because when I read or do research and the professor summarized it,

play29:42

we all know

play29:43

that it happened in the US-China exchanges after 1972.

play29:47

Once you understand their backgrounds,

play29:51

you will be very surprised to find out about

play29:53

the Americans who played a very important role.

play29:54

In Boston,

play29:56

I often found that

play29:57

people took the initiative to come to us, international students from the mainland,

play29:59

and ask about where my parents

play30:02

were in China before 1949. What are China doing?

play30:05

Some people say

play30:06

what my grandparents are doing in China.

play30:09

You know how much influence this family has on future generations.

play30:12

I gave a lot of examples of people,

play30:14

such as Blumenthal , who played a very important role

play30:17

in the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and China.

play30:20

Lumenthal, Secretary of Commerce,

play30:22

is so good to China

play30:23

. Why is it

play30:24

because he is an American Jew ?

play30:27

Why is George W. Bush so friendly to China ? Why

play30:29

did George W. Bush have his family go to Beijing to watch and support you

play30:32

during the 2008 Olympics

play30:35

? It’s because George W. Bush is in his father’s home. When Bush Sr. was in Beijing,

play30:38

Bush Jr. had a very happy time in Beijing

play30:42

, and he often said that

play30:43

the whole family rode this bike

play30:45

everywhere and it was

play30:46

very open (open).

play30:47

This was a very friendly China.

play30:49

At that time, China was poor and backward

play30:51

, but people left behind a very beautiful legacy.

play30:54

Americans have no natural prejudice against China. Even

play30:57

if there is very little prejudice,

play30:59

you can imagine that in the next 10 years,

play31:03

we don’t know

play31:04

if there is no improvement within 10 years,

play31:06

there will not be enough young people in the United States

play31:08

within this 10 years. After coming to China

play31:09

for a long enough time,

play31:11

I will tell you

play31:11

that the impression left by

play31:14

the entire generation of American young people

play31:15

on China

play31:17

is a negative impression. Does

play31:18

n’t China now have a term?

play31:20

Where is it fixed in

play31:21

your understanding of China?

play31:24

To understand and judge

play31:25

, it is always negative.

play31:27

Let me just say

play31:28

that China's current view of the United States

play31:30

is also negative.

play31:32

If you look at social media,

play31:33

no matter what happens,

play31:34

the responsibility

play31:36

lies with the United States anyway. Even if it

play31:37

has nothing to do with China and the United States, In the end, the problem

play31:39

can be said

play31:40

to be because of what happened to the United States in the future.

play31:42

In fact, Chinese people and the Chinese Internet have

play31:45

very, very negative views of the United States.

play31:49

Although we have no particularly clear and

play31:51

reliable data to confirm this,

play31:53

if you think this is the case,

play31:54

right? What kind of impact will China itself have?

play31:59

We all know that China's Internet

play32:01

is extremely strictly controlled.

play32:03

We don't care about

play32:05

the information, pictures,

play32:07

or whatever (whatever else) that can stay

play32:09

on China's Internet for several hours. Whether it expresses

play32:13

how bad it is or

play32:15

whether it has not been 404ed or deleted,

play32:18

it means there is nothing wrong with it.

play32:20

You only rely on China’s Internet to judge

play32:24

whether this is the true mentality of the Chinese people towards the United States.

play32:29

It is easy to be misled.

play32:31

The real thing

play32:34

Among the Chinese people, there are only a few

play32:37

people who have so much hatred for the United States.

play32:39

I have actually never done such a poll.

play32:41

I just rely on

play32:43

my experience as a Chinese.

play32:44

I have been working with China’s education , media, culture, and technology

play32:48

for decades. When dealing with the world of economics,

play32:52

I can safely say that

play32:53

this does not mean that we

play32:55

do not criticize the United States, we do not criticize its policies,

play32:57

and we do not criticize the bad things in some American societies.

play33:00

Like me,

play33:01

I am most critical of the United States because of

play33:03

the violence caused by

play33:05

the proliferation of guns in the United States.

play33:07

Crime , I would describe this as the first major social problem

play33:10

in the United States on almost any occasion

play33:12

, but this does not affect my

play33:15

positive evaluation of other aspects of the United States

play33:16

, and I believe

play33:17

that as long as this American young man comes to China,

play33:20

it will be reversed.

play33:22

The extremely negative and even hateful influence

play33:27

they get from China's Internet

play33:32

is very bad and

play33:33

absolutely cannot be done. This situation

play33:34

must not be allowed

play33:36

, but we cannot underestimate

play33:38

the CCP's hateful education

play33:41

on the Internet. There is such

play33:44

an overwhelming sentiment of hatred against the United States.

play33:46

The movie "Changjin Lake" with the highest box office in China right now

play33:49

is about the war between China and the United States.

play33:52

We have to deny that

play33:54

this is obvious.

play33:55

You are not saying that it is from a minority.

play33:58

I think it is. It's a pretty common sentiment

play34:00

because you said that when Americans come to China,

play34:02

they have access to people

play34:04

, but China's Internet environment is

play34:07

a closed information environment,

play34:09

and what

play34:10

it can accept is hatred.

play34:12

The fact that there is no way to change

play34:14

this does not mean that the people are not good

play34:16

or anything.

play34:17

In such an environment,

play34:18

it is difficult for many people to distinguish between what is true

play34:22

and what is false.

play34:23

You see, I have an experience in this

play34:24

regard . As a reference

play34:26

, after 72 years

play34:28

when Mao Zedong was still alive,

play34:30

a very small number of

play34:35

exchange students

play34:37

from North America, including Canada and the United States,

play34:39

came to China not to get degrees

play34:40

. At that time, Chinese society

play34:42

was full of places. Overthrow U.S. imperialism,

play34:45

overthrow Soviet revisionism, and

play34:47

overthrow. Reactionaries in various countries

play34:48

shout revolutionary slogans every day,

play34:49

get up every morning, and

play34:52

do gymnastics.

play34:54

But

play34:55

the North American students

play34:58

who came to the United States in the early days that

play35:01

I came into contact with

play35:02

privately talked about

play35:05

the Chinese youth

play35:06

they misremembered at that time. People

play35:08

are full of curiosity about the United States

play35:11

and

play35:14

have even expressed

play35:15

their hope that one day

play35:17

, just like you can come to China,

play35:20

we hope that we can also come to the United States to

play35:23

see you. Let us talk about it, it is

play35:25

economic. This kind of economic and trade relationship

play35:27

is that developed countries including the United States

play35:29

are accelerating their decoupling from China

play35:30

, or to put it more nicely, they are de-risking.

play35:32

They are transferring the supply chain

play35:34

outside of China.

play35:35

The foreign direct investment in China in 2023

play35:39

will be 90%. The lowest since the 1990s.

play35:42

Many Chinese people are worried about this, especially

play35:45

in coastal and large and medium-sized cities.

play35:46

The first question I want to ask

play35:47

is to what extent has China’s economic prosperity

play35:49

in the past few decades benefited from China and the United States

play35:52

? Economic and trade exchanges between China and Western developed countries.

play35:55

As long as Chinese economists

play35:58

are realistic and realistic,

play35:59

you can see a lot of statistical data

play36:02

during the US-China trade war

play36:06

from 2018 to 2022,

play36:08

which is from China’s reform and opening up in 1978. From the beginning of the year

play36:12

to 2018, during this long period,

play36:16

the largest source of China’s trade surplus from exports

play36:22

was the United States, and the second was Europe.

play36:25

In other words,

play36:26

these two made money from hard currency. It is the largest source.

play36:30

No one who is realistic will deny this.

play36:33

Of course, China has experienced a lot of foreign exchange.

play36:36

What has it done with the Belt and Road Initiative

play36:37

and helped very poor countries? That

play36:41

is another matter.

play36:43

What can you get

play36:45

from those countries?

play36:47

With a lot of raw materials, you can

play36:50

sell the mid-range, mid-range and lower-end products produced in China

play36:54

, which can more or less solve some employment problems in China

play36:56

. But for China,

play36:59

we need to move up from the current middle-income level and move

play37:03

out of the middle-income level.

play37:05

You absolutely cannot step into the income trap.

play37:09

If your relationship with the United States becomes worse and worse

play37:13

, and then your relationship with Europe becomes worse and worse,

play37:16

because although the United States has repeatedly emphasized that it is not buying

play37:21

, it is in very core areas.

play37:24

You are less and less allowed to enjoy the previous treatment

play37:29

. Although Europe has not reached the same level as the United States

play37:32

, Europe is slowly making progress in these aspects.

play37:36

We can imagine

play37:37

that Korea and Japan used to

play37:39

quarrel with each other every once in a while because of historical issues

play37:42

. It is clear

play37:43

that in the past two years,

play37:44

even South Korea and Japan have been constantly discussing

play37:47

which areas

play37:49

they should increase cooperation

play37:51

in the next step . Why is the potential threat coming from China?

play37:54

If you think about it,

play37:56

China has so many important trading rivals.

play38:00

Australia,

play38:00

New Zealand, you also know this AUKUS.

play38:03

Now South Korea and Japan are going to join AUKUS

play38:07

as the second echelon.

play38:09

It is not the first echelon.

play38:10

This does not mean that you are just having trouble with the United States.

play38:13

So if you look at the past few decades

play38:15

or even the past year, For

play38:17

over a hundred years ,

play38:18

the most important foreign relationship for China

play38:20

has been the United States.

play38:22

As long as China has a good relationship with the United States,

play38:26

its relations with other developed countries will not be that bad.

play38:29

As long as China has a very bad relationship with the United States,

play38:32

The relationship with other developed countries will not get any worse

play38:36

because China has deep-seated reasons.

play38:38

This is what worries me.

play38:39

I can’t see the support of improved experience now.

play38:44

I can’t see

play38:45

the U.S.-China relationship.

play38:46

I can only see it now. What the two sides

play38:48

can do now

play38:50

is to prevent this relationship from

play38:52

brewing into a situation where armed conflict is relatively high.

play38:55

The two sides seem to have some consensus. There is basically no consensus on

play38:58

other major issues. If our generation did not have

play39:00

the US-China relations after 1972, Without

play39:05

the improvement of

play39:06

the reform and opening up in 1978,

play39:09

our whole life was ruined.

play39:12

It was ruined.

play39:12

Yes,

play39:13

half of our teenage years were ruined.

play39:16

Later, it was repaired

play39:18

and we had a second chance

play39:19

and a third chance.

play39:20

We could not go to school. I had to go to the countryside for re-education

play39:23

. Then

play39:24

I went to the United States

play39:25

with a scholarship to study.

play39:27

At that time, China’s policy prohibited those of us who have obtained a master’s degree

play39:31

in China

play39:32

from studying abroad at our own expense.

play39:34

In fact, how can we study abroad at our own expense?

play39:36

We don’t have any money either

play39:38

. All the money like mine

play39:40

comes from foundations or universities

play39:42

in the United States.

play39:43

Why should it support you?

play39:45

Does it owe you? If it

play39:47

doesn’t have an optimistic understanding

play39:48

of China’s exchanges,

play39:50

why should it support you with this money

play39:52

? China If

play39:54

students come to study

play39:55

, let me ask you another question

play39:56

: the current decoupling

play39:58

or the cooling

play39:59

trend of Sino-US relations

play40:01

or Sino-US exchanges

play40:03

is becoming less and less optimistic.

play40:05

This trend

play40:06

is getting worse and worse . The

play40:08

slippery slope

play40:09

is

play40:09

becoming more and more slippery.

play40:11

Are you worried about this situation

play40:12

in mainland China

play40:12

and

play40:13

Hong Kong

play40:16

?

play40:16

That's what I'm talking about. Worry

play40:17

, worry, anxiety.

play40:21

In

play40:23

an informal setting,

play40:24

it's a little informal.

play40:25

What I'm talking about is not a secret.

play40:27

In a slightly informal setting,

play40:29

this is a very common sentiment.

play40:31

It is a very common sentiment

play40:33

, and you can see clearly

play40:35

that in these years,

play40:36

who said that the United States and China were on

play40:38

a downward slope, those resources

play40:39

that originally belonged to

play40:42

the interaction between mainland China Good

play40:44

opportunities,

play40:45

great benefits,

play40:46

great losses .

play40:48

Where have some of them gone?

play40:50

The number one gainer and

play40:52

gainer are Taiwan,

play40:54

second and Singapore.

play40:56

Why

play40:57

do we have these two places

play40:58

? After all, they still belong to the Chinese society.

play41:01

You see , you know better than me

play41:02

over the years.

play41:04

That is the most important international media.

play41:05

The original bureau

play41:08

was in mainland China. It turned

play41:10

out

play41:10

to be

play41:12

in Hong Kong.

play41:13

There was no way to stay. It

play41:14

’s not that we didn’t want to stay in China

play41:16

.

play41:17

Then there were so many schools

play41:19

, including middle schools

play41:21

, including conservatories

play41:22

and dances. The Academy of Fine Arts

play41:24

, including those famous universities, has

play41:27

fewer

play41:29

and fewer

play41:30

exchange programs with China.

play41:32

And I also know

play41:34

that

play41:35

the United States cannot completely

play41:37

ignore China's affairs

play41:38

because China must be the second largest economy.

play41:41

After all, China still

play41:42

has a great influence on the world situation,

play41:45

so you can clearly see now that

play41:47

their more and more exchange projects,

play41:51

including school exchange projects,

play41:53

are now moved to Taiwan

play41:55

and Singapore,

play41:56

relying on information from these two places.

play41:58

To make up for the fact

play41:59

that they cannot be in mainland China

play42:00

, it turns out that you know better than me.

play42:04

Three years ago,

play42:06

Hong Kong was the best showcase for understanding mainland China,

play42:09

whether it was to study China

play42:10

, invest in China

play42:11

, report on China

play42:12

, or communicate with others.

play42:17

Now there are no such opportunities in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is

play42:20

the best window to understand mainland China.

play42:23

This has been more than a hundred years ago.

play42:26

Even in Mao's era, it was like this.

play42:29

Now there is no way to stay in Hong Kong.

play42:31

As for Chinese intellectuals,

play42:36

what will your relationship with the outside world be in the future?

play42:39

After contact ,

play42:42

where are

play42:43

the channels to the outside world? You

play42:46

are doing business with Africa.

play42:50

You have too many raw materials, and their value to you

play42:55

is not that big. The market is

play42:57

not that big

play42:59

, and they cannot allow you to improve your overall level.

play43:02

To improve your overall level,

play43:04

your largest source in the world is the United States, your

play43:07

second largest source is Europe,

play43:10

and your third largest source is Asia-Pacific.

play43:12

First, take a look at these three

play43:14

sources . None of them are directly connected to you. Which channel

play43:17

is open now

play43:19

, and it will be better tomorrow than today. No one in Changtong

play43:22

dares to say this.

play43:24

No one has the confidence.

play43:25

Then I would like to ask,

play43:27

what is the reaction of the people you come into contact

play43:29

with, especially business people?

play43:30

What should they do?

play43:31

Because now we have also seen that China

play43:33

Even if you have money, you

play43:34

are very worried.

play43:37

For example, in mainland China,

play43:39

in the past 40 years, many coastal

play43:42

and even inland cities

play43:44

have been lifted out of poverty

play43:45

, and a considerable number of them

play43:47

have become the real middle class.

play43:49

At this stage,

play43:50

their families are most concerned about

play43:53

The first is to ask his children to study abroad.

play43:56

The second is that if he has more money,

play43:58

he will consider

play44:00

buying a house in the United States or North America, whether it is

play44:03

a deposit or an investment.

play44:05

This can be said about China's population of 1.4 billion. Among the 400 million people who

play44:10

are now considered

play44:11

to be middle class, at least 100 million people

play44:15

in the middle have such an expectation

play44:18

. They may not necessarily have the ability to get there immediately

play44:21

, but at least 100 million people have such an expectation. Do

play44:24

you want to I want to see

play44:25

it. First of all, the relationship between the United States and China is getting worse and worse.

play44:28

I am often asked

play44:30

what it would be like to apply for an American university. What would

play44:32

it be like to apply for an American graduate

play44:33

school? I have to tell them the truth.

play44:35

I said we went there 40 years ago. When we went to the United States,

play44:38

there were no majors

play44:40

that we couldn’t apply for

play44:42

when we studied in mainland China.

play44:44

In fact, you may not be able to get in, but

play44:45

that’s different now.

play44:46

There are also people like us who were in the United States before

play44:50

. If we stay in the United States ,

play44:52

It’s not that difficult.

play44:53

Now you don’t have the confidence.

play44:55

Then there are Chinese people who want to invest

play44:59

their property overseas

play45:01

. Look, I know so many middle-aged people aged 35 to 50 who are

play45:06

quite successful in their businesses

play45:08

and trade

play45:09

. The biggest issue we are considering now is how to send the children and assets.

play45:14

The children are the biggest assets.

play45:16

The second is how to send

play45:18

the financial assets.

play45:20

Where will

play45:22

they be sent?

play45:24

Will they be sent to North Korea? Will they be sent to Russia?

play45:26

Will they be sent ? Iran?

play45:28

Will he send it to Syria?

play45:30

The first choice

play45:32

is

play45:32

North America

play45:33

, Western Europe

play45:34

, and then Australia, New Zealand,

play45:36

Japan,

play45:36

and yes,

play45:37

China

play45:38

. People in China are very clear about this sentence.

play45:41

As long as you have Chinese money at home,

play45:44

everyone knows

play45:45

where to look.

play45:47

Why is this so

play45:48

? Why? There is a price to

play45:50

pay for

play45:51

the safety process

play45:53

, but as long as the children and assets are moved out,

play45:57

in the future

play45:58

they will be protected, right?

play46:00

This

play46:01

is called insurance.

play46:04

This is a very real problem .

play46:06

I just want to ask you a

play46:08

very real question

play46:09

, that is, the number of people who can study abroad

play46:11

and have the money to move abroad

play46:12

is still very small among Chinese people, right?

play46:14

What can ordinary Chinese people do

play46:16

when faced with the current situation

play46:18

? There are not many channels

play46:21

to study abroad

play46:22

and buy a house

play46:24

or property.

play46:26

How should we look at this matter

play46:27

? It’s just like

play46:28

basic people

play46:29

like us . We are more or less

play46:31

families

play46:32

with relatively good conditions. According to what I have heard

play46:34

or the more information I have heard,

play46:36

the middle- and low-income families

play46:38

in mainland China

play46:41

are living day

play46:42

by day

play46:43

, because soon

play46:44

families like these

play46:46

will encounter

play46:48

the largest family in China

play46:50

in ten to fifteen years. One of the fundamental problems

play46:53

is their pension.

play46:56

In ten to fifteen years,

play46:58

except for a few families,

play47:01

the only children of most middle- and lower-income families

play47:04

will have reached the age of forty or fifty,

play47:08

and then the elders above them will

play47:10

Pensions and pensions

play47:12

are very, very inadequate.

play47:14

Then their children have poor employment prospects. Even if they find a job, their

play47:15

income

play47:17

is

play47:20

limited

play47:22

.

play47:23

This is very realistic.

play47:24

Like before,

play47:25

because our Hong Kong

play47:26

is close to Guangdong

play47:27

and close to this coastal area,

play47:29

people over the age of 45 talk about it every day

play47:31

. So in the past,

play47:33

we We all know

play47:35

that as long as you can endure hardship

play47:37

, as long as you are not too stupid,

play47:39

your tomorrow will be better than this year,

play47:41

and you will definitely make more money next year

play47:43

. I have rarely encountered

play47:45

people who have said this

play47:46

in recent years.

play47:47

I have rarely encountered people who say this. If

play47:50

you look at the way they spend money,

play47:52

it is very realistic.

play47:54

We are talking about

play47:55

disposable income.

play47:57

You can see that

play47:58

when I was in this coastal place before,

play48:00

because he had great expectations for the future,

play48:02

whether he was eating, drinking, entertaining friends or

play48:05

wearing clothes

play48:07

You can tell by looking at

play48:08

weekend

play48:09

trips, festivals

play48:11

and other travels, shopping in Hong Kong, etc.

play48:12

So when you look at them,

play48:13

I feel envious of them.

play48:14

I said that you are really catching up with the good times.

play48:18

I said that you have lived so well in your thirties and

play48:19

play48:20

forties . In those days,

play48:21

when we were studying in the United States, and

play48:23

when we got our PhDs,

play48:25

our income in the United States

play48:27

was not as generous as yours now.

play48:29

Of course, in recent years,

play48:31

you can’t see this kind of luxury.

play48:33

Basically, you can’t see it.

play48:34

Yes

play48:36

, it’s

play48:37

most of them. No one

play48:38

knows

play48:39

what will happen tomorrow, the day after tomorrow

play48:42

, and the day after tomorrow. Economically speaking,

play48:43

I think these people are not talking about

play48:44

oh, he has some great dreams.

play48:46

I am talking about

play48:47

ordinary people

play48:48

, people who live their lives.

play48:50

Well

play48:50

, people who live their

play48:52

play48:53

lives like that, most people. They all think about living their lives

play48:55

, yes, yes,

play48:56

oh, really.

play48:57

In fact,

play48:59

even people who live their lives

play49:00

may actually think that

play49:02

the topic of Sino-US relations is actually very far away from them

play49:03

, but it is actually very, very closely

play49:05

related

play49:07

to their lives.

play49:08

Think about it.

play49:09

Why are the children born in middle- and lower-income families

play49:11

in the past few decades

play49:15

able to get out of poverty as long as they

play49:18

accomplish one of three things

play49:19

?

play49:21

The first one

play49:22

is that they

play49:24

don’t need to be top

play49:25

if they get admitted to a better school.

play49:27

Then the second

play49:28

major is more suitable

play49:31

, such as mechanical processing,

play49:34

etc. It is because China

play49:35

has taken the road of globalization

play49:37

that there are so many job opportunities.

play49:40

If he has not been admitted to a better

play49:43

school, The school

play49:45

did not get a better degree.

play49:48

If

play49:50

he worked hard and went to the coast

play49:52

to open a small restaurant

play49:55

or a small shop

play49:57

, or work as a taxi driver

play50:00

or

play50:01

do some other service work,

play50:02

he could get out of poverty

play50:05

and take care of his family. The people who

play50:07

moved from relatively poor rural areas

play50:10

to the mass cities along the coast

play50:12

have also made a comeback.

play50:14

If China had not had so many opportunities

play50:16

during globalization,

play50:18

it would be hard to say

play50:18

that the water

play50:20

would not flow to them.

play50:23

Now the water is getting dryer and drier

play50:24

. Not

play50:25

at all , but

play50:26

there

play50:27

are still less

play50:28

and less.

play50:29

Look

play50:30

, as long as you go to the big cities

play50:32

in mainland China,

play50:33

you can see that the shopping malls are

play50:36

deserted.

play50:37

Then look at the restaurants,

play50:39

which are very

play50:40

lively. It's really

play50:43

a good

play50:44

occasion to make a fuss.

play50:45

Then we ask each guest to recommend three books

play50:48

or movies.

play50:49

What do you recommend? As

play50:50

someone who has read so many books,

play50:52

you must have a lot to recommend.

play50:54

Thank you very much for letting me recommend books

play50:56

to us. I have been reading all my life

play50:58

. Oh,

play50:58

what our audience also likes the most is this section.

play51:01

You said that

play51:01

it basically

play51:02

only influenced

play51:06

the understanding of China for generations in the United States

play51:08

. "The United States and China" written by King Fairbank,

play51:10

this is also

play51:11

a must-read for me as a teaching assistant at Harvard University.

play51:14

And the Chinese translation of this book ,

play51:16

but I don’t know if I can buy it now.

play51:17

The Chinese translation is the fourth edition

play51:20

of World Knowledge Press.

play51:21

After reading this book, you will know

play51:23

what the past exchanges between the United States and China

play51:25

were like over the past few centuries.

play51:28

Anyone who can read English

play51:29

or Chinese can also

play51:31

have a traditional Chinese version.

play51:32

This is the first book I recommend.

play51:34

The second book I recommend

play51:35

is also made in the United States and

play51:36

run by a Chinese-American company called

play51:39

Yijia Publishing

play51:40

One Two Three Four One Traditional

play51:42

Chinese. "Li Shenzhi and the American Institute"

play51:44

was published by Jia Yijia

play51:45

in Jialingjiang. The American Institute of

play51:47

the Chinese

play51:48

Academy of Social Sciences

play51:50

was the director of the American Institute

play51:51

before I went abroad. He was

play51:54

also my personal acquaintance

play51:55

and a good friend of my mentor.

play51:56

This book is a memory

play51:59

that tells What you

play52:00

are telling you is

play52:01

how this group of people has promoted

play52:04

mutual understanding , mutual respect

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and mutual cooperation

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between China and the United States

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since the 1970s.

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Although it is not very academic

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, these details are very touching.

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I think This

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was done in the United States

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because

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these books can no longer be published

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in mainland China . Li Shenzhi and the United States.

play52:26

Li Shenzhi and the United States

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are good.

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I have read that Zi Zhongyun

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wrote a memoir

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in which he wrote a lot. Li Shenzhi is

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a very interesting person. The charm

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is just

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because he was recommended by Li Shenzhi

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as his successor.

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Isn't this Zizhongyun?

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Li Shenzhi wrote a lot about him,

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and the third book

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was

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the last one

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I mentioned

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at the beginning of

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Ma Ruode's

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life

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, which had the greatest impact. A book

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" Mao Zedong's Last Revolution"

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has

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an English version

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published by Harvard University

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and a traditional Chinese version.

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Mine is the simplified version. The translations of

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the traditional version and the simplified version

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are basically the same.

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After reading this book, you will know

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what kind of huge damage China's

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complete isolation

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from the outside world during

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the Cultural Revolution for ten years

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has brought to China.

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Because our

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country The book itself is

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the first one that does not have this book.

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When we were

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teaching assistants

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, we

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needed to find some materials to translate

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temporarily. After many times

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of screening

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, we

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finally got this masterpiece.

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It

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is very good

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and

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wonderful

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. Thank

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you, Teacher Ding

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. Thank you. Everyone, please tune in

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and see you next time

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Связанные теги
Sino-US RelationsCultural ExchangeHistorical PerspectivePolitical SociologyEconomic ImpactAcademic InsightsPersonal NarrativeGlobalizationCold War HistoryFuture Outlook
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