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Learn to get along with China
A prominent American's letter to his grandchildren
By Stuart Symington Jr
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The writer, a Harvard law professor, comes from a prominent American family. His great-grandfather John Hay had served twice as Secretary of State. His father had been a Senator and Secretary of the Air Force and his younger brother a former congressman. Finding China's phenomenal progress awesome after a recent trip there, he wrote a letter to his grandchildren on the importance to get along with China, which he said may become the most powerful country in the world.
November 17, 2001
Dear Grandchildren,
This is a letter from your grandfather to all of his grandchildren. The ones who are old enough to read are getting it direct. I'm sending it to the parents of the ones who are not old enough to read.
The purpose of this letter is to encourage all of you to study as much as you can about China. The reason is that we live in an increasingly internationalised world. The tragic attacks of September 11 show that the oceans no longer protect us from our enemies. We need all the friends abroad we can get. To that end we should study how to get along with China, the most populous country in the world. Based on your grandmother's and my recent trip to China, it may also become the most powerful country in the world during your lifetime. Another reason for getting along with China, whether you like to get along or not!
There are many ways to learn about a foreign country. At a minimum, I urge you to pay special attention to the history of China, its geography, geology, political and economic system, ecology, culture, (ethnicity, different ethnic groups—what we call “minorities”) religious groups and beliefs, architecture and archeology. (来源：www.EnglishCN.com)
There are 1.25 billion people in China. That makes China's population about five times ours. So a very small percentage of the Chinese population can be a lot of people by our standards—scientists, athletes, businessmen, customers, philosophers, poets and friends. On the other hand, what may seem a lot of people to us may be just a tiny minority to the Chinese. We might think a crowd of 10 or 20 thousand people a big number, but by Chinese standards it would not be big at all.
One way to learn about a country is to collect its stamps. They tell you a lot about what is going on in the country.
When your grandmother and I asked our granddaughter Janey what kind of college she was interested in, she had a one-word reply: “Diversity.” I agree with her 100%. I think that tolerance of diversity will be the key to the survival of the United States in the 21st century.
Beyond the basics of special attention to China in your school courses, and any electives you have an opportunity to take in college, I encourage you to try to get to know Chinese people in the United States, and to travel to China if you get the chance, to see for yourselves what is going on there.
What is going on there can be described in one word. Awesome! China has a booming free market economy. Its liberal Communist government has given free enterprise all the latitude that most of the people can live with. China has had terrible famines in the past. Twenty million Chinese perished of hunger under Mao's Great Leap Forward. The Chinese do not hate Mao for that. He made a mistake, they say. But they used to eat grass, and now they eat wheat and rice, so they are not bitter about Mao.
China does deny civil rights, and its society is not perfect, no society is perfect. But your grandmother and I were very impressed by the energy of the Chinese people, their work ethic, their pride in their country and culture, their practicality, and the rapid development of the Chinese economy. We flew all over China, in planes that were all new, made by Boeing in a Chinese plant.
Beyond study, stamps, acquaintanceship and travel lies still another way to learn about China. That is by studying the Chinese language. It is difficult, but it is fascinating. Selective schools and colleges already offer Mandarin, the principal dialect. The way to learn is by immersion—to talk it all the time in class, and spend a term, a year or a long summer vacation in the country.
I feel comfortable about bringing the subject of the Chinese language to your attention, because our family is apparently genetically programmed to speak foreign languages. Use the skills you have. Already, Janey and Stuartie are working on being tri-lingual, and their parents have achieved this.
We have another family connection with China that you should know about. About one hundred years ago, your great, great, great grandfather, John Hay, was the United State's Secretary of State. He initiated what was called the Open Door policy, which at the time we thought was a good thing for both China and the United States. I think that the Chinese did not agree, then or now, that it was good for China. But that is the true history of the past involvement of our family with China.
Mr. Hay was once asked by reporters about the results of a conference he had just had with the Chinese ambassador to the United States, Mr. Wu. Mr. Hay responded, “I am not sure. After conferring for three hours, Mr. Hay was woozy and Mr. Wu was hazy.”
The history books are full of the total inability of parents, and maybe grandparents too, to convince their children how to live and what to do. A famous example of this is the letters Lord Chesterfield wrote giving good advice to his son. They are considered the outstanding examples of good advice. Unfortunately, the son paid absolutely no attention to what his father told him.
Please take this letter as an effort by your loving grandfather to peer ahead into a world that will not be as easy for you as we expected it would be before September 11. You all live far away and I do not often get the chance to talk with you. Please do not consider this letter as a demand. I wanted to tell you my thoughts, the product of a two-week trip to China, a place I never imagined I would have the opportunity to see.
If any of you want to talk about this subject some more, please write or e-mail me your thoughts, or we can talk about your ideas when you are here this Christmas.
Much love to you all,
Your Grandfather,
Stuart Symington, Jr.
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