Experts Stress US, China Collaboration for Peace at Nanjing Forum

Chinese and US scholars on Wednesday stressed the importance of exchanges in various fields to reduce differences and enhance mutual trust at a forum co-hosted by the Carter Center and the Global Times in Nanjing, East China’s Jiangsu Province.

As China still lags behind the US in many aspects, it is confusing that the US considers China to be a threat, Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of the Global Times said, adding that an incisive discussion was welcome at the Third US-China Young Scholars Forum over where the US worries were from .

“The gap [in development and national strength] between China and the US is still huge,” Hu said in his opening speech at the forum, explaining that although China has produced plenty of military planes, it is still unable to manufacture their advanced engines and must therefore depend on cooperation with foreign companies.

Echoing Hu, Jordan Ryan, vice president for peace programs at the Carter Center, stressed the significance of global ties between China and the US, both of which shoulder enormous responsibilities to assure the world by seeking collaboration and prioritizing the maintenance of peace.

Ryan also noted that the forum was held on International Peace Day, a day for all of us to gain a better understanding about the problems facing the world and to look for solutions to them.

Speaking at the forum on the theme of “the impact of US-China educational exchanges on bilateral relations,” Yan Xuetong, director of the Institute of International Relations at Tsinghua University, said that frequent visits to the two countries by millions of US and Chinese citizens, especially students and tourists, have deepened mutual understanding.

“Given that the two world powers have yet to be estranged from each other and that their ideological conflicts have never been a core obstacle to diplomatic development, it’s difficult for us to expect war,” he said.

Yan added that various divergences between China and the US, such as the disagreements over the South China Sea issue and the exchange rate of the yuan, are all manageable.

He voiced his belief that despite all the worrying issues, there will not be any kind of war between China and the US.

More than 20 young scholars attended the one-and-half-day gathering, which is aimed at promoting communication and mutual understanding between the two countries.

By Aixin LI in Nanjing Source: Global Times 21 September 2016

(More information about the 3rd Young Scholars Forum can be found here)