THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
(Beijing, People's Republic of China)
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For Immediate Release
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June 29, 1998
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REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
IN PRESENTING COLLECTION OF AMERICAN BOOKS
TO THE AMERICAN STUDIES REFERENCE COLLECTION
OF THE BEIJING UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
Library Lawn
Beijing University
Beijing, People's Republic of China
12:19 P.M. (L)
PRESIDENT CLINTON: Thank you very much. Well,
first, let me thank all of you for coming out to see us on such a
nice, warm day. (Laughter and applause.) I thank President
Chen, Vice President Ren, Professor Chi, Senator Akaka, and the
members of Congress who are here, and all the members of the
university community, who have made my wife and our daughter and
our whole delegation feel so very welcome today. Thank you very
much. (Applause.)
Now, when Senator Akaka said that some people
thought of Beida as the Harvard of China -- (laughter and
applause) -- all of us Americans who did not go to Harvard were
thinking, perhaps, Harvard was the Beida of the United States.
(Applause.)
You know, political leaders of my generation talk a
lot about the future and the 21st century, but it is you, the
students who are here, who will live in it and who must build it.
A child born today will not even remember the 20th century.
Indeed, a child born today may think of people like me as relics
of an ancient dynasty. (Laughter.) Americans -- including that
one -- (laughter) -- want to work with China to help build this
future -- a future of security and prosperity, a future in which
we clean up the world's environment instead of destroy it, a
future in which we advance education and dignity and freedom for
all people.
As a small token of our respect and in honor of your
centennial, we are donating over 500 reference books to the
library of Beida. (Applause.) Thank you. Xie xie. (Laughter
an applause.) Through the U.S. Information Agency, we have
selected some of the best volumes in our history and literature,
along with encyclopedias and dictionaries on every subject
related to the United States. And my wife and I have added
personally two books which we wrote: her book, "It Takes A
Village," and mine, "Between Hope and History." And I'd like to
present them to the President at this moment. (Applause.)
Now, if you're trying to decide which one to read
first, I should tell you that in America her book sold a lot more
copies than mine did. (Laughter and applause.)
We are proud of our historic relationship with this
university. I hope these books will help to further our
friendship for another generation. I hope, too, that more and
more Americans will come to China to study and more and more
young Chinese will go to America to study. (Applause.)
Every day, I must be preoccupied with the world's
problems, but I believe a lot of the world's problems would be
quickly solved if the world's young people were permitted to live
together and learn together and serve together. You can set the
standard, and I hope you will. (Applause.)
Next week, our young country will celebrate its
222nd birthday. (Applause.) It is a time of year when we
Americans stop to reflect on the many blessings we enjoy, on the
ideals of our founders to provide life, liberty, and the
opportunity to pursue happiness to all people. It is a time when
we measure our progress and try to honestly assess our continuing
problems; when we take pride in our history, but also resolve to
keep working on it. For history is not just something to be
studied at university. History is always unfolding. Here it is
unfolding. And I believe a large part of the next chapter in
America's history will be its partnership with the new China.
(Applause.)
China, too, is always rebuilding itself. Of course,
your foundations are deeper than ours; our entire history could
fit into one of your longer dynasties. (Laughter.) But from
different starting points we are working toward a common destiny
of peace and prosperity, and, I hope, of lifting the level of
freedom and dignity not only for all our own people, but for
others throughout the world.
China is a very old country, But, thanks to you
--to your idealism, to your spirit and to your future -- it will
remain forever young.
Thank you very much. (Applause.)
