On January 28, 2021, Mr. Wang Chao, President of the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs (CPIFA), attended at invitationthe video dialogue of “US-China Relations: The Way Forward” co-organized by the China-US Exchange Foundation and the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, and delivered a keynote speech entitled“Advance People-to-People Exchanges, and Consolidate Public Opinion Foundation for China-US Relations” atthe session of people-to-people exchanges.

Wang Chao noted,the people-to-people exchanges, being an important part of China-US relations, play a significant role in promoting mutual understanding and friendship between Chinese and American people and forming a sound public opinion foundationsupporting the bilateral relations. As President Xi Jinping said, “people-to-people relations underpin state-to-state relations,” and “state-to-state relations ultimately rely on the support of the people.”As China and the US are two major countries differing heavilyin social systems, ideologies, cultural traditions, histories andnational conditions, people-to-people exchanges are all the more important for the development of the bilateral relations.The strongest bond linking two countries is knitted through people-to-people interactions. It is through close interactions, the people of our two countriesdeepen their mutualunderstanding and enhance their friendship.And exactly amid the increasingly close interactions of the people grow the common interests in extensive areasand the need for exchanges and cooperation between China and the US.

Wang Chao said, as seen in the history of the China-US relations,the constantly expanding people-to-people exchangesbetween our two countries provide great impetus to the development of the bilateral relations, anda sound bilateral relationship in turncreatesfavorable conditions for further developing people-to-people exchanges, thus forming a benign circle of positive significance. The closer thepeople-to-people exchanges,the strongerthe public opinion foundationof the bilateral relations, and the greater the ability to withstand various challenges and dangers when the bilateral relations encounter difficulties. We should not only vigorously promote people-to-people exchangeswhen the bilateral relations are in smooth sailing,but also give more importance toitscritical role of promoting the improvement and development of the bilateral relations in time of difficulty. 

Wang Chao pointed out, with the ever deepening of the China-US relationsoverthe past 40 years, the people-to-people exchanges between our two countries have enjoyed tremendous development. However, itsuffered serious setbacks and even regressions in some respects during the Trump administration. As to the causes of the problem,the US side has to be blamedfor itsdemonizing andpoliticizing people-to-people exchanges andexploiting it as a policy tool against China. Since 2017, there has been a counter current in the US public opinionquestioning and opposing China-USpeople-to-people exchanges, and the US Congress has introduced and even adopted a number of legislations designed for the so-called“regulation and restraint” on US-China people-to-people exchanges.Since 2018, the US government has takena host of measures limiting people-to-people exchanges with China, so as to impose strictreview,surveillance and restrictions on Chinese students,scholars, media, and the Confucius Institutes in the US as well as on the exchanges and cooperation between the universities of the two countries. Lots of people-to-people exchange projects have been cancelled, many of which have been implemented for decades and were well-receivedby the participants of both sides. The US sideeven described at willrelevant exchange programs as the so-called “united front programs”of China's infiltration, whichdoesn’t in anyway conform to the facts and is simply irresponsible act of wanton labeling.

Wang Chao said, just last month, the US side terminatedseveral exchange projectsrelated with the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act (MECEA). These projects are totally open and transparent with the support and recognition by successive US administrations. Thevisiting programsof relevantUSdelegations in China weremade through mutual consultation by both sides, and the relevant US authorityis aware of that. The US participants,mainly CongressMembers and congressional staffers,have in generalgiven positive rating on those projects, which are all normal exchange programs,not the so-called “united front”at all. As for the so-called “united front” issue, the US side should showits self-confidence. The exchangesorganized by relevant institutions of both sides aretwo-way arrangement, under which not only Americans visit China, but also Chinese visit America. It’s not rational toput political labelsonall such normalexchanges. The massiveandirrational suppression of people-to-people exchanges hasseriously damaged the bilateral relationship, which doesn’t serve the interests of the USside itself, and has also met with the opposition of the people of vision from all circlesof the US.

Wang Chao concluded by pointing out that there currently exists an important “window of opportunity” for improving and developing China-USrelations. Both sidesshould seize the moment and adopttangible measures to resume and push forward the people-to-people exchanges between our two countries. At the government level, the wrong acts of the Trump administrationin obstructing China-US people-to-people exchanges should be rectified as soon as possible, so as to provide facilitation for Chinese students, scholars, businessmen and journalists to visit, live,work and do business in the US, and relevantpeople-to-people exchange projects should be restored timely.Under the Obama administration, both sides established theMechanism of China-US High-level Consultation on People-to-People Exchange which played a crucial role in advancing bilateral people-to-people communication.Both sides also held the China-US Social and Cultural Dialogue, the China-US State and Provincial Education Leaders Dialogue and the China-US Tourism Leadership Summit. Both sidesshouldconduct friendly consultationtimely toreactivate those mechanisms and activities as soon as possible, and jointly map out the long-term development ofbilateral people-to-people exchanges. At the non-government level, there are many relevantinstitutions and NGOsin our two countries which are dedicated to promoting friendly bilateral cooperation. Both sides should encourage them to continue to play their roles.