2016年CRI Young Chinese and Americans optimistic about future of China-US ties, but perception gap remains

 

The event, entitled "From University to the World: 2020, China, the US, You and Me", has been co-organized by China Radio International and New York University, and has been supported by the Chinese Radio Network in New York.

The event at NYU is the first time a forum¹ like this has been held at a US college.

Chinese panelist Chen Yiqi is about to begin her Master's Degree in International Law at NYU.

She says conflicts between the world's two largest economies in the world are somewhat unavoidable, but suggests this is just a small part of the overall relationship.

"Towards 2020, things will be better. But also there are lots of challenges between these two countries, because we always have some conflicts in our interest. These things are unavoidable, but they are the minority in our relationship. I think the majority of things will still be optimistic."

Based on a survey of around 500 Chinese and 350 American college students conducted ahead of the roundtable, most respondents say they believe bilateral² ties between China and the US will keep improving in the coming years.

The two-hour discussion did appear to generate one area of consensus³: Frequent communication will increase trust and reduce the possibility of conflict.

But all 10 taking part in the session do concede there is a perception gap that remains⁴ on both sides.

Tang Tianyi, a senior with Beijing Foreign Studies University, says young Chinese and American people need to get to know each other better.

"When I came to the US to have a summer course, one of my American peers asked me do you have McDonalds in China? So when I got this kind of reaction and I found that we don't know each other enough, so I think we should begin this kind of small things and then we can have deeper and insightful communication between us. And I believe this the reason we have this kind of activity - from University to the World here."

Christina Perry, an NYU undergraduate majoring in International Health Policy, echoes this view.

The 19-year-old, who has been in China twice, says mass media isn't doing a good job when it comes to portraying⁵ the real China or the real United States.

"A lot of Chinese people have a better understanding of American way of life because how the US is portrayed⁶ in the media, even though that might be a hypertely of what actually is like here. American media do not cover a lot of the issues as aesthetically⁷ as in China."

More information about the roundtable, including the results of the survey conducted before the session, simply go to crienglish.com.

For CRI, I'm Su Yi in New York.

1 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

2 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

3 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 portraying   

v.画像( portray的现在分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• The artist has succeeded in portraying my father to the life. 那位画家把我的父亲画得惟妙惟肖。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ding Ling was good at portraying figures through careful and refined description of human psychology. 《莎菲女士的日记》是丁玲的成名作，曾引起强烈的社会反响。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

6 portrayed   

v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 aesthetically   

adv.美地，艺术地

参考例句：

• Segmental construction contributes toward aesthetically pleasing structures in many different sites. 对于许多不同的现场条件，分段施工都能提供美观，颇有魄力的桥型结构。
• All isolation techniques may be aesthetically unacceptable or even dirty. 所有的隔离方法都有可能在美观方面使人难以接受，或甚至是肮脏的。