Remarks At the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Dinner Honoring His Excellency Wu Bangguo, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State

Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Washington, DC

September 10, 2009

在美国商会欢迎中华人民共和国全国人民代表大会常务委员会委员长吴邦国的晚餐会上的讲话

希拉里·罗德姆·克林顿

华盛顿文华东方酒店

2009年9月10日

Thank you very much. And it is a real pleasure to join you this evening in welcoming Chairman Wu here to Washington. Mr. Chairman, I hope you feel as welcome in our capital city as I did in Beijing earlier this year on my first overseas trip as Secretary of State.

非常感谢各位。今晚能在这里和你们一起欢迎吴委员长访问华盛顿，令我非常高兴。委员长先生，我希望你在我国首都感到备受欢迎，一如我今年早些时候作为国务卿首次出国访问时在北京的感受。

I want to thank Tom and the Chamber and all of the sponsors for hosting this dinner. The range of people and organizations represented here tonight is a testament to the scope and scale of the relationship between China and the United States and its enduring impact across industries, institutions, and borders. We are joined by representatives of business community, the non-profit world, cultural organizations, think tanks, as well as the Congress and the Administration. And I’m delighted to be here with my colleague, the Secretary of Commerce, Gary Locke.

我要感谢汤姆和美国商会以及晚餐会的所有主办方。今晚在座的各界人士和他们所代表的各行各业体现了中美关系的广度和规模，以及这种关系跨产业、跨机构、跨国境的持久影响。今晚在座的除国会议员和本届政府官员外，还有工商界、非营利组织、文化界和智库的代表。我也很高兴能与我的同事商务部长骆家辉（Gary Locke）一起参加晚宴。

The relationship between our two countries has the potential to chart a brighter course, not just for our own nations and peoples, but indeed for the entire world. We are two of the world’s three largest economies, two of the world’s largest populations, two of the world’s largest militaries, the world’s largest consumers of energy and producers of carbon emissions. For these reasons and so many more, our respective priorities and policies have a global impact, and therefore we have a responsibility to ourselves and others to work as effectively as we can to meet the threats and seize the opportunities of the 21st century.

我们两国之间的关系有潜力开辟一个更光明的前景，不仅造福于我们两国和两国人民，而且造福于整个世界。我们同在全球最大的三个经济体之列，同在全世界人口最多的国家之列，军队规模在全世界数一数二，而且还是全球最大的两个能源消耗国和碳排放国。出于上述原因及其它多种原因，我们各自的工作重点和政策会对全球产生影响，因此，我们肩负着对自己和他人的责任，必须竭尽全力有效地应对21世纪的威胁，并抓住21世纪的机遇。

As Tom said, we have begun a groundbreaking Strategic and Economic Dialogue between our two countries. This is an effort to seek new avenues for collaboration, to find solutions together to common problems we face. Secretary Geithner and I were honored to co-host the first round here in Washington a little over a month ago, and the results exceeded our expectations. This was the largest gathering ever of top leaders from our two countries. Most of my colleagues in the Cabinet met with their counterparts in the Chinese Government. We got to know each other better through hours spent in consultation and negotiations. We had very productive exchanges on issues ranging from the global economic crisis to climate change to poverty and disease to the security threats that confront us. And already, we are seeing the results of those meetings.

汤姆刚才提到，我们已经启动了两国间开拓性的战略与经济对话（Strategic and Economic Dialogue）。这一努力的宗旨是寻求新的合作途径，并协力寻找解决我们共同面临的种种问题的方法。一个多月前，盖特纳部长和我有幸在华盛顿共同主持了第一次对话，取得的成果超出了我们的预期。这是我们两国高层领导人有史以来规模最大的一次集会。大多数本届内阁成员都同中国政府的有关官员见面。通过长时间的磋商和谈判，我们加深了对彼此的了解。我们就全球经济危机、气候变化、贫困和疾病以及我们所面临的安全威胁等诸多议题卓有成效地交换了意见。而且，我们已经看到这些会谈的成果。

President Obama and I believe we are entering a new era in China-U.S. relations. Building a strong relationship with China is a central goal of the Obama Administration and a personal priority of mine. We embraced the idea of an expanded dialogue with China early in the Administration because we wanted to build upon it as much as possible in the months and years ahead, to yield the most meaningful results and to build an even stronger foundation for future cooperation. I am very pleased that President Obama will be visiting China in November. We know that together we bear heavy responsibilities on our shoulders. We have to work to forge a new global architecture of cooperation. We have to deepen and broaden our partnership, mutual respect and shared responsibility.

奥巴马总统和我都相信，我们正在步入一个中美关系的新纪元。同中国建立稳固的关系是奥巴马政府的一个核心目标，也是我个人的一项工作重点。我们在本届政府上任之初就提出同中国扩大对话，是因为我们希望在今后几年尽可能巩固这一对话，取得最有意义的成效，并为以后的合作奠定更加坚实的基础。奥巴马总统即将于11月访问中国，我为此感到非常高兴。我们知道，我们共同肩负着重大责任。我们必须为建立一个全球合作新框架而努力。我们必须加深并扩大我们的伙伴关系以及相互尊重和共同责任。

We believe that through more open and honest discussion, we can strengthen not only our economic ties and accelerate the global recovery, but we can do more to strengthen that intangible of trust and of confidence that must exist between our two great countries and their leaders. (Applause.)

我们认为，通过更开放更坦诚的讨论，我们不仅能够加强我们的经济关系，加速全球复苏，还能够进一步加强必须存在于我们两个伟大国家及其领导人之间的无形的信任与信心。(掌声)

There are so many issues that we have to address. I just want to mention a couple. One is climate change. When I was in Beijing last winter, I visited a geothermal plant that brought together U.S. and Chinese businesses and scientists in partnership to provide clean energy and green jobs. We believe that this is the kind of investment and collaboration that is good for China, it’s good for America, and it is good for our planet. So we are cooperating more closely on other clean energy initiatives as well, including the agreement you signed this week, Mr. Chairman, with the Arizona company First Solar to develop the largest solar farm in the world. In July, during our Strategic and Economic Dialogue, our nations completed a Memorandum of Understanding to enhance our cooperation on climate change, energy, and the environment. We believe that this is essential to establishing a very positive tone leading in to the Copenhagen conference in December.

许多问题有待我们去解决。我在此仅举一两例。其一是气候变化。我年初访问北京时还是冬天，参观了一家地热工厂，美中两国商界和科研人员合作，共同提供清洁能源和环保工作机会。我们认为，这种投资和协作对中国有利，对美国有利，对我们的地球有利。因此，我们也在其他清洁能源行动计划方面进行更密切的合作，这其中包括委员长先生本周与亚利桑那第一太阳能公司(First Solar)签署的协议，该项目将致力于开发世界最大的聚光太阳能发电厂。今年7月，在我们的战略与经济对话期间，我们两国签署了《谅解备忘录》，以促进我们在气候变化、能源及环境等领域的合作。我们认为这一行动至关重要，有助于在12月哥本哈根会议召开前确定一个非常积极的基调。

We are also committed to working with China and other partners to bring peace and stability to the world’s hot spots. Our envoy to North Korea, Steven Bosworth, just returned from China, where he met with Chinese leaders to work on increasing stability in Northeast Asia by resuming the Six-Party Talks and implementing the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1874. We seek to work with China to urge Iran to live up to its international obligations. And there are many other urgent global threats that demand our joint attention, from nonproliferation to pandemic disease, particularly the H1N1 virus, to reducing poverty – and I have said publicly and privately about China and to Chinese leaders, we admire the extraordinary progress that China has made in the last 30 years in reducing poverty in China and giving tens of millions of Chinese people the chance to have a better future. And I am pleased to announce that the United States and China will be conducting joint talks on counterterrorism this fall.

我们还致力于与中国及其他合作伙伴进行合作，为世界热点地区带来和平与稳定。我国负责北韩事务的特使斯蒂芬•博斯沃思(Steven Bosworth)刚从中国回来，他会见了中国领导人，以通过恢复六方会谈和履行联合国安理会第1874号决议来加强东北亚的稳定。我们寻求与中国合作，敦促伊朗履行其国际义务。还有其他许多紧迫的全球威胁需要我们共同应对，从不扩散到传染疾病，特别是H1N1病毒，到扶贫。我曾在公开和非公开场合谈到中国，并对中国领导人表示，我们钦佩中国过去30年来为减少中国的贫困和为数千万中国人民提供更美好的未来而取得的非凡进展。我欣慰地宣布美国与中国今秋将举行有关反恐怖主义的联合会谈。

Now, we will not see eye-to-eye on every issue. We have different histories, different experiences, different perspectives. But we must seek to talk honestly and openly even when agreement is not possible. And we are committed to doing so. In July, we had a very full and frank discussion about human rights, and we agreed to hold the next round of our Human Rights Dialogue before the end of the year, and to reconvene the U.S.-China Legal Experts Dialogue. We know that this is an important part of our engagement with China.

当然，我们不可能在所有问题上持一致看法。我们有着不同的历史、不同的经历、不同的视野。然而，即使当我们不能达成共识时，我们也必须寻求坦诚而公开的会谈。对此，我们坚定不移。今年7月，我们就人权问题举行了全面而坦诚的讨论，我们同意在今年年底之前举行第二轮人权对话，并将重新启动美中法律专家对话。我们知道，这是我们与中国进行接触的重要组成部分。

Now, Chairman Wu is China’s chief lawmaker. I am a former lawmaker. We both know that governments are essential to solving global problems. But there is a limit to what governments can accomplish on their own. That’s why we need partnerships beyond government that stretch across sectors, that engage the full range of talent in our countries – from the expertise of our scholars and scientists to the creative energy of our young people and the adventurous spirit of our entrepreneurs.

吴委员长是中国最高立法机构的领导人。我过去也曾担任议员。我们都知道，政府在解决全球性问题方面起着至关重要的作用。然而，政府独自取得成效的能力毕竟有限。因此，我们需要与政府之外的各界人士合作，需要发掘我们国家的全部聪明才智，包括我们的学者和科学家的专业技能以及年轻一代的创造力和企业家的探索精神。

Business and industry will continue to play a critical role in building a stronger U.S.-China relationship. Individual joint ventures, purchase agreements, and two-way investments have increased bilateral trade by more than 400 percent just in the past decade alone. And I could not stand before any audience of this importance without mentioning the U.S. pavilion at the Shanghai Expo. (Applause.) Now, some of you know that this is a particular passion of mine, and it’s not only because I want to go back to Shanghai to open it, but it’s because this pavilion will showcase American innovation and culture to the more than 70 million visitors that China expects to welcome to the Expo. I want to thank Tom and the Chamber for the help that you have provided as we have raised the money to have a first-class pavilion that will showcase our country. It is not too late to contribute. (Laughter and applause.)

工商业将继续在建设更牢固的美中关系中发挥重要作用。仅在过去的十年内，各合资企业、采购协议及双向投资已使双边贸易增加了400%以上。今天，当我站在如此尊贵的来宾面前时，我不可能不提一提上海世博会的美国馆。（掌声）你们中有人知道这是我特别热衷的一件事情，这不仅是因为我要重回上海为它揭幕剪彩，而且因为美国馆将向七千多万名受到中国欢迎的世博会参观者展示美国的创新与文化。我要感谢汤姆和美国商会，感谢你们提供的帮助，我们已经筹集了足够的款项，能够建成展示我国成就的第一流场馆。不过现在捐款也不迟。（笑声与掌声）

So we will be moving forward with our partnership at all levels. But the most telling measures of our progress may be less tangible than a geothermal plant or even a pavilion. We are not merely looking to address current concerns. We intend to lay the groundwork for a new pattern of cooperation, a new forum for discussion, a new structure for engagement that will allow us to work together far into the future.

因此，我们将发展我们在各层次的伙伴关系。但我们取得的最大进展可能不像一座地热发电厂或甚至一座场馆那么明显可见。我们不仅仅着眼于解决当前的问题，我们还打算为一种新的合作模式、新的论坛、新的交往结构奠定基础，使我们能够远至未来都保持合作。

This is an issue that really goes to the heart of why any of us are here tonight. Yes, those in business have to plan to be successful, to be profitable, to make sure that the products stand the test of time. Those of in government, we need to produce results for the people we represent. Chairman Wu and I know that even though we have very different political systems, at the end of the day, we are judged in the same way. Have we made life better for the people that we represent and serve?

这是一个真正接触到我们今晚为什么要在这里聚会的核心问题。是的，工商界人士必须为获得成功、赚取利润、确保产品经得起时间考验而制订计划。作为政府工作人员，我们需要为我们所代表的人民取得成效。吴委员长和我知道，即使我们的政治制度十分不同，但最终我们会以同样的标准受到评判。我们有没有使我们所代表并为之服务的人民的生活获得改善？

I like to think, as I told State Councilor Dai during a wonderful dinner we had at the very beginning of our Strategic and Economic Dialogue, that in any important relationship, in any endeavor that holds promise for the future, we should think about the children whom we love, our own children, and in State Councilor Dai’s case, a very new grandchild, and almost have the pictures of those children in front of us and ask ourselves: Are we making the decisions that will give each of them a better future, a more peaceful, prosperous, secure world, a world where our children can breathe the air and drink the water, where they can pursue their own futures if they are well educated and healthy, where they have a chance to really make the most of their own lives?

我常常这样想 – 在我们的战略与经济对话开始时举行的一次美好的晚宴上，我也曾向戴国务委员如此表示 – 在任何重要的关系中，在为未来作出的任何努力中，我们应该想到我们亲爱的孩子们、我们自己的孩子，戴国务委员不久前新添了一个孙女。我们甚至应当把这些孩子的照片放在我们面前，问我们自己：我们正在作出的决定是不是会给每一个孩子带来更好的前途、一个更和平、繁荣和有安全保障的世界、一个我们的孩子可以呼吸空气和喝水的世界、一个他们只要受到良好教育并且身体健康就可以追求自己的理想、有机会使自己真正生活得很好的世界？

That is what is at the core of our relationship between China and the United State – a hope and a commitment to that kind of future. Thank you all very much, and thank you, Chairman Wu. (Applause.)

这就是中美关系的核心所在 – 对那样的未来抱有的希望与作出的承诺。 谢谢你们大家。谢谢你，吴委员长。（掌声）