2019年CRI Communication helps people know the real China: Australian foundation chair

 

An Australian scholar has reaffirmed the role of reform and opening-up in China's development, on the eve of the 70th founding anniversary of the People's Republic of China.

Kevin Hobgood-Brown also says people-to-people exchanges have a unique role to play for better China-Australia ties.

CRI's Fei Fei reports.

Kevin's story with China started in 1983 when he moved to Beijing with his wife. As one of the first foreigners working in the capital city at that time, Kevin commuted¹ by car every day along the Zhongguancun Street, from Youyi Hotel to Peking University.

He also ran a law firm in the downtown area. He said because the public transport system was still underdeveloped in Beijing during that time, he had to get around the city by car or bicycle.

"Sometimes I would ride my bicycle. Sometimes I would ride my car. But the car was necessary because after my classes at Peking University, I would drive downtown to work in my law firm. At that time, there was just one subway line there. So subway wasn't really an option. You have many more options today."

After spending four years in Beijing, Kevin went on to live in a number of cities across the world including San Francisco and Sydney. While he lived in other parts of the world, he still visited Zhongguancun Street a number of times and witnessed its transformation² over those years. The street later developed into a technology hub of China and became notorious for traffic jams.

Now looking back at all these experiences in different societies, he says he realizes that it required a lot of vision and courage for the Chinese people to undertake the massive process of reform and opening-up.

He says people often neglected that when the Opening-up was first rolled out, there was no guarantee that the policy would be successful.

"And if you look at the opportunities for the Chinese people have increased over the years, the prosperity, the quality of health care, education, and the standard of living across the board. None of that was guaranteed 40 years ago when they open door. So it's a real tribute, I think, to the determination, the flexibility³ and the vision of the Chinese people that they've been able to accomplish that in a reasonably short period of time."

He said to achieve this, stability and strong leadership had to play a significant role.

"I think that strong leadership and stability are critical elements. There's no doubt about that. I think that china has demonstrated. And if you look around the world and see countries where there is no stability, you can see that people struggle. If you have stability that is a building block for building prosperity and improving people's lifestyle. But I would say this is that the leadership has been strong, but it all has also been creative and flexible."

After he retired⁴, Kevin put his focus on promoting people-to-people exchanges between China and Australia, which he said is one of the most fundamental ways to enhance relationships between the two sides.

He called for critical thinking and fairness when presenting China-related conversations in Australia, especially in the media.

"There's overwhelming interest in people to go from Australia to China to learn more about the real China. The reality is the more we know each other, the less influenced we're going to be by incorrect or false information. Because you read something in the media, you see something on TV and you think, well, that just doesn't seem correct and that's what we want people to have. We want people to have a balanced, more comprehensive understanding of each country."

1 commuted   

通勤( commute的过去式和过去分词 )； 减（刑）； 代偿

参考例句：

• His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment. 他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。
• The death sentence may be commuted to life imprisonment. 死刑可能減为无期徒刑。

2 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

3 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

4 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。