Human touch to ties

When addressing the 2025 Duke-UNC China Leadership Summit via video link on Feb 28, Xie Feng, Chinese ambassador to the US, recalled his visit to Duke University over 10 years prior where he discussed the international situation and China-US relations with the students.

"While I cannot join you in person today as I am attending the annual two sessions in Beijing, I am glad to see so many young friends continue to care for China-US relations," said Xie, who is also a member of the 14th CPPCC National Committee.

Last year, two-way trade between China and the US exceeded $680 billion, and around 73,000 companies from the US have invested in China.

"Any attempt to decouple and disrupt supply chains would cause a heavy blow, and any trade war or tariff war would inflict greater injury on oneself than others," Xie said.

He noted that in the past year, around 16,000 young people from the US visited China under President Xi's initiative to invite 50,000 American youths over five years.

Noting the fact that during World War II, the two peoples "forged a friendship amid the trials of blood and fire", Xie said his hope is that American students will continue to take an active part in the "50,000 in five years" initiative.

He called on them to "reach out to and make friends with your peers in China, and encourage our two countries to respect one another with empathy, manage differences in awe, and expand cooperation with a sense of mission".

Zhao Mei, a senior research fellow at the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and a member of the 14th CPPCC National Committee, suggested inviting more young scholars from the US who are active in academic and strategic circles to visit China.

The goal is to "give them more opportunities to personally experience the real situation of China's politics as well as its economic and social development", she said.

She noted that the elder generation of US experts on China such as Ezra F.Vogel, a renowned scholar of East Asian studies at Harvard University, had witnessed the thawing of China-US relations, US president Richard Nixon's visit to China, as well as China's reform and opening-up.

"They have seen firsthand China's transformation from a destitute country to a prosperous and strong nation, and they have a deeper affection for China."

She cited the example of Vogel, who began studying Mandarin at the age of 40, and embarked on a three-month field survey in South China's Guangdong province for a deeper understanding of the nation.

Following the passing of Vogel in 2020, the younger generation of US experts on China studies have joined the ranks of Washington's policymakers in charge of China policy.

"They have grown up in the context of China's rapid development, the narrowing of the gap in strength between the two countries, China's increasingly important role in the international arena, and the West's hyping of the 'China threat'," she said.

"Many of them do not have so deep a bond with China as the elder generation of scholars. Therefore, their attitudes toward China are markedly different from those elder scholars."

As a result, it is of great importance to work with young people from the US to strengthen communication and exchanges with the younger generations on both sides, she said.