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TheWhiteHouseOfficeoftheVicePresidentForImmediateReleaseAugust21,2011RemarksbytheVicePresidentatSichuanUniversityChengdu,ChinaREMARKSBYVICEPRESIDENTJOSEPHBIDENONU.S.-CHINARELATIONSFOLLOWEDBYQ&AWITHSTUDENTSSichuanUniversityChengdu,China10:40A.M.(Local)THEVICEPRESIDENT:Thankyou,all,verymuch.(Applause.)Mr.President,thankyouforyourgraciousintroduction.WehaveanexpressionintheUnitedStatesSenatewhereIservedformanyyearswhenwewanttosaysomethingpersonal,wesay,permitmeapointofpersonalprivilege.IwouldliketointroduceyoutotwoofmyfamilymemberswhoI’vebroughtalongwithme,mydaughter-in-lawKathleenBidenandmygranddaughterNaomiBiden.Wouldyouguysstand?(Applause.)ItwouldbemoreappropriatetosayNaomibroughtmealongwithhersinceshe’sabuddingChinesespeaker,beentakingChineseforfiveyears,soI’vebeenlisteningtoheronthewholetrip.Iwanttoagainthankyouverymuch.IhadawonderfulfewdaysinBeijingandaseriesofverypositiveandproductiveconversationswithChineseleaders.AndI’mpleasedtomakemyfirstvisittowesternChina,whichhasplayedsuchanincredible,suchanincredibleroleinthisnation’sproud,proudhistory,andwhichtodayisthevanguardofChinese--China’shigh-techfuture.Twoyearsago,SichuanprovincesufferedoneofthegreatestnaturaldisastersinChina’srecenthistory.AndtheAmericanpeoplewereinspired--wereinspiredbythewayyouallcametogethertohelponeanotherduringthatcrisis.AndI’mabsolutelyamazedasIdrivearoundthecity,andI’llbemovingoutintotheprovincelater,afterthisspeech--I’mamazedathowquicklyyouhaverebuiltandyouhaverecovered.ThepeopleofChengdu,letmesaysimplythatyourhospitalityhasmorethanliveduptoyourreputationasthe“landofabundance,”soagain,thankyousoverymuchforthathospitality.It’salsogreattobehereonauniversitycampus.Ialsowanttothankourhost,theuniversitywhichcountsamongstitsalumnisomeofthemostillustriousfiguresinrecentChinesehistory,includingZhuDeandBaJin,bothofwhomare--onealiteraryicon;theother,oneofthemostillustriousfigures,andafoundingfatheroftherepublic.I’malsopleasedtobejoinedtodayby--he’salreadybeenintroduced--butbyourambassador,ournewambassadorGaryLockewhosegrandfathercametotheUnitedStatesfromCantoninthe1890sandtoiledasahouseservantintheUnitedStatesinexchangeforbeingabletogetEnglishlanguagelessons.Inlessthantwogenerations--twogenerationslater,GaryLocke,hisgrandson,hasservedasthegovernorofhishomestateofWashington,theU.S.SecretaryofCommerceandthechiefofmissioninoneourmostimportantdiplomaticpostsintheworld.Isharethisstorywithyounotbecauseit’sunique,butbecauseitisuniquelyAmerican.WhilenoteverychildorgrandchildofanimmigrantwillreachthepinnacleofsocietyasAmbassadorLockehas,Americacontinuestoputsuchpossibilitieswithinreachofallthosewhoseekourshores.OnmyfirstvisittoChina,whichwasmorethan30yearsagowhenIwasayoungUnitedStatessenatorin1979,IwaswiththefirstdelegationofcongressionalleaderstovisitChinaafternormalization.WehadseveraldaysofbusinesswiththenVicePremierDengXiaoping.Itwasaverydifferentcountrythen,butwhatwasabsolutelycleartomewasthatChinawasonthecuspofaremarkabletransformation.Changeswerejustgettingunderway.MyfirstintroductionhereinSichuanthatwouldbegintransformingalargelyagrariansocietyintoanengineofeconomicglobalandhelplifthundredsofmillionsofpeopleoutofpovertywas--seemedtomeclearatthetime.ThatfirstvisitcameamidadebateintheUnitedStatesofAmericasimilartotheonethatexiststodayabouthowtoviewChina’semergence.Letmebeclear--letmebeclear:Ibelievedin1979andsaidsoandIbelievenowthatarisingChinaisapositivedevelopment,notonlyforthepeopleofChinabutfortheUnitedStatesandtheworldasawhole.ArisingChinawillfueleconomicgrowthandprosperityanditwillbringtotheforeanewpartnerwithwhomwecanmeetglobalchallengestogether.WhenPresidentObamaandItookofficeinJanuaryof2009,wemadeourrelationshipwithChinaatoppriority.Weweredeterminedtosetitonastableandsustainablecoursethatwouldbenefitthecitizensofbothourcountries.OurPresidentshavemetninetimessincethen,includingverysuccessfulstatevisitsinBeijingandWashington,andhavespokennumeroustimesbytelephone.Directdiscussionsbetweenseniorpolicymakersandthepersonaltiesthatresultfromsuchdiscussionsinmyviewoverthelast35yearsofconductingforeignpolicyarethekeystobuildingcooperation.They'rebuiltonunderstanding.Theyallowustobetterunderstandeachotherandallowustodefineourinterestsinwaysthatareclearsothateachoneofusknowwhattheothercountry’sinterestsare,andtoseetheworldthroughtheeyesoftheotherwiththeintentionofpreventingmiscommunicationsandmisconceptionsthattendtofuelmistrust.Withthatgoalinmind,wehaveworkedveryhardtodevelopourcooperativepartnershipthroughmorethan60separatedialoguesonissuesofmattertobothChinaandtotheUnitedStates;andIwouldsuggesttotheworldasawhole.ThepremierforumiswhatwerefertoastheStrategicandEconomicDialoguewhichbringstogetherpolicymakersfromacrossbothgovernmentstodiscussarangeofissuesfromtradebarrierstoclimatechange.Butwealsorecognize--wealsorecognizedimmediatelyonstartingthattheimportancemoredirectlyaddressingsecurityissues,aswell.That'swhyinMaywejointlylaunchedthefirstStrategicSecurityDialogue,anewchannelforcivilianandmilitaryleaderstodiscusssensitivetopics,includingcyber