Political Quotes

“2 weeks ago, I returned from a 6-day trip to China, during which time I spent more than 20 hours in meetings with top-level Chinese officials, including 4 hours with the President of the country, Jiang Zemin, Vice Premier Zhu Rongji, and senior Foreign Ministry officials. We held wide-ranging discussions on a number of important issues in the United States-China relationship, including several issues which have caused the most serious strain between our two countries since relations were established in 1979. I believe that these talks were informative and constructive for both sides. And I would like to share with my colleagues some of the major elements of those discussions and my observations as a result of this trip. I first met the President of China while I was mayor of San Francisco. In 1979, the first of my 9 years as mayor, I forged a sister city relationship with Shanghai, the first such relationship between an American and a Chinese city. Jiang Zemin became mayor of Shanghai in 1985. And we became good friends as we negotiated agreements and overseas projects between our two cities. As partners in this endeavor, we vowed to shrink the vast Pacific Ocean that divides us into a small river across which communication, trade and an exchange of ideas could easily flow. That was 10 years ago. Jiang Zemin is now President of China, and he leads a nation of 1.2 billion people.”