Quotable

“Long after I depart Beijing, future Ambassadors will continue to visit American citizens like Dr. Feng Xue, who was wrongfully convicted of stealing state secrets and is now serving an eight-year sentence in prison far from his family in the United States. They will continue to speak up in defense of social activists, like Liu Xiaobo, Chen Guangcheng and now Ai Weiwei, who challenge the Chinese government to serve the public in all cases and at all times. The United States will never stop supporting human rights because we believe in the fundamental struggle for human dignity and justice wherever it may occur.”

– U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman in an April 6 speech in Shanghai

“The Fulbright Program has already brought more than 3,000 American and Chinese graduate students and scholars to study, teach, and research in one another’s countries. And we will now enhance these exchanges to include master’s degree students and community college faculties. More Americans are now studying in China than in any other foreign country. Our goal is to send 100,000 students to China over the next four years…

[…]

“We want to see robust, open exchanges, and to lay a firm foundation for cultural and educational understanding…Leaders are on the stage for a period of time, but the people endure. And the people’s relationships is what will give China-U.S. relationships a very strong foundation going into the future.”

– Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, in remarks yesterday at the US-China Consultation on People-to-People Exchange