Vice-Premier Liu Yandong shakes hands with former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger before a forum where they both spoke at Columbia University in New York on Tuesday. WANG YING/XINHUA Former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger, who has described the US-China relationship as the defining relationship of the 21st century, said on Tuesday that both sides need to work together for peace and human progress. It will be imperative that we work together to lift our relationship from the pragmatic and from the day-to-day solving of problems to the conceptual, to the creation of a new encompassing concept of a world order that promotes peace and human progress, as we are now doing on the Korean issue, Kissinger said. He spoke at the opening ceremony of the US-China University Presidents and Think Tank Forum at Columbia University. Kissinger said conflict between China and the US would be a disaster for each society and for the world at large. As I said before, we do not have this choice, Kissinger emphasized. He said he has visited China more than 100 times since his first visit 46 years ago. Kissinger said the two nations' people-to-people exchanges have evolved into an absolute prerequisite for world order. When China and the United States first established its present relationship, the motivation was largely strategic, to conserve securities, he said. Today, they might seek a concept not of security but of coevolution, in which two great societies can exist side by side, occasionally pursuing different objectives, but merging them in a common protection of the necessities and the opportunities that are the imperative of our age. Our challenge is to find a way for American exceptionalism and China's dreams to produce a new world order for the benefit of all, he said. Kissinger said China is pursuing two centenary goals and all people who have witnessed China's development in one generation will have no doubt that the country will fulfill its dream. He said China's Belt and Road Initiative will have the significance of shifting the world center of gravity from the Atlantic to the Pacific. ... That's why many of us urged the US to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank when it was proposed by China. Vice-Premier Liu Yandong, speaking at the same forum, expressed appreciation to Kissinger for his contribution to China-US relations. The key to the relationship is how the two countries' peoples relate to each other, Liu said. Only by constantly releasing the positive energy of people-to-people and cultural exchanges between China and the US, enhancing the understanding and friendship between the two peoples and consolidating the friendly public opinion foundation of the two countries, can Sino-US relations maintain a long-term, healthy and stable development, Liu said. The daylong forum attracted 200 attendees, including presidents and representatives of universities from the two countries and senior US politicians. Also Tuesday, Liu addressed a China-US cultural forum at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, calling for more cooperation between Chinese and US cultural institutions and artists to promote the development of the ties between the two countries. The forum invited more than 40 representatives from distinguished cultural institutions in both China and the US, said Luo Shugang, China's minister of culture, who hosted the event. It's the largest cultural dialogue between the two nations. Liu said cultural exchanges are the highlight of the nations' people-to-people exchanges. Zhang Ruinan and Xinhua contributed to this story. Contact the writers at [email protected]wristbands ukdesign your own wristbandsilicone fidget spinnerpersonalized silicone bracelets
HONG KONG - An increasing number of filmmakers from countries along the Belt and Road are seeking business opportunities at the Hong Kong International Film and TV Market (FILMART), the event's organizer said on Tuesday.The FILMART, in its 22nd edition this year, has attracted over 850 exhibitors from 37 countries and regions, and over 360 of them are from countries along the Belt and Road, representing a 10-percent increase from last year, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) told Xinhua.Many of these exhibitors at the FILMART said they regard Hong Kong as a gateway to markets between the Chinese mainland and the rest of Asia, as well as between Asia and the rest of the world.It's important to be here especially for people who do sales and acquisition in Asia, because in Hong Kong you get to see and know all the content that is made and being distributed in Asia, Anna Pokorskaya of Russian animation studio Wizart said. Definitely Hong Kong is a gateway.The Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative, proposed by China in 2013, aims to build trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient Silk Road routes.At the pavilion of the Philippine Film Export Service Office, which includes 25 Philippine exhibitors, the office's executive director Don Gervin Arawan told Xinhua that Philippine companies have been participating in the FILMART for years, and besides promoting Philippine films, the Philippine exhibitors also want to have Chinese film products in their country.Hong Kong is a mixture. It's where the Chinese mainland and other Asian countries meet the world. And the language barrier is lower here, he said.Keven Lo, official representative of Thailand company JKN Global Media, said his company used to purchase content at the FILMART as a visitor for years, but this year as an exhibitor we are actually purchaser, distributor and seller of content.Lo said his company is expanding its original focus from market inside Thailand to other countries in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong, recognized for its internationally-based clientele, is actually a good base to present for the first time into the international market.
