Peking University, April 14th, 2009: On the morning of April 9th, Senator John McCain, chief member of US Republican Party and senator of Republican Federal of Arizona State, led a delegation to Peking University. Professor Wu Zhipan, Executive Vice Chairman of the University Council, and Professor Jia QingGuo, Vice Dean of SIS, met with the group of visitors at the School of International Studies. Sen. McCain proceeded to a friendly discussion with student representatives on topics concerning relations between China and US.
McCain, now 73, plays an important role both in the US and international affairs and is still very active in US politics. Sen. Lindsey Graham, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar among others are visiting different countries in Asia for a week. This stop at PKU is one of the most important stops Sen. McCain will be making in China. In the meeting with PKU leaders, Prof. Wu ZhiPan welcomed McCain on behalf of PKU and briefly introduced PKU’s recent situations. McCain acknowledged PKU’s invitation and said he looked forward to having discussions with PKU students.
After the meeting, McCain arrived at the conference room for a discussion with students. McCain patiently answered questions ranging from rumors of North Korea launching satellites to the RMB exchange rate reform during the global economic crisis. A student brought up Prime Minister Wen JiaBao’s emphasizing ‘trust’s’ importance in re-stabilizing the economy, and asked McCain for his understanding and suggestions on China-US building trust in each other. McCain answered that we are faced with many common problems, including security concerns towards North Korea, hundreds of thousands of unemployed individuals and minority groups, etc. Take the economy problem for example, this is not solely the US’s problem, nor is it China’s, this is a difficulty that we share. That is why he thinks that rebuilding ‘trust’ is the best way to bring the China-US relationship closer, so that these two leading countries can better exert their roles. Towards the end of the discussion, McCain noted that he believed the young people present will become the most talented leaders of the future, China and the world will become better under your hard work, said McCain.
The conversations between McCain and the students of PKU are beneficial towards better understanding between China and the US. Just as McCain said, China’s success is the greatest success in the world, establishing good relations between China and the US will exert extensive influence.
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