丘吉尔演讲铁幕演说 克林顿在北京大学的演讲

克林顿在北京大学的演讲  

Thank you. Thank you
President Chen
Chairmen Ren
Vice President Chi
Vice Minister Wei.
We are delighted to be here today with a very large American delegation
including the First Lady and our daughter
who is a student at Stanford
one of the schools with which Beijing University has a relationship.
We have six members of the United States Congress; the Secretary of State; Secretary of Commerce; the Secretary of Agriculture; the Chairman of our Council of Economic Advisors; Senator Sasser
our Ambassador; the National Security Advisor and my Chief of Staff
among others.I say that to illustrate the importance that the United States places on our relationship with China.
I would like to begin by congratulating all of you
the students
the faculty
the administrators
on celebrating the centennial year of your university. Gongxi
Beida. (Applause.) As Im sure all of you know
this campus was once home to Yenching University which was founded by American missionaries. Many of its wonderful buildings were designed by an American architect. Thousands of Americans students and professors have e here to study and teach. We feel a special kinship with you.
I am
however
grateful that this day is different in one important respect from another important occasion 79 years ago. In June of 1919
the first president of Yenching University
John Leighton Stuart
was set to deliver the very first mencement address on these very grounds. At the appointed hour
he appeared
but no students appeared. They were all out leading the May 4th Movement for Chinas political and cultural renewal. When I read this
I hoped that when I walked into the auditorium today
someone would be sitting here. And I thank you for being here
very much. (Applause.)
Over the last 100 years
this university has grown to more than 20
000 students. Your graduates are spread throughout China and around the world. You have built the largest university library in all of Asia. Last year
20 percent of your graduates went abroad to study
including half of your math and science majors. And in this anniversary year
more than a million people in China
Asia
and beyond have logged on to your web site. At the dawn of a new century
this university is leading China into the future. I e here today to talk to you
the next generation of Chinas leaders
about the critical importance to your future of building a strong partnership beeen China and the United States.
The American people deeply admire China for its thousands of years of contributions to culture and religion
to philosophy and the arts
to science and technology. We remember well our strong partnership in World War II. Now we see China at a moment in history when your glorious past is matched by your present sweeping transformation and the even greater promise of your future. Just three decades ago
China was virtually shut off from the world.
Now
China is a member of more than 1
000 international anizations -- enterprises that affect everything from air travel to agricultural development. You have opened your nation to trade and investment on a large scale. Today
40
000 young Chinese study in the United States
with hundreds of thousands more learning in Asia
Africa
Europe
and Latin America. Your social and economic transformation has been even more remarkable
moving from a closed mand economic system to a driving
increasingly market-based and driven economy
generating o decades of unprecedented growth
giving people greater freedom to travel within and outside China
to vote in village elections
to own a home
choose a job
attend a better school. As a result you have lifted literally hundreds of millions of people from poverty. Per capita ine has more than doubled in the last decade. Most Chinese people are leading lives they could not have imagined just 20 years ago.
Of course
these changes have also brought disruptions in settled patterns of life and work
and have imposed enormous strains on your environment. Once every urban Chinese was guaranteed employment in a state enterprise. Now you must pete in a job market. Once a Chinese worker had only to meet the demands of a central planner in Beijing. Now the global economy means all must match the quality and creativity of the rest of the world. For those who lack the right training and skills and support
this new world can be daunting. In the short-term
good
hardworking people -- some
at least will find themselves unemployed. And
as all of you can see
there have been enormous environmental and economic and health care costs to the development pattern and the energy use pattern of the last 20 years -- from air pollution to deforestation to acid rain and water shortage.
In the face of these challenges new systems of training and social security will have to be devised
and new environmental policies and technologies will have to be introduced with the goal of growing your economy while improving the environment. Everything I know about the intelligence
the ingenuity
the enterprise of the Chinese people and everything I have heard these last few days in my discussions with President Jiang
Prime Minister Zhu and others give me confidence that you will succeed. As you build a new China
America wants to build a new relationship with you.
We want China to be successful
secure and open
working with us for a more peaceful and prosperous world. I know there are those in China and the United States who question whether closer relations beeen our countries is a good thing. But everything all of us know about the way the world is changing and the challenges your generation will face tell us that our o nations will be far better off working together than apart. The late Deng Xiaoping counseled us to seek truth from facts. At the dawn of the new century
the facts are clear.
The distance beeen our o nations
indeed
beeen any nations
is shrinking. Where once an American clipper ship took months to cross from China to the United States. Today
technology has made us all virtual neighbors. From laptops to lasers
from microchips to megabytes
an information revolution is lighting the landscape of human knowledge
bringing us all closer together. Ideas
information
and money cross the pla at the stroke of a puter key
bringing with them extraordinary opportunities to create wealth
to prevent and conquer disease
to foster greater understanding among peoples of different histories and different cultures.
But we also know that this greater openness and faster change mean that problems which start beyond one nations borders can quickly move inside them -- the spread of weapons of mass destruction
the threats of anized crime and drug trafficking
of environmental degradation
and severe economic dislocation. No nation can isolate itself from these problems
and no nation can solve them alone. We
especially the younger generations of China and the United States
must make mon cause of our mon challenges
so that we can
together
shape a new century of brilliant possibilities. In the 21st century -- your century -- China and the United States will face the challenge of security in Asia.
On the Korean Peninsula
where once we were adversaries
today we are working together for a permanent peace and a future freer of nuclear weapons. On the Indian subcontinent
just as most of the rest of the world is moving away from nuclear danger
India and Pakistan risk sparking a new arms race. We are now pursuing a mon strategy to move India and Pakistan away from further testing and toward a dialogue to resolve their differences.
In the 21st century
your generation must face the challenge of stopping the spread of deadlier nuclear
chemical
and biological weapons. In the wrong hands or the wrong places
these weapons can threaten the peace of nations large and small. Increasingly
China and the United States agree on the importance of stopping proliferation. That is why we are beginning to act in concert to control the worlds most dangerous weapons. In the 21st century
your generation will have to reverse the international tide of crime and drugs. Around the world
anized crime robs people of billions of dollars every year and undermines trust in government.
America knows all about the devastation and despair that drugs can bring to schools and neighborhoods. With borders on more than a dozen countries
China has bee a crossroad for smugglers of all kinds. Last year
President Jiang and I asked senior Chinese and American law enforcement officials to step up our cooperation against these predators
to stop money from being laundered
to stop aliens from being cruelly smuggled
to stop currencies from being undermined by counterfeiting. Just this month
our drug enforcement agency opened an office in Beijing
and soon Chinese counternarcotics experts will be working out of Washington.
In the 21st century
your generation must make it your mission to ensure that todays progress does not e at tomorrows expense. Chinas remarkable growth in the last o decades has e with a toxic cost
pollutants that foul the water you drink and the air you breathe -- the cost is not only environmental
it is also serious in terms of the health consequences of your people and in terms of the drag on economic growth. Environmental problems are also increasingly global as well as national. For example
in the near future
if present energy use patterns persist
China will overtake the United States as the worlds largest emitter of greenhouse gases
the gases which are the principal cause of global the nations of the world do not reduce the gases which are causing global warming
sometime in the next century there is a serious risk of dramatic changes in climate which will change the way we live and the way we work
which could literally bury some island nations under mountains of water and undermine the economic and social fabric of nations. We must work together. We Americans know from our own experience that it is possible to grow an economy while improving the environment. We must do that together for ourselves and for the world. Building on the work that our Vice President
Al Gore
has done previously with the Chinese government
President Jiang and I are working together on ways to bring American clean energy technology to help improve air quality and grow the Chinese economy at the same time.
But I will say this again -- this is not on my remarks -- your generation must do more about this. This is a huge challenge for you
for the American people and for the future of the world. And it must be addressed at the university level
because political leaders will never be willing to adopt environmental measures if they believe it will lead to large-scale unemployment or more poverty. The evidence is clear that does not have to happen. You will actually have more rapid economic growth and better paying jobs
leading to higher levels of education and technology if we do this in the proper way. But you and the university
munities in China
the United States and throughout the world will have to lead the way. (Applause.)
In the 21st century your generation must also lead the challenge of an international financial system that has no respect for national borders. When stock markets fall in Hong Kong or Jakarta
the effects are no longer local; they are global. The vibrant growth of your own economy is tied closely
therefore
to the restoration of stability and growth in the Asia Pacific region. China has steadfastly shouldered its responsibilities to the region and the world in this latest financial crisis -- helping to prevent another cycle of dangerous devaluations. We must continue to work together to counter this threat to the global financial system and to the growth and prosperity which should be embracing all of this region.
In the 21st century
your generation will have a remarkable opportunity to bring together the talents of our scientists
doctors
engineers into a shared quest for progress. Already the breakthroughs we have achieved in our areas of joint cooperation -- in challenges from dealing with spina bifida to dealing with extreme weather conditions and earthquakes -- have proved what we can do together to change the lives of millions of people in China and the United States and around the world. Expanding our cooperation in science and technology can be one of our greatest gifts to the future.
In each of these vital areas that I have mentioned
we can clearly acplish so much more by walking together rather than standing apart. That is why we should work to see that the productive relationship we now enjoy blossoms into a fuller partnership in the new century. If that is to happen
it is very important that we understand each other better
that we understand both our mon interest and our shared aspirations and our honest differences. I believe the kind of open
direct exchange that President Jiang and I had on Saturday at our press conference -- which I know many of you watched on television -- can both clarify and narrow our differences
and
more important
by allowing people to understand and debate and discuss these things can give a greater sense of confidence to our people that we can make a better future.
From the windows of the White House
where I live in Washington
D.C.
the monument to our first President
Gee Washington
dominates the skyline. It is a very tall obelisk. But very near this large monument there is a small stone which contains these words: The United States neither established titles of nobility and royalty
nor created a hereditary system. State affairs are put to the vote of public opinion. This created a new political situation
unprecedented from ancient times to the present. How wonderful it is. Those words were not written by an American. They were written by Xu Jiyu
governor of Fujian Province
inscribed as a gift from the government of China to our nation in 1853.
I am very grateful for that gift from China. It goes to the heart of who we are as a people -- the right to life
liberty
and the pursuit of happiness
the freedom to debate
to dissent
to associate
to worship without interference from the state. These are the ideals that were at the core of our founding over 220 years ago. These are the ideas that led us across our continent and onto the world stage. These are the ideals that Americans cherish today. As I said in my press conference with President Jiang
we have an ongoing quest ourselves to live up to those ideals. The people who framed our Constitution understood that we would never achieve perfection.
They said that the mission of America would always be to form a more perfect union -- in other words
that we would never be perfect
but we had to keep trying to do better. The darkest moments in our history have e when we abandoned the effort to do better
when we denied freedom to our people because of their race or their religion
because there were new immigrants or because they held unpopular opinions. The best moments in our history have e when we protected the freedom of people who held unpopular opinion
or extended rights enjoyed by the many to the few who had previously been denied them
making
therefore
the promises of our Declaration of Independence and Constitution more than faded words on oldparchment.
Today we do not seek to impose our vision on others
but we are convinced that certain rights are universal -- not American rights or European rights or rights for developed nations
but the birthrights of people everywhere
now enshrined in the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights -- the right to be treated with dignity; the right to express ones opinions
to choose ones own leaders
to associate freely with others
and to worship
or not
freely
however one chooses. In the last letter of his life
the author of our Declaration of Independence and our third President
Thomas Jefferson
said then that all eyes are opening to the rights of man. I believe that in this time
at long last
172 years after Jefferson wrote those words
all eyes are opening to the rights of men and women everywhere.
Over the past o decades
a rising tide of freedom has lifted the lives of millions around the world
sweeping away failed dictatorial systems in the Former Soviet Union
throughout Central Europe; ending a vicious cycle of military coups and civil wars in Latin America; giving more people in Africa the chance to make the most of their hard-won independence. And from the Philippines to South Korea
from Thailand to Mongolia
freedom has reached Asias shores
powering a surge of growth and productivity. Economic security also can be an essential element of freedom. It is recognized in the United Nations Covenant on Economic
Social
and Cultural Rights. In China
you have made extraordinary strides in nurturing that liberty
and spreading freedom from want
to be a source of strength to your people. Ines are up
poverty is down; people do have more choices of jobs
and the ability to travel -- the ability to make a better life. But true freedom includes more than economic freedom.
In America
we believe it is a concept which is indivisible. Over the past four days
I have seen freedom in many manifestations in China. I have seen the fresh shoots of democracy growing in the villages of your heartland. I have visited a village that chose its own leaders in free elections. I have also seen the cell phones
the video players
the fax machines carrying ideas
information and images from all over the world. Ive heard people speak their minds and I have joined people in prayer in the faith of my own choosing. In all these ways I felt a steady breeze of freedom. The question is
where do we go from here? How do we work together to be on the right side of history together? More than 50 years ago
Hu Shi
one of your great political thinkers and a teacher at this university
said these words: Now some people say to me you must sacrifice your individual freedom so that the nation may be free.
But I reply
the struggle for individual freedom is the struggle for the nations freedom. The struggle for your own character is the struggle for the nations character. We Americans believe Hu Shi was right. We believe and our experience demonstrates that freedom strengthens stability and helps nations to change. One of our founding fathers
Benjamin Franklin
once said
Our critics are our friends
for they show us our faults. Now
if that is true
there are many days in the United States when the President has more friends than anyone else in America. (Laughter.) But it is so. In the world we live in
this global information age
constant improvement and change is necessary to economic opportunity and to national strength.
Therefore
the freest possible flow of information
ideas
and opinions
and a greater respect for divergent political and religious convictions will actually breed strength and stability going forward. It is
therefore
profoundly in your interest
and the worlds
that young Chinese minds be free to reach the fullness of their potential. That is the message of our time and the mandate of the new century and the new millennium. I hope China will more fully embrace this mandate. For all the grandeur of your history
I believe your greatest days are still ahead. Against great odds in the 20th century China has not only survived
it is moving forward dramatically. Other ancient cultures failed because they failed to change. China has constantly proven thecapacity to change and grow. Now
you must re-imagine China again for a new century
and your generation must be at the heart of Chinas new century is upon us.
All our sights are turned toward the future. Now your country has known more millennia than the United States has known centuries. Today
however
China is as young as any nation on Earth. This new century can be the dawn of a new China
proud of your ancient greatness
proud of what you are doing
prouder still of the tomorrows to e. It can be a time when the world again looks to China for the vigor of its culture
the freshness of its thinking
the elevation of human dignity that is apparent in its works. It can be a time when the oldest of nations helps to make a new United States wants to work with you to make that time a k you very much. (Applause)