On the afternoon of December 11th, 2014, Dr. Richard N. Haass, President of Council on Foreign Relations of the United States visited Peking University (PKU) and had a fruitful and in-depth discussion with the student representatives. The one-hour discussion was hosted by Professor Yuan Ming from PKU School of International Studies.
Dr. Haass is an old friend of Peking University, who enjoys and values talking with young people. The discussion was based on American foreign policy as a whole, and also on some reflections of the China-US relationship. The student representatives studying different majors raised questions on the topics such as world order, China-US relations and diplomacy, and the involvement of both China and US in the Middle East.
Professor Yuan Ming concluded the discussion while Dr. Haass expressed his willingness to visit PKU again in the future and conduct more dialogues with PKU students.
The following is the essence of the dialogue.
Q1: Many say that China was not involved in the Middle East in the past years.
However, there’s a growing relationship between China and the Middle East. To be particular, in terms of China-Israel relationship, the bilateral economic bond is tightening. How do Americans view this relationship and the change?
A1: The statement is right and not right. It is right that China and Israel are having a developing relationship. China may collaborate with Israel in some fields, such as high technology,but China is not the central actor in the Middle East. It will continue to be an observer. The Middle East has gone through some terrible challenges such as civil war, which makes thousands of people died or homeless. Besides that, you have to face some radical groups there, such as ISIS. China hadn’t played a main role on those issues in the past, so it’s quite difficult for China to get involved in the issues in the Middle East. On the other hand, China has played a significant role in terms of the Iranian nuclear issue, and that’s a good phenomenon.
Q2: The question is about the mutual understanding between China and America. I mean that Chinese have a better understanding of American, while average Americans aren’t interested in what Chinese are doing.
A2: American schools indeed did not do well on this issue. We did not do well in teaching the basic history of American policy and the American system. We did not do well in teaching the characteristic of its society and its economy. I think the people around the world know America better than Americans. I think it’s really unhealthy. The average Americans don’t care about the world. And they don’t understand how the world works. Therefore, I set my mission to teach students like your age to understand the basic knowledge about how the world works, and make you pay attention to some choices we have made. I want Americans to be ready for the America’s position and its influence in the world.
Q3: What do you think about the Chinese education system?As far as I know, some people say that Chinese education system only teaches students what the party wants them to know, and though we are in Peking University, we are not permitted to express ourselves freely on some occasions.
A3: I first came to Beijing in the late 70s, and I have witnessed some fundamental changes through these years. I came here 25 to 30 times, and I can’t imagine how fast it is changing. I see some people talk freely in some areas and I think it’s OK. I have been to Tsinghua, and I think students in both universities are very open-minded, so I think people are becoming more and more open.
Q4: Do the average Americans agree with the governance or the think tank?
A4: Most of the average Americans don’t care about the foreign policy. Most Americans do not wake up thinking about America’s foreign policy. They may care about the living standard and economic trends, but they won’t care what’s happening in Asia.
When we get down to the America’s foreign policy, there are dozens of forces influencing it. But the president has the upper hand. Other people may not have the power. But there are a lot of foundations, etc. and they may have more influence.
Q5: In your opinion, how will the rise of China affect America’s rebalance policy in Asia?
A5: America will protect allies because they are looking for response. And as for China’s future, yes, China is rising. But some people say that China is rising in the successive years and America will decline in the next decades, and I am not so sure about that. China has many internal problems. China has to deal with these problems.
I don’t think the region can be successful without America. The American role is part of the reason why this region is stable and quite successful. And I don’t think that China can do well in this region without America’s help. China will confront with much more problems, so America’s existence is in China’s interest.
The discussion took 45 minutes and Professor Yuan Ming concluded the talk. At the end, Mr. Harass expressed his willingness to visit PKU again in the future and to conduct more dialogues with PKU students.
Written By: Kuna-Wei PAN / ZHU Xuanhao
Edited by: He Yicheng
