奥巴马总统与中国青年举行对话交流会

NoHo good afternoon it is a great honor for me to be here in Shanghai and to have this opportunity to speak with all of you I'd like to thank food on University's president young for his hospitality and his gracious welcome I'd also like to thank our outstanding ambassador Jon Huntsman who exemplifies the deep ties and respect between our nation's I don't know what he said but I hope it was good what I'd like to do is to make some opening remarks and then what I'm really looking forward to doing is taking questions not only from students who are in the audience but also we've received questions online which will be asked by some of the students who are here in the audience as well as by ambassador Huntsman and I am very sorry that my Chinese is not as good as your English but I am looking forward to this chance to have a dialogue this is my first time traveling to China and I'm excited to see this majestic country here in Shanghai we see the growth that has caught the attention of the world the soaring skyscrapers the bustling streets and entrepreneurial activity and just as I'm impressed by these signs of China's journey to the 21st century I'm eager to see those ancient places that speak to us from China's distant past tomorrow I hope and the next day I hope to have a chance when I'm in Beijing to see the majesty of the Forbidden City and the wonder of the Great Wall and truly this is a nation that encompasses both a rich history and a belief in the promise of the future the same can be said of the relationship between our two countries Shanghai of course is a city that has great meaning in the history of the relationship between the United States and China it was here 37 years ago that the Shanghai communique opened the door to a new chapter of engagement between our governments and among our people however America's ties to this city and to this country stretched back further to the earliest days of America's independence in 1784 our founding father George Washington commissioned the Empress of China a ship that sets sail for these shores so that it could pursue trade with the Ching dynasty Washington wanted to see the ship carry the flag around the globe and to forge new ties with nations like China this is a common American impulse the desire to reach for new horizons and to forge new partnerships that are mutually beneficial over the two centuries that have followed the currents of history have steered the relationship between our countries in many directions and even in the midst of tumultuous winds our people had opportunities to forge deepen and even dramatic ties for instance Americans will never forget the hospitality shown to our pilots who were shot down over your soil during World War two and cared for by Chinese civilians who risked all that they had by doing so and Chinese veterans of that war still warmly greet those American veterans who returned to the sites where they fought to help liberate China from occupation a different kind of connection was made nearly 40 years ago when the frost between our countries began to thaw through the simple game of table tennis the very unlikely nature of this engagement contributed to its success because for all our differences both our common humanity and our shared curiosity were revealed as one American player described his visit to China the people are just like us the country is very similar to America but still very different of course this small opening was followed by the achievement of the Shanghai communique and the eventual establishment of formal relations between the United States and China in 1979 and in three decades just look how we have come in 1979 trade between the United States and China stood at roughly five billion dollars today it tops over 400 billion dollars each year the commerce affects our people's lives in so many ways America imports from China many of the computer parts weaves the clothes we wear and we export to China machinery that helps power your industry this trade could create even more jobs on both sides of the Pacific while allowing our people to enjoy a better quality of life and as demand becomes more balanced it can lead to even broader prosperity in 1979 the political cooperation between the United States and China was rooted largely in our shared rivalry with the Soviet Union today we have a positive constructive and comprehensive relationship that opens the door to partnership on the key global issues of our time economic recovery and the development of clean energy stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and the scourge of climate change the promotion of peace and security in Asia and around the globe all of these issues will be on the agenda tomorrow when I meet with President Who and in 1979 the connections among our people were limited today we see the curiosity of those ping-pong players manifested in the ties that are being forged across many sectors the second highest number of foreign students in the United States come from China and we've seen a 50% increase in the study of Chinese among our own students there are nearly 200 friendship cities drawing our communities together American and Chinese scientists cooperate on new research and discovery and of course Yao Ming is just one signal of our shared love of basketball I'm only sorry that I won't be able to see a Shanghai Sharks game while I'm visiting it is no coincidence that the relationship between our countries has accompanied a period of positive change China has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty an accomplishment unparalleled in human history while playing a larger role in global events and the United States has seen our economy grow along with the standard of living enjoyed by our people while bringing the Cold War to a successful conclusion there is a Chinese proverb consider the past and you shall know the future surely we have known setbacks and challenges over the last thirty years our relationship has not been without disagreement and difficulty but the notion that we must be adversaries is not predestined not when we consider the past and did indeed because of our cooperation both the United States and China are more prosperous and more secure we have seen what is possible when we build upon our mutual interests and engage on the basis of mutual respect and yet the success of that engagement depends upon understanding on sustaining an open dialogue and learning about one another and from one another for just as that American table tennis player pointed out we share much in common as human beings but our countries are different in certain ways I believe that each country must chart its own course China is an ancient nation with a deeply rooted culture the United States by comparison is a young nation whose culture is determined by the many different immigrants who have come to our shores and by the founding documents that guide our democracy those documents put forward a simple vision of human affairs and they enshrine several core principles that all men and women are created equal and possess certain fundamental rights that government should reflect the will of the people and respond to their wishes that Commerce should be open information freely accessible and that laws and not simply men should guarantee the administration of justice of course the story of our nation is not without its diff chapters in many ways over many years we have struggled to advance the promise of these principles to all of our people and to forge a more perfect union we fought a very painful civil war and freed a portion of our population from slavery it took time for women to be extended the right to vote for workers to win the right to organize and for immigrants from different corners of the globe to be fully embraced even after they were freed African Americans persevered through conditions that were separate and not equal before winning full and equal rights none of this was easy but we made progress because of our belief in those core principles which have served as our compass through the darkest of storms that is why Lincoln could stand up in the midst of Civil War and declare it a struggle to see whether any nation conceived in Liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal could long endure that is why dr. Martin Luther King could stand on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and asked that our nation live out the true meaning of its Creed that's why immigrants from China to Kenya could find a home on our shores why opportunity is available to all who would work for it and why someone like me who less than fifty years ago would have had trouble voting in some parts of America is now able to serve as its president and that is why America will always speak out for those core principles around the world we do not seek to impose any system of government on any other nation but we also don't believe that the principles that we stand for are unique to our nation these freedoms of expression and worship of access to information and political participation we believe our universal rights they should be available to all people including ethnic and religious minorities whether they are in the United States China or any nation indeed it is that respect for universal rights that guides America's openness to other countries our respect for different cultures our commitment to international law and our faith in the future these are all things that you should know about America I also know that we have much to learn about China looking around at this magnificent city and looking around this room I do believe that our nation's hold something important in common and that is a belief in the future neither the United States nor China is content to rest on our achievements for while China is an ancient nation you are also clearly looking ahead with confidence ambition and a commitment to see that tomorrow's generation can do better than today's in addition to your growing economy we admire China's extraordinary commitment to science and research a commitment born out in everything from the infrastructure you build to the technology you use China is now the world's largest Internet user which is why we were so pleased to include the Internet as part of today's event this country now has the world's largest mobile phone network and it is investing in the new forms of energy that can both sustain growth and combat climate change and I'm looking forward to deepening the partnership between the United States and China in this critical area tomorrow but above all I see China's future in you young people whose talent and dedication and dreams will do so much to help shape the 21st century I've said many times that I believe that our world is now fundamentally interconnected the jobs we do the prosperity we build the environment we protect the security that we seek all of these things are shared and given that interconnection power in the 21st century is no longer a zero-sum game one country's success need not come at the expense of another and that is why the United States insists we do not seek to contain China's rise on the contrary we welcome China as a strong and prosperous and successful member of the community of nations a China that draws on the rights strengths and creativity of individual Chinese like you to return to the proverb consider the past we know that more is to be gained when great powers cooperate than when they collide that is a lesson that human beings have learned time and again and that is the example of the history between our nation's and I believe strongly that cooperation must go beyond our government it must be rooted in our people in the studies we share the business that we do the knowledge that we gain and even in the sports that we play and these bridges must be built by young men and women just like you and your counterparts in America that's why I'm pleased to announce that the United States will dramatically expand the number of our students who study in China to 100,000 and these exchanges mark a clear commitment to build ties among our people as surely as you will help determine the destiny of the 21st century and I'm absolutely confident that America has no better ambassadors to offer than our young people for they just like you are filled with talent and energy and optimism about the history that is yet to be written so let this be the next step in the steady pursuit of cooperation that will serve our nation's and the world and if there's one thing that we can take from today's dialogue I hope that it is a commitment to continue this dialogue going forward so thank you very much and I look forward now to taking some questions for all of you thank you very much so the I just want to make sure this works this this is a tradition by the way that is very common in the United States of these town hall meetings and what we're going to do is I will just if you are interested in asking a question you can raise your hands I will call on you and then I will alternate between a question from the audience and an internet question from one of the students who prepared the questions as well as I think ambassador Huntsman may have a question that we were able to obtain from the website of our embassy so let me begin though by seeing and what I'll do is I'll call on a boy and then a girl and then so we'll go back and forth so that you know it's fair all right so I'll start with this young lady right in the front here why don't we wait for this microphone so everyone can hear you and what's your name 1985 and these two City has conducted a wide range of economic political and cultural exchanges so what measures will you take to deepen this close relationship between cities of the United States and China and Shanghai will hold the world exposition next year will you bring your family to visit the expo thank you well thank you very much for the question I was just having lunch before I came here with the mayor of Shanghai and he told me that he has had an excellent relationship with the city of Chicago my hometown that he's visited there twice and I think it's wonderful to have these exchanges between cities one of the things that I discussed with the mayor is how both cities can learn from each other on strategies around clean energy because one of the issues that ties China and America together is how with an expanding population and a concern for climate change that we are able to reduce our carbon footprint and obviously in the United States and many developed countries per capita per individual they are already using much more energy than each individual here in China but as China grows and expands its going to be using more energy as well so both countries have a great interest in finding new strategies we talked about mass transit and the excellent rail lines that are being developed in Shanghai I think we can learn in Chicago some of the and in the United States some of the fine work that's being done on high-speed rail in the United States I think we are learning how to develop buildings that use much less energy that are much more energy efficient and I know that with Shanghai as I traveled and I saw all the cranes and all the new buildings that are going up it's very important for us to start incorporating these new technologies so that each building is energy efficient when it comes to lighting when it comes to heating and so it's a terrific opportunity I think for us to learn from each other I know this is going to be a major focus of the Shanghai World Expo is the issue of clean energy as I've learned from the mayor and so I would love to attend I'm not sure yet what my schedule is going to be but I'm very pleased that we're going to have an excellent u.s. Pavilion at the expo and I understand that we expect as many as 70 million visitors here so it's going to be very crowded and it's going to be very exciting Chicago has had two World Expos in its history and both of the those Expos ended up being tremendous boosts for the city so I'm sure the same thing will happen here in Shanghai thank you well why don't we get one of the questions from the internet and introduce yourself in case it's amazing so shall I say that in Chinese first then was your dating glacial okay okay I'm gon tell from Shanghai Jiaotong University I want to pose a question from the internet I want to thank you mr. president for visiting China in your first year in office and exchange views with us in China I want to know what are you bringing to China in your visit to China this time and what will you bring back to the United States and represent be honorable to be here to represent one of the friends are from internet to ask one question firstly thank you thanks for visiting China and the first a year over the old president's presidency and my question is mmm-hmm what have you but in this China Chinese trip what have you brought to China and then what do we want from China thank you okay the well you know my the main purpose of my trip is to deepen my understanding of China and its vision for the future I have had several meetings now with president who we participate together in the g20 summit that was dealing with the economic financial crisis we have had consultations about a wide range of issues but I think it's very important for the United States to continually deepen its understanding of China just as it's important for China to continually deepen its understanding of the United States in terms of what I'd like to get out of this meeting or this visit in addition to having the wonderful opportunity to see the Forbidden City and the Great Wall and to meet with all of you these are all highlights oh these are all highlights but in addition to that the discussions that I intend to have with president who speak to the point that ambassador Huntsman made earlier which is there are very few global challenges that can be solved unless the United States and China agree so let me let me give you a specific example and that is the issue we were just discussing of climate change the United States and China are the the world's two largest emitters of greenhouse gases of carbon that is causing the planet to warm now the United States as a highly developed country as I said before per capita consumes much more energy and emits much more greenhouse gases for each individual than does China on the other hand China is growing at a much faster pace and it has a much larger population so unless both of our countries are willing to take critical steps in dealing with this issue we will not be able to resolve it there's going to be a Copenhagen conference in December in which world leaders are trying to find a recipe so that we can all make commitments that are differentiated so each country would not have the same obligations obviously China which has much more poverty should not have to do exactly the same thing as the United States but all of us should have these certain obligations in terms of what our plan will be to reduce these greenhouse gases so that's an example of what I hope to get out of this meeting a meeting of the minds between myself and president who about how together the United States and China can show leadership because I will tell you other countries around the world will be waiting for us they will watch to see what we do and if they say ah you know the United States and China they're not serious about this then they won't be serious either that's that is the burden of leadership that both of our countries now carry and my hope is is that the more discussion and dialogue that we have the more we are able to show this leadership to the world on these many critical issues okay all right it's uh I think it must be a boys turn now right so I'll call on this young man right on you ha or should I let me get my I'm from tomji University I want to cite a saying from Confucius it is always good to have a friend from come coming from afar in Confucius books there is a great saying which says that harmony is good and but also we uphold differences China advocates a harmonious world we know that the United States develops a culture that features diversity I want to know what will your government do to build a diversity diversified world with different cultures what would you do to respect the different cultures and histories of other countries and what kinds of cooperation we can conduct in the future this is an excellent point the United States one of our strengths is that we are a very diverse culture we have people coming from all around the world and so there's no one definition of what an American looks like you know in my own family I have a father who was from Kenya I have a mother who was from Kansas in the Midwest of the United States my sister is half Indonesian she's married to a Chinese person from Canada so when when you see family gatherings in the Obama household it looks like the United Nations and that is a great strength of the United States because it means that we we learn from different cultures and different foods and different ideas and that has made us a much more dynamic society now what is also true is that you know each country in this interconnected world has its own culture and its own history and its own traditions and I think it's very important for the United States not to assume that what is good for us is automatically good for somebody else and we have to have some modesty about our attitudes towards other countries I have to say though as I said in my opening remarks that we do believe that there are certain fundamental principles that are common to all people regardless of culture so for example in the United Nations we are very active in trying to make sure that children all around the world are treated with certain basic rights that if children are being exploited if there is forced labor for children that despite the fact that that may have taken place in the past in many different countries including the United States that all countries of the world now should have developed to the point where we are treating children better than we did in the past that's a universal value I believe for example the same thing holds true when it comes to the treatment of women I had a very interesting discussion with the mayor of Shanghai during lunch right before I came and he informed me that in many professions now here in China there are actually more women enrolled in college than there are men and that they are doing very well I think that is an excellent indicator of progress because it turns out that if you look at development around the world one of the best indicators of whether or not a country does well is how well it educates its girls and how it treats its women and countries that are tapping into the talents and the energy of women and giving them education typically do better economically that countries that don't so now obviously different cultures may have different attitudes about the relationship between men and women but I think it is the view of the United States that it is important for us to affirm the rights of women all around the world and if we see certain societies in which women are oppressed or they are not getting opportunities or there is violence towards women we will speak out now there may be some people who disagree with us and we can have a dialogue about that but we think it's important nevertheless to be true to our ideals and our values and we when we do so though we will always do so with the humility and understanding that we are not perfect and that we still have much progress to make if you talk to women in America they will tell you that there are still men who have a lot of old-fashioned ideas about about the role of women in society and so you know we don't claim that we have solved all these problems but we do think that it's important for us to speak out on behalf of these universal ideals and at these universal values okay all right then we're going to take a question from the internet mr. president it's a great honor to be here and meet you in person thank you my name is Johnson I'm from Shanghai International Studies University I'll be reading a question selected on the Internet's to you and this question is from somebody from Taiwan in his question he said I come from Taiwan now I am doing business on the mainland and do to improve cross-straits relations in recent years my business in China is doing quite well so when I heard the news that some people in America would like to propose continue selling arms and weapons to Taiwan I began to get pretty worried I worried that this may make our cross-strait relations suffer so I would like to know if mr. president are you supportive of improved cross-strait relations and will although this question is from a businessman actually it's a question of King concern to all of us young Chinese students so we'd really like to know your position on this question thank you thank you the well I have been clear in the past that my administration fully supports a one-china policy as reflected in the three joint communique that date back several decades in terms of our relations with Taiwan as well as our relations with the people were People's Republic of China we don't want to change that policy and that approach I am very pleased with the reduction of tensions and the improvement in cross-straits relations and it is my my deep desire and hope that we will continue to see great improvement between Taiwan and the rest of and and the People's Republic in resolving many of these issues one of the things that I think that the United States in terms of its foreign policy and its policy with respect to China is always seeking is ways that through dialogue and negotiations problems can be solved we always think that's the better course and I think that economic ties and commercial ties that are taking place in this region are helping to lower a lot of the tensions that date back before you were born or even before I was born now there are some people who still look towards the past when it comes to these issues as opposed to looking towards the future I prefer to look towards the future and as I said I think the commercial ties that are taking place there's something about when people think that they can do business and make money that makes them think very clearly and not worry as much about ideology and I think that that's starting to happen in this region and we are very supportive of that of that process okay let's see it's a it's a girl's turn now all right yes right there yes hold on let's get a whoops I'm sorry they took the mic back here I'll call on you next go ahead and then I'll go up up here later go ahead don't no please I'll call it on her person then I'll call on you after it's good Thank You mr. president I'm a student from Shanghai Jiaotong University since you'll have I have a question concerning the Nobel Prize for Peace in your opinion what's the main reason that you were honored the Nobel Prize for Peace and will it give you more responsibility and pressure to miss more pressure and the responsibility to promote the word peace and the will it will it will it bring you will it influence your ideas while dealing with the international affairs thank you very much thank you that was an excellent question you know I have to say that nobody was more surprised than me about winning the Nobel Prize for Peace obviously it's a great honor I don't believe necessarily that it's an honor I deserve given the extraordinary history of people who have won the prize all I can do is to with great humility accept the fact that I think the committee was inspired by the American people and the possibilities of changing not only America but also America's approach to the world and so in some ways I think they gave me the prize but I was more just a symbol of the shift in our approach to world affairs that we are trying to promote in terms of the burden that I feel I am extraordinarily honored to be put in the position of president and as my wife always reminds me when I complain that I'm working too hard she says you volunteered for this job and so you you know there's a saying I don't know if there's the similar saying in China we have a saying you made your bed now you have to sleep in it and it basically means you have to be careful what you ask for because you might get it I think that all of us have obligations for trying to promote peace in the world it's not always easy to do there are still a lot of conflicts in the world that are date back for centuries if you look at the Middle East there are Wars and conflict that are rooted in arguments going back a thousand years in many parts of the world let's say in the continent of Africa there are ethnic and tribal conflicts that are very hard to resolve and obviously right now as president the united states part of my job is to serve as commander in chief and my first priority is to protect the american people and because of the attacks on 9/11 and the terrorism that has been taking place around the world where innocent people are being killed it is my obligation to make sure that we root out these terrorist organizations and that we cooperate with other countries in terms of dealing with this kind of violence nevertheless although I don't think that we can ever completely eliminate violence between nations or between peoples I think that we can definitely reduce the violence between people's through dialogue through the exchange of ideas through greater understanding between peoples and between cultures and particularly now when just one individual can detonate a bomb that causes so much destruction it is more important than ever that we pursue these strategies for peace you know technology is a powerful instrument for good but it has also given the possibility for just a few people to cause enormous damage and you know that's why I'm hopeful that in my meetings with President Who and on an ongoing basis both the United States and China can work together to try to reduce conflicts that are taking place we have to do so though also keeping in mind that when we use our military because we're such big and strong countries that we have to be self reflective about what we do that we have to examine our own motives and our own interests to make sure that we are not simply using our military forces because nobody can stop us that's a burden that great countries great powers have is to act responsibly in the community of nations and and my hope is is that the United States and China together can help to create an international norms that reduce conflict around the world okay all right John I'm gonna call on my ambassador because I think he has a question that was generated through the website of our embassy this was selected though by I think one of the members of our US press corps so that that's right and not surprisingly in a country with 350 million Internet users and 60 million bloggers do you know of the firewall and second should we be able to use Twitter freely is the question well first of all let me say that I have never used Twitter I noticed that young people you know they're very busy with all these electronics my thumb's are too clumsy to type in things on the phone but I am a big believer in technology and I'm a big believer in openness when it comes to the flow of information I think that the more freely information flows the stronger the society becomes because then citizens of countries around the world can hold their own governments accountable they can begin to think for themselves that generates new ideas it encourages creativity and so I've always been a strong supporter of open and Internet use I'm a big supporter of non censorship this is part of the tradition of the United States that I discussed before and I recognize that you know different countries have different traditions I can tell you that in the United States the fact that we have free internet or unrestricted internet access is a source of strength and I think should be encouraged now I should I should tell you I should be honest as president the United States our times where I wish of information didn't flow so freely because then I wouldn't have to listen to people criticizing me all the time I think you know people naturally are when they're in positions of power sometimes thinks oh how could that person say that about me or that's irresponsible or but the truth is that because in the United States information is free and I have a lot of critics in the United States who can say all kinds of things about me I actually think that that makes our democracy stronger and it makes me a better leader because it forces me to hear opinions that I don't want to hear it forces me to examine what I'm doing on a day to day basis to see am I really doing the very best that I could be doing for the people of the United States and and I think the Internet has become an even more powerful tool for that kind of citizen participation in fact one of the reasons that I won the presidency was because we were able to mobilize young people like yourself to get involved through the internet initially nobody thought we could win because we didn't have necessarily the most wealthy supporters we didn't have the most powerful political brokers but through the internet people became excited about our campaign and they started to organize and meet and set up campaign activities and events and rallies and it really ended up creating the kind of bottom-up movement that allowed us to do very well now that's not just true in for government and politics it's also true for business you think about a company like Google that only 20 years ago was less than 20 years ago was the idea of a couple of people not much older than you it was a science project suddenly because of the internet they were able to create an industry that has revolutionized Commerce all around the world so you know if it had not been for the freedom and the openness that the Internet allows Google wouldn't exist so I I'm a big supporter of not restricting internet use internet access other information technologies like Twitter the more open we are the more we can communicate and it also helps to draw the world together think about when I think about my daughter's Malia and Sasha ones eleven one is eight from their room they can get on the internet and they can travel to Shanghai they can go anyplace in the world and they can learn about any anything they want to learn about and that's just an enormous power that they have and that helps I think promote the kind of understanding that we talked about now as I said before there's always a downside to technology it also means that terrorists are able to organize on the Internet in ways that they might not have been able to do before extremists can mobilize and so there's there's some price that you pay for openness there's no denying that but I think that the good outweighs the bad so much that it's better to maintain that openness and that's part of why I'm so glad that the internet was part of part of this forum okay I'm gonna take two more questions and the next one is from a gentleman I think all right right here yes here's the microphone first the light to say that it is a great honor for me to stand here to ask you the questions I think I'm so lucky and just appreciate that your speech is so clear that I really do not need such kind of headset here comes the question that I I am my name is Drew and him from Fudan University School of Management and I would like to ask you the question is that now that someone has to ask you something about the Nobel Peace Prize but I will not ask you in the same aspect I want to ask you in the other aspect that since it is very hard for you to get such kind of honorable price and I wonder and we all wonder that how you struggle to get it and what's your you know a university college education that brings you to get such kind of price such kind of prices and we we are very curious about it and we delight to invite you to share with us your campus education experiences so as to go on the road of success well first of all let me tell you that I don't know if there's a a curriculum or a course of study that leads you to win the Nobel Peace Prize so I can't guarantee that but I think the recipe for success is the one that you are already following obviously all of you are working very hard you're studying very hard you're curious you're willing to think about new ideas and think for yourself you know I the the people who I meet now that I find most inspiring who are successful I think are people who are not only willing to work very hard but are constantly trying to improve themselves and to think in new ways and not just accept the conventional wisdom you know obviously there are many different paths to success and some of you are going to be going into government service some of you might want to be teachers or professors some of you might want to be business people but I think that whatever field you go into if you're constantly trying to improve and never satisfied with you know not having done your best and constantly asking new questions are there things that I could be doing differently are there new approaches to problems that nobody's thought of before whether it's in science or technology or in the arts those are the usually the people who I think are able to rise above the rest the one last piece of advice though that I would have that has been useful for me is the people who I admire the most and are most successful they're not just thinking only about themselves but they're also thinking about something larger than themselves so they want to make a contribution to society they want to make a contribution to their country their nation their city they are interested in having an impact beyond their own immediate lives you know I think so many of us we get caught up with wanting to make money for ourselves and have a nice car and have a nice house and all those things are important but the people who really make their mark on the world it's because they have a bigger ambition they say how can I help feed hungry people or how can I help to teach children who don't have an education or how can I you know bring about a peaceful resolution of conflicts those are the people I think who end up making such a big difference in the world and and sure that young people like you are going to be able to make that kind of difference as long as you keep working the way you've been working all right all right this is going to be the last question unfortunately we've run out of time so quickly our last Internet question because I want to make sure that we got all three of our fine students here so mr. president great honor for the last question and I'm Kerry students from Fudan University and today I'm also the representative of China's youth netizens and this question I think is from Beijing paid great attention to your Afghanistan policies and he would like to know whether terrorism is still the greatest security concern for the United States and how do you assess the military actions in Afghanistan or whether returning to another yaki war mm-hmm thank you very much no I think that's an excellent question well first of all I do continue to believe that the greatest threat to United States security are the terrorist networks like al-qaeda and the reason is is because even though they are small a number what they have shown is is that they have no conscience when it comes to the destruction of innocent civilians and because of technology today if an organization like that got a weapon of mass destruction on its hands a nuclear or a chemical or a biological weapon and they used it in a city whether it's in Shanghai or New York just a few individuals could potentially kill tens of thousands of people maybe hundreds of thousands so it really does pose an extraordinary threat now the reason we originally went into Afghanistan was because al Qaeda was in Afghanistan being hosted by the Taliban they have now moved over the border of Afghanistan and there in Pakistan now but they continue to have networks with other extremist organizations in that region and I do believe that it is important for us to stabilize Afghanistan so that the people of Afghanistan can protect themselves but they can also be a partner in reducing the power of these extremist networks now obviously it is a very difficult thing one of the hardest things about my job is ordering young men and women into the battlefield I often have to meet with the mothers and fathers of the fallen those who do not come home and it is a great weight on me it gives me a heavy heart fortunately our Armed Services is the young men and women who participate they believe so strongly in their service to their country that they are willing to go and I think that it is possible working in a broader coalition with our allies in NATO and others that are contributing like Australia to help train the Afghans so that they have a functioning government that they have their own security forces and then slowly we can begin to pull our troops out because there's no longer that vacuum that existed after the Taliban left but it's it's a difficult task it's not easy and ultimately I think in trying to defeat these terrorist extremists it's important to understand it's not just a military exercise we also have to think about what motivates young people to become terrorists why would they become suicide bombers and although there are obviously a lot of different reasons including I think the the perversion of religion in thinking that somehow these kinds of violent acts are appropriate part of what's happened in places like Pakistan and Afghanistan is these young people have no education they have no opportunities and so they see no way for them to move forward in life and that leads them into thinking that this is their only option and so part of what we want to do in Afghanistan is to find ways that we can train teachers and create schools and improve agriculture so that people have a greater sense of hope that won't that won't change the ideas of a Osama bin Laden who are very ideologically fixed on trying to strike at the West but it will change the pool of young people who they can recruit from and that is at least as important and if not more important over time as whatever military actions that we can take okay all right I have had a wonderful time I am so grateful to all of you first of all let me say I'm very impressed with all of your English clearly you've been studying very hard and having a chance to meet with all of you I think has given me great hope for the future of us-china relations I hope that's many of you have the opportunity to come and travel and visit the United States you will be welcome I think you will find that the American people feel very warmly towards the people of China and I am very confident that with young people like yourselves and the young people that I know in the United States that our two great countries will continue to prosper and help to bring about a more peaceful and secure world so thank you very much everybody thank you

Channel: The Obama White House

Views: 263,920

Rating: 4.5431943 out of 5

Keywords: town hall, White, Shanghai, White House, forum, Asia, Live, Chinese, House, internet, China, 奥巴马总统与中国青年举行对话交流会, meeting, Obama

Id: YIBB4Dp0P8o

Length: 57min 59sec (3479 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 19 2009