US-China sister cities dialogue successfully held via video link

Liu Yi

O n April 28， the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and Sister Cities International co-hosted the US-China Sister Cities Dialogue online. The theme of the dialogue was “Building resilient partnerships”.

Participating in the opening ceremony and delivering online or video speeches were Qin Gang， Chinese ambassador to the United States； Lin Songtian， president of the CPAFFC； Guo Ningning， vice-governor of Fujian province； Zhang Jiandong， vice-mayor of Beijing municipality； Zhou Xi’an， vice-governor of Anhui province； He Jinping， vice-governor of Henan province； Leroy Allala， Sister Cities International president and CEO； Terry Branstad， former US ambassador to China； David Toland， lieutenant governor from the state of Kansas； John Wobensmith， secretary of state of Maryland； and Shemia Fagan， secretary of state of Oregon.

Representatives of local governments， legislative bodies or sister city committees from nine provinces of China and nine states in the US gave speeches. More than 300 people from all walks of life in China and America attended the dialogue online.

Xinhua News Agency， People’s Daily， The Paper and other mainstream Chinese media outlets covered the event. The whole activity， filled with a warm atmosphere and pragmatic contents， brought a warm spring breeze to the China-US subnational exchanges.

Lin noted that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the Shanghai Communique. The development of China-US relations over the past 50 years shows that the two countries， despite various differences， can coexist in a peaceful way for common development so long as they respect each other and seek common ground while shelving differences. Both the Chinese and the American people want lives featuring peace， prosperity and harmony.

“It is in the interest of the people of the two countries and the world at large to safeguard and advance a friendly and mutually beneficial SinoUS relationship，” Lin said. “The two sides should make the right strategic choice based on the well-being of the two peoples to better benefit the two peoples and the whole world.”

He spoke highly of the role of China-US sister city relations as an important bridge and driving force in enhancing bilateral relations. He said the CPAFFC would like to work with the American side to encourage more friendly exchanges and win-win cooperation between enterprises， think tanks， media and non-governmental organizations based on the philosophy of carrying out consultation， making joint contributions and sharing benefits under the principle of mutual respect， equality and mutual benefits. In this way， the two sides can work with concerted efforts to facilitate mutual understanding， friendship and trust to realize common development with winwin results.

Qin said the foundation of ChinaUS relations lies with people-to-people ties at the grassroots level. The driving force for a stable China-US relationship is the numerous people who are dedicated to promoting， defending and contributing to friendly exchanges and practical cooperation.

In the past two years， Qin said， China-US subnational exchanges have met some headwinds due to the political atmosphere in the US and the worst pandemic of the past century.

“However， the aspiration of the Chinese and American people for peace， development， exchanges and cooperation is not to be stopped，” he said. “The resilience of our sister cities is the resilience of China-US relations.”

Allala said that the aim of former US president Dwight Eisenhower in creating Sister Cities International was to develop friendship between individuals， as well as groups， to avoid war. This philosophy still matters a lot， Allala said. For many years in the past， the CPAFFC and SCI have been carrying out multiple activities to promote exchanges and cooperation between sister cities. The dialogue this time was held via the cloud. The COVID-19 pandemic led to new methods of communication that have enabled China-US sister states and provinces， and sister cities， to maintain efficient exchanges with each other.

Branstad recalled his meetings with President Xi Jinping in the past. In 1985， he received Xi， who was then secretary of the county CPC committee of Zhengding， Hebei province. In 2012， Xi warmly called Branstad “my old friend” when they met again. As the former governor of the state of Iowa， Branstad signed a memorandum establishing a sister state/province relationship between Iowa and Hebei. He said the continuous active friendship between Iowa and Hebei in the past decades gives him great pride and satisfaction. During his term as ambassador to China， he developed sincere friendships with the Chinese people and said his wish is for both sides to deepen friendly cooperation with shared efforts.

Other representatives from the states or provinces of the two countries delivered online or video speeches in which they spoke highly of their achievements in sister city partnerships and reminisced about the pleasant past cooperation. With a strong belief in the role of resilient sister city partnerships as the basis in advancing state relations， they expressed appreciation for the efforts of the CPAFFC and SCI to enhance people-to-people friendships between the two countries， and they expected to extend collaboration on culture， economy， trade and clean energy technologies， joining hands to meet global challenges including climate change， pandemics and sustainable development.

After the opening ceremony， local representatives from both sides shared their insights on three topics： sports diplomacy and subnational cooperation， climate change and green development and innovative economy and future cooperation. They shared their fruitful achievements in various fields that benefited from sister city partnerships and looked forward to more promising cooperation. Both sides agreed that consolidating and deepening sister city partnerships is in the interest of the two sides and will empower them at the grassroots level to achieve common development with win-win results.

We should promote sound and stable bilateral relations together so that the two peoples can benefit more from the good relations， they said.

They all expressed hopes for an early end to the COVID-19 pandemic and looked forward to a reunion at the next session of the China-US Sister Cities Conference.