BEIJING: When asked about President Xi Jinping’s ambitious proposal made last year to invite a total of 50,000 young people from the United States over a period of five years to visit China on exchange and study programs, Eric Foster, nephew of legendary journalist Edgar Snow’s wife, Helen Foster Snow, said he strongly supports more exchanges of this kind.
Foster, a US policy observer focused on China affairs, said that around 10 years ago, when he first came to China, the average American heard many bad things about the country because “the media in the West hardly gave any good news about China” .
“So when I came here, I was just totally blown away how modern it was,” he told China Daily. “If more Americans, more students can come here and see China themselves and (take part in) exchange programs, then they’ re gonna go back and say, ‘Wow, it’s so cool’.”
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the concept of major country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics, and Foster is one of many policy observers who have been impressed by how the country has worked hard in advancing cultural exchanges and boosting mutual learning among cultures.
As a supporter of the Belt and Road Initiative, Foster believes exchanges make peace.
“China is setting an example for the whole world, because how can there be peace when two countries can’t get along, trade, and talk to each other?”
In recent years, China has scaled up and diversified its efforts in facilitating people-to-people exchanges with developed as well as developing countries, and promoting the sharing of knowledge, technology and governing experiences, officials and observers said.
When addressing the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, in October, President Xi said, “Last year, I proposed an initiative for BRICS digital education cooperation, and I am delighted to see that it has become a reality.”
At the summit, he announced that China will implement a capacity-building program for BRICS digital education.
“We will open 10 learning centers in BRICS countries in the next five years, and provide training opportunities for 1,000 local education administrators, teachers and students,” he added. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
