China-U.S. humanistic exchanges bear global significance
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CALL FOR HARMONIOUS COOPERATION
When photos of President Hu hugging a boy greeting him at the Andrews Airport upon landing on American soil grabbed headlines Tuesday, the world has every reason to believe China is also poised to embrace all U.S. friends to jointly promote world harmony.
"The development of China-U.S. relations, in the final analysis, hinges on the broad support and active involvement of people from all walks of life in the two countries," Hu said when addressing a welcome luncheon by U.S. friendly organizations on Thursday.
"We should draw up a good plan for our exchanges and cooperation ... so that more and more people will become supporters of stronger China-U.S. relations and get actively involved in this worthy cause," he added.
Hu's friendly visit to the United States has also been a focus of attention for experts like Ndung'u Wainaina, executive director of the Kenya-based International Center for Policy and Conflict, who lauded the image of a big power that China has shown in Hu's visit.
According to Wainaina, China's image is positive because while building its own strength, China also respects the diversity of other cultures and other peoples, and never imposes its own opinions, attitudes and values upon others.
Local experts also believe more cultural exchanges can better the ties between the world's largest developed and developing countries.
"As China's hard economic and military power increases, it can create fear among other countries. This fear can be reduced by the development of China's soft power," Nye told Xinhua.
"More Chinese soft power in the U.S. and more American soft power in China will help to make the two countries more attractive to each other and avoid the misperceptions that can lead to conflicts," said Nye, who coined the term "soft power".
"The development of Chinese and American soft power is not a zero-sum game, but one in which both sides can gain by reducing the prospects of misunderstanding and conflict."
"We both should welcome the increase of cultural diplomacy in each other's country," he said.
Meanwhile, David Shambaugh, an expert on China policy at George Washington University, also looked forward to more cultural exchanges between China and the United States after Hu's visit.
"Our two countries cannot have enough cultural exchanges -- it is the key to improved relations," he said.
Given the fact that interaction between cultures is the eternal driving force for propelling the advance of human civilization and plays an irreplaceable role in deepening trust and friendship, eliminating prejudice and misunderstanding and promoting world harmony, it is not difficult to understand why Hu's visit to the U.S. drew worldwide attention to its humanistic significance.
