| Bilateral cooperation between the United States and China enables both countries to be more prosperous and more secure, U.S. President Barack Obama said in Shanghai Monday in a speech to a group of Chinese youngsters.
"Today we have a positive, constructive and comprehensive relationship that opens the door to partnership on the key global issues of our time: economic recovery, development of clean energy, stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and the surge of climate change, the promotion of peace and security in Asia and around the globe," Obama said.
The president made the speech at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, as part of his four-day state visit to China.
"We have seen what is possible when we build on our mutual interests and engage on the basis of mutual respect," Obama said.
The success of that engagement depends on understanding, on sustaining an open dialogue and learning about one another and from one another, the president said.
Obama believed the United States and China are not "predestined adversaries", saying that the two countries "share much in common" but "are different in certain ways."
Citing the Chinese proverb "consider the past and you shall know the future," Obama said the United States and China have known setbacks and challenges over the last 30 years.
"Our relationship has not been without disagreement and difficulties. But the notion that we must be adversaries is not predestined," Obama said.
It is no coincidence that the relationship between our countries has accompanied a period of positive change, he added.
Obama hoped to deepen the partnership between the United States and China in the future, saying that the young people whose talent, dedication and dreams will help shape the twenty-first century.
He pointed out that one country's success need not come at the expense of another.
"That is why the United States insists we do not seek to contain China's rise, on the contrary, we welcome China as a strong and prosperous and successful member of the community of nations, a China that draws on the rights, strengths and creativity of individual Chinese like you."
Obama said more is to be gained when great powers cooperate than when they collide, and he believed that cooperation must grow beyond governments.
"It must be rooted in our people, in the studies we share, the business that we do, the knowledge that we gain, and even in the sports that we play, and these bridges must be built by young men and women just like you and your counterparts in America," he said.
Obama also announced that the United States would expand the number of students to study in China to 100,000. "These exchanges mark a clear commitment to build ties among our people, as surely as you will help determine the destiny of the twenty-first century," he added.
"Neither the United States or China is content to rest on our achievements. For while China is an ancient nation, you are also clearly looking ahead with confidence, ambition and commitment to see that tomorrow's generation can do better than today," said the president.
Obama said China is now the world's biggest internet user, and that was why the Internet was included as part of Monday's event.
In the following Q&A session, the president held a town-hall style dialogue with 500-strong Chinese youth from Shanghai universities and took questions from both attendees and netizens.
When asked about his understanding of how to promote cultural diversity across the world, the President admitted that different countries should learn from each other.
"It was very important for the United States not to assume what is good for us is automatically good for somebody else," he said.
He cited his family as an example of diverse cultures, saying the family is like "the United Nations" as his father was from Kenya, his mother from Kansas of the U.S. Midwest, while his sister was a half-Indonesian married to "a Chinese person from Canada."
After a Taiwan netizen challenged him about America's stance on the Taiwan issue, Obama said that his administration would continue to fully support the one-China policy, and would be very pleased to see the improving cross-strait relationship.
"I have been clear in the past the United States supports a one-China policy. We do not want to change that policy or approach...I am very pleased with the reduction of tensions and improvement of the cross-strait relations," he said.
He noted it was his "deep desire and hope" that he would continue to see great improvement between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan in resolving issues.
Economic and commercial ties were helping to lower a lot of tensions, he said.
Obama said as some people looked over the past, he preferred to look towards the future.
As of security issue, the president asserted that the biggest threat to U.S. security was the terrorist groups like al-Qaida. "I do continue to believe the greatest threat to United States security are the terrorist networks like al-Qaida."
He said U.S. troops moved into Afghanistan because al-Qaida was being hosted by the Taliban in Afghanistan but the terror group has now moved over the border of Afghanistan and has networks with other extremist groups throughout the region.
The United States now has 68,000 troops fighting in Afghanistan. Obama is going to decide on whether to grant a request by the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Stanley McChrystal, to send 40,000 more troops.
"I do believe it is important for us to stabilize Afghanistan, so that the people of Afghanistan can protect themselves, and they can also be a partner in reducing the power of those extremist networks," he said.
The U.S. president admitted that defeating al-Qaida is a difficult task and is not just a military exercise.
Obama flew to Shanghai from Singapore on Sunday night to kick off his four-day visit to China, his first trip to the Asian country since taking office in January.
Later Monday, he left for Beijing, where he will hold talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao and meet with other Chinese leaders.
(Xinhua News Agency November 16, 2009) | 
