第三轮中美战略与经济对话

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TheWhiteHou

OfficeoftheVicePresident

ForImmediateRelea

May09,2011

RemarksbyVicePresidentJoeBidentotheOpeningSessionofthe

U.S.-ChinaStrategic&EconomicDialogue

DepartmentoftheInteriorWashington,D.C.

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THEVICEPRESIDENT:ou,’sanhonortowelcome

backtoWashingtonforthethirdmeetingoftheStrategicandEconomicDialoguebetweentheUnited

StatesandChina,twogoodfriends.

emierWangandStateCounlorDai,

opportunitytospendsometimewithyou--notasmuchasmycolleagueshave

--butyourtripwithPresidentHuwasagreatvisit,andwegotachancetospendsometimetogether.

TheUnitedStatesco-chairsareourA-Team,oursuperstars:SecretaryClintonandSecretary

Geithner,twoofthebestAmericahastooffer,ctgreat

thingstohappenwiththefourofyou.

Ladiesandgentlemen,weeachhaveanumberofimportanttasksinthedaysaheadandalldesigned

tocontinuetoguideourrelationshiptoanevenbetterplacethanit’salreadymoved.

Ialsowouldliketorecognize,bytheway,SecretaryGaryLocke,thePresident’schoicetobeour

srvedwithdistinctionintheCabinet,aswellasbeforethat

owthatoncetheSenateconfirmsGary,and

Iexpectthattobequickly,he’lldoanoutstandingjobinBeijing.(Applau.)Thereheis.

AndI’mnotgoingtomentiontheTradeReprentativesittingnexttoyoubecauItoldhimifhewas

abletodeliveradealon--withKorea,IwouldnominatehimfortheNobelPeacePrize.(Laughter.)He

didandIhaveto.(Laughter.)

Anyrate,I’vemademy--Ihatetoacknowledgethis,gentlemen,butImademyfirsttriptoChinaasa

youngman,meetingwithDengXiaopingin1979,inAprilof’ivilegedtobewithwhatIguess

I’mnowpartof,wewerethefirstdelegationtomeet

afternormalization--withnatorslikeJacobJavitsofNewYork,andFrankChurch,andanumberof

otherveryprominentmembers.

AndonthattripwhenwemetwiththenVicePremierDengandwitnesdthechangesthatwere

beinginitiated,beginningtosparkChina’sremarkable--absolutelyremarkabletransformation,even

rewasalsoadebate--

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therewasadebatehereintheUnitedStatesandquitefranklythroughoutmostoftheWestaswhethera

ngmemberofa

ForeignRelationsCommittee,IwroteandIsaidandIbelievedthenwhatIbelievenow:Thatarising

Chinaisapositive,positivedevelopment,notonlyforChinabutforAmericaandtheworldwritlarge.

WhenPresidentObamaandItookofficeinJanuaryof2009weunderstood--weunderstood

asidentandIwere

determined--determinedtottherelationshiponastablecourthatcouldbesustainedfor

countries,nowtheworld’stwolargesteconomies,wereboundbyever-growingtiesof

,theUnitedStates,wealwaystalkaboutwhatweimport;we,theUnited

States,exported$110billioninAmericangoodsandrvicestoChinalastyear.

Butwe’elastthreedecades,ourpeoplehave

becomeincreasinglylinkedthrougheducation,ar,130,000

’’regoingtotrytokeepsomeof

them.I’monlyjoking.I’monlyjoking.(Laughter.)Buttheyare.(Laughter.)

WecannotclaimthesamenumberofAmericansinChina,butour100,000StrongInitiativewill

dramatteroffact,

myniecewho--excume,aswesayintheSenate,apointapersonalprivilege--whograduatedfrom

Harvardnottoolongago,worksforSecretaryGeithner,shedidexactlywhatwehopeanother100,000

willdo:ShestudiedChineandwentandlivedinChinaandisnowdevotedtomakingsurethe

relationshipgetsbetterandbetterandbetter.

Andwe’rveaspermanentmembersofthe

’manyoftheworld’spressing

challenges,it’sasimplefact,thatwhentheUnitedStatesandChinaarenotatthetable,thesolutionto

’snoexaggerationtosaythatour

relationshipandhowwemanageitwillhelpshapethe21stcentury.

sidentshavemetface-to-faceninetimesintwoandahalf

entHu,asImentioned,wasjusthereinJanuaryforwhatallwould

acknowledgewasaverysuccessfulstatevisit.I’llgobacktoChinathissummerattheinvitationofVice

PresidentXi,andI’mlookingforwardtohostingtheVicePresidentforareciprocalvisitlaterthisyear.

Eventhefrequentvisitsandsummits,though,asyouallknow,arenotenoughontheirownto

sustainandbuildarelationshipacrossourentiregovernment,'swhywe’re

’snotmerely,tobuildarelationshipacross

’swhywe’veaskedallofyoutocometogetherforthe

dialogues.

WhenPresidentObamalaunchedthefirststrategicandeconomicdialoguein2009,heissueda

challengetoa

wouldsaythat'ssomewhatpresumptuousforChinaandtheUnitedStatestodecidewe’regoingtowork

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onthedefiningproblems,butasIsaidearlier,howwecooperatewilldefineinsignificantparthowwe

dealwiththechallengesthattheworldfaceinthebeginningofthe21stcentury.

tocooperatetoadvance

ourmutualinterestsinnotonlypromotingeconomicgrowththatisstrong,sustainableandbalanced,but

cooperationtoadvanceourmutualinterestsintheprosperous

futurethatwillcomefromanenergysupplythat'scleanandcureandaddressclimatechange.

Andweektocooperatetoadvanceourmutualinterestsinarangeofpressingglobalandregional

cludescontinuingourworktopreventthespreadofnuclearweaponsand

specificallytocurbproliferationofthoweaponsandtechnologyfrombothIranandNorthKorea.

WheredowestandtwoyearsafterthePresidentissuedhischallengethatwecooperate

more?Throughthisdialogueandthededicatedeffortsofourgovernmentsandourpeople,Ibelieve

historywillshowwe’vemadeprogress.

Butthere'smuchmoretodo,andthat'swhywe’ithourpartnersintheG20,we’ve

’verecognizedthattheUnitedStates-Chinarelations

generateglobaleconomicbenefit,notjusttobothourcountries,butglobalbenefit.

LastyearourtradewithChinasupportedover500,000jobshereintheUnitedStates,andwemade

tangibleprogressduringPresidentHu’svisit,especiallyintheareasofinnovation,intellectualproperty,

andexports,allofwhichwe’refollowingupon.

Overthenexttwodays,weneedtobuildonthismomentumandtomakesureourcommitmentsare

aggressivelyimplementedsowecancontinuetomove.

YoumayhavenoticedthatthereisadebateinthisnationhowbesttocureAmerica’slong-termfiscal

eUnitedStates

havetorestorefinancialstabilityandweneedtomaketheinvestmentsnecessary,aswell,towinthe

tomaintainourcommitmenttowhatwebelieve,thePresidentbelieves,isthepillarsof

oureconomicfuture:education,innovation,andinfrastructure.

Iknowthatyou’hatinChinayou're

workingtorebalanceyoureconomyandmakegrowthmoresustainable,withgreaterrelianceon

cessinre-orientinggrowthwillbenotonlygoodfor

China,inourhumbleopinion,butitwillbegoodfortheUnitedStatesandfortherestoftheworld.

TheUnitedStatesandChinaaretheworld’slargestproducersandconsumersofenergyandweshare

screatesnotonlyaproblem,butgreatopportunity--

aryChulikestosay--andI

lovethixpression--“Scienceisnotazero-sumgame.”ply

isillustratedbytheremarkablecooperationwe'ustmentionone

example.

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OurjointCleanEnergyRearchCenterisfundingnewapproachestoenergyefficiency,cleancoal--

tobuildonandexpandoureffortsin

thisarea,andIknowyou’llbedoing--havingmuchdiscussionthenexttwodaysonthatarea,andit

emstomeanareawherethere’spotentialforgreatprogress.

Onglobalcuritychallenges,we'entHujoinedusattheNuclear

SecuritySummit--inJanuary,wesignedthememorandumofunderstandingtobuildacenterfor

cooperatedinstemmingnuclearproliferation

frombothIranandNorthKorea,includingpreventingnsitivetechnologiesfrombeingexportedtoboth

thocountries.

okattheagendathatyouhaveforthe

’justafewofthetopicsontheagendaforthenexttwo

days--anditillustratesthesheerbreadthofourrelationship:Climatechange;cleanenergy;mil-to-mil

operations--ourmilitaryrelationships;regionalissuessuchasSudanandAfghanistan.

Ourgoal--ourgoal,inpart,istoenhancethecommunicationandunderstandingthatwebelieve,andI

believeyoubelieve,ot

goingtoagreeoneverything;e

worktoadvanceourrespectivenationalinterest,wehavetomoveonwhatweekincommon,findthe

commonground,an

onlybydiscussingadiverrangeoftopics,includingnsitiveones,canwehelpmitigatetheriskof

misperceptionandmiscalculation.

Myfatherudtosaytheonlydisagreementworthanonethatisintendedisonethatis

'swhyit’ldbe

realistic;wewon'

somewe'lotherswe'llhavevigorouscollaboration.

ButIbelieveonbalancewehavemuchmoretoagreeonthantodisagreeon,andsodoesthe

hycompetition,inourview,itionisnot

itionthat’shealthyisgood.

ThisisthereasonwhyI’veheldtheviewforsomanyyearsandcontinuetoholdtheviewthatarising

ightexpect,it’smy--Ihaveoverwhelmingconfidenceinthe

capabilitiesareenhancedwhenthere’sgenuine

methishealthyandfaircompetitionbecauIbelieve

we’lleitwillspurusbothtoinnovateandbothwillbenefitfromit.

AsI’vesaidearlier,it’soneareawherewe

owandIunderstandthatdisagreement,whenwevoiceit,is

upttingorrankles--Idon’tknowhowthattranslatesintoChine--buthowitconcernssomeofour

vigorousdisagreementintheareaofhumanrights.

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We’venotedourconcernsabouttherecentcrackdowninChina,includingattacks,arrestsandthe

disappearanceofjournalists,lawyers,in,norelationshipthat’srealcanbe

edisagree,it’’llcontinuetoexpressour

viewsintheissues,aswedidintheHumanRightsDialogueinBeijingtwoweeksago.

Now,look,asIsaid,IrecognizethatsomeinChinaeouradvocacyas--humanrightsasanintrusion

sidentObamaandIbelievestrongly,asdoestheSecretary,that

protectingfundamentalrightsandfreedomssuchasthoenshrinedinChina’sinternational

commitments,aswellasinChina’sownconstitution,isthebestwaytopromotelong-termstabilityand

prosperityofanysociety.

ThetransformationofChina’conomyandsocietysincemyfirsttripasayoungmanin1979hastruly

whetherit’soccurredatanyotherperiodinworldhistory--it’sbeenso

entalentoftheChinepeople,theincrediblehardworkand

perveranceoftheChinepeopleandtheirleadershaveliterallyliftedtensofmillionsofpeopleoutof

povertyandbuiltaneconomythatnowhelpsfueltheworld’’sremarkable.

Duringthissameperiod,therelationshipbetweentheUnitedStatesandChinahasalsoena

remarkabletransformation--again,throughthetalent,hardworkandrespectedpoliticalleaderswho

havegovernedourcountriesoverthelastthreedecades.

Thebondsbetweenourcountry--ourcountriescomeaboutthrough--havecomeaboutthroughinten

’vealreadydonemuchto

makeourrelationshippositive,cooperative,’mabsolutelyconfidentthatwe

candomoreforourlvesandforgenerationsofAmericansandChineaswell.

AndasIsaid,presumptuousofmetosaythis,ifthatoccursandcontinuestooccur,itwillbenefitthe

t’stimetogettowork.

Again,welcome,gentlemen;ankyouallforthehonorofbeing

ouverymuch.(Applau.)

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