As the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the U.S. is approaching a group of U.S. based Chinese journalists interviewed U.S. former President Jimmy Carter on December 4th, 2008. It was Cater and the late Chinese leader DENG XIAOPING who bravely made a history in opening this important relationship.
People's Daily U.S.-based chief correspondent Xuejiang Li was one of the interviewers. The following is the text of the interview provided by Mr. Li.
Carter's opening remarks:
I have the same birthday as the PRC, Oct 1. So Deng Xiaoping and other Chinese leaders have always said that it's almost a matter of fate to bring me together as a friend of China.
When I became President, I recognized that for more than 30 years, the US and China had not had diplomatic relations. And I saw the great need for us to change that bad situation. So I contacted the Chinese leaders, Deng Xiaoping in particular. And he and I began to negotiate from a distance but very secretly, from inside the White House directly to him.
And on Dec 15, as you may know, simultaneously in Beijing and Washington, we announced we had reached an agreement. It was a surprise to everyone in the US, because it was a very secret thing for us. It was not a popular thing to do, because at that time, the American people and most members of the congress were deeply committed to Taiwan.
Three days later, on the 18 of Dec I think, in the third plenary, Deng Xiaoping made a historic announcement of transforming the economic and I would say, social system of China. I invited him to come to visit me, thinking that he might come next June. He said I'll be there in January. So he came immediately, and we were delighted to have him and his wife and a large entourage came.
During that time he was with me, we reached a wide range of agreements, multiple agreements, dozens of them, involving every aspect of life between our two countries.
Xuejiang Li (L2), People's Daily correspondent in the U.S. and other journalists take a photo with Jimmy Carter (L4).This was a turning point in the history of our country. We had a very wonderful relationship.
When he returned to China, I continued sending my ministers to Beijing, and he sent some of his ministers over here.
One interesting thing I remember was that I sent my scientific adviser Dr. Frank Press to Beijing and he was meeting with Deng Xiaoping in the daytime in China. I was sleeping in the White House and my telephone rang in the middle of the night. It was three o'clock in the morning. Frank Press said, 'Mr. President, I hate to interrupt your sleep'. And I said 'it must be a crisis'. He said 'no, I'm standing here with vice premier Deng Xiaoping, and he's asking me a question I can't answer. He wants to know it he can send Chinese students to America to study'. And I said 'yes, of course'. He said, 'he wants to know if he can send 5000'. And I said, 'you tell Deng Xiaoping he can send 100,000'.
So I think right at this moment, we have over 80,000 Chinese students, but it had been the size of 100,000. That little incidence of my life represents a good relationship I had with him. Since that time, the relationship between our two countries had continued to improve and expand.
I think it's now the most important relationship that the US has with any country in the world. It's the friendship and mutual respect between my country and your country. And I'm very proud of that fact.
I wanted to have some relationship between the Carter center and China. I went over there in 1981, and at that time, it was not appropriate for China to accept assistance from other countries. But I wondered this is something for the people of China. So we worked with his son, Deng Pufang. He came here, and we accomplished two very good early projects in China. One was to help construct and equip an extremely large factory for producing prosthesis, artificial arms and legs and so forth, of the highest quality. The other one was to train, I think 900 education specialists all over your countries to teach other teachers in elementary schools how to instruct children who were blind and deaf.
We enjoyed that. As you know in 1982, the PRC decided in its National People's Congress to authorize little village local elections. In 1987, it was made mandatory and after that the Carter Center was asked to come to assist with the implementation of that law. We helped to rewrite the law in 1998. So we work very harmoniously with the government of China and their ministries and small villages around China.
And now we're expanding our program to assist in the economic development of those small villages, to work harmoniously with China in dealing with Africa, particularly in the field of health care, and we also have been asked to work with China in improving rural health care in China, since that's a major function of the Carter Center to deal with diseases that afflict poor people in different parts of the world.
I'm very proud to have you here. As you know, we have a new president elected. We don't know what his policies will be toward China yet. There might be some additional strains between our two countries, I hope not, but in dealing with questions arising from global economic setback, and more competition with China as it expands its influence in Latin America and Africa and other places. I would say also in the increased status of China in the global economic and political affairs, there might be increasing competition.
There are always issues as you know, Tibet and Taiwan, which I worked out very successfully with Deng Xiaoping, but that might become a matter of some potential dispute in the future.
And my hope is since the Carter Center has an intimate and long-time working relationship with top leaders in China, that we might serve as a bridge to make sure that relationship between our two countries is harmonious. So that's comments I wanted to make now.
Question, Mr. President, The Chinese people and also the American people know very well that you have contribute a lot to normalizing of Sino-US relations, 30 years has passed since the establishment of formal diplomatic relations, now what are your evaluations of the bilateral relations? Carter: Yes, tremendous changes in China. I think that perhaps the combination of the normalization of relations between our two countries and the commitment that Deng Xiaoping made to reform has transformed to some degree the status of the Chinese people inside the country and also the status of China as global figure. With much more commitment to free enterprise, trade, to the freedom of the Chinese people to move around within the nation, to be involved into free enterprise system of their own, China has become the largest exporter in the world. As I mentioned briefly earlier, China has also expanded its diplomatic and political influence in a very profoundly important way. It plays important role. Before 1979, we already saw China being involved in the affairs of African nations and Latin American countries and others. I would say in this process the economic status and political influence of the two nations has developed and the status has changed. China has become much more of an important factor in the life of the world. And I think this is a testimony to the wisdom of Deng Xiaoping. And with his agreement with me and it is also then a benefit to America as well. We had some difficult issues at first of which we negotiated one of those is Taiwan. And he and I agreed that there was one China that Taiwan is part of China. I agreed with China that we will not sell to Taiwan anything except defensive weapons. Since then I think there had some feeling that the United States has not fully comply with that agreement. But we maintained the speech. I think that China has shown that in your region of the world that is Asia that our two countries can work together in harmony and in cooperation. But in the past you know in the crisis of Vietnam we had been on the opposite side of a country. So together we have to maintained peace and reach out to other countries. We have maintained our way of life and I think the United States has been gratified to see that China has become much more influential in the world.
Question: Mr. President, The Chinese people and also the American people know very well that you have contribute a lot to normalizing of Sino-US relations, 30 years has passed since the establishment of formal diplomatic relations, now what are your evaluations of the bilateral relations? Carter: Yes, tremendous changes in China. I think that perhaps the combination of the normalization of relations between our two countries and the commitment that Deng Xiaoping made to reform has transformed to some degree the status of the Chinese people inside the country and also the status of China as global figure. With much more commitment to free enterprise, trade, to the freedom of the Chinese people to move around within the nation, to be involved into free enterprise system of their own, China has become the largest exporter in the world. As I mentioned briefly earlier, China has also expanded its diplomatic and political influence in a very profoundly important way. It plays important role. Before 1979, we already saw China being involved in the affairs of African nations and Latin American countries and others. I would say in this process the economic status and political influence of the two nations has developed and the status has changed. China has become much more of an important factor in the life of the world. And I think this is a testimony to the wisdom of Deng Xiaoping. And with his agreement with me and it is also then a benefit to America as well. We had some difficult issues at first of which we negotiated one of those is Taiwan. And he and I agreed that there was one China that Taiwan is part of China. I agreed with China that we will not sell to Taiwan anything except defensive weapons. Since then I think there had some feeling that the United States has not fully comply with that agreement. But we maintained the speech. I think that China has shown that in your region of the world that is Asia that our two countries can work together in harmony and in cooperation. But in the past you know in the crisis of Vietnam we had been on the opposite side of a country. So together we have to maintained peace and reach out to other countries. We have maintained our way of life and I think the United States has been gratified to see that China has become much more influential in the world.
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