溫家寶在哈佛大學演講：把目光投向中國

溫家寶在哈佛大學演講：把目光投向中國

 
DEAN KIM CLARK:

It's a great pleasure and a privilege to welcome you here today to this historic occasion. On behalf of the faculty and the staff and the students of the Harvard Business School I welcome all of you to our campus. We're certainly pleased to have Premier Wen here today on this great occasion. It's my good fortune to be able to introduce to you today my good friend, Bill Kirby, who is Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Bill.

DEAN KIRBY:

Thank you very much, Kim. The Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard joins in welcoming all of you and our distinguished guests from the People's Republic of China. Today is a very important occasion, an opportunity for dialogue between members of the Harvard community and the leader of one of the most rapidly transforming and transformative countries in the world, whose future is closely intertwined with our own. And in this global era, universities serve an increasingly important function. We are points of connection and communication between citizens of different regions of the world. Harvard is honored to welcome Premier Wen and his delegation. As the first line of "The Analects" tells us, "How very glad we are to welcome friends from afar." Our guest speaker today is, as you know, the Premier of the People's Republic of China, Premier Wen Jiabao.

Seated to the Premier's left is Mr. Li Zhaoxing, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic. Next to Minister Li is Ma Kai, Minister of the National Development and Reform Commission. To Mr. Ma Kai's left is Mr. Wei Liqun, who is Director of the Research Office of the State Council. And seated next to the Director is the Honorable Yang Jiechi, the Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to the United States.

And let me introduce the gentleman to my right. We have already had the pleasure of hearing from Dean Kim Clark of the Harvard Business School. And the gentleman to his right, Professor Dwight Perkins, the Director of the Harvard University Asia Center. To Professor Perkins' right is Professor Wilt Edema, Director of Harvard's Fairbank Center for East Asian Research, and to his right is the Honorable Clark Randt, the United States Ambassador to the People's Republic of China. Welcome, Ambassador Grant. Thank you all for coming, and may I now introduce our next speaker, ladies and gentlemen, the President of Harvard University, Lawrence Summers.

PRESIDENT SUMMERS: Thanks very much, Bill. On a day like this I am particularly glad to have a distinguished scholar of Chinese history as the Dean of our Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Premier Wen, we are honored to have you here today. On behalf of the entire Harvard community and especially the 350 Chinese students at Harvard, and the nearly 500 scholars, teachers and professors at Harvard, I am delighted to welcome you to our university.

When the history of our era is written a century or two from now I suspect that the end of the Cold War, the fall of the Berlin Wall, may be the second story in that history. The first story in that history may be the dramatic developments on the Asian continent over the last quarter century and the next, and at the center of that story is your country, China. This is surely a moment of promise, of risk, and of opportunity in China.

And our distinguished speaker, Wen Jiabao, is poised to lead China into a new era with great potential for growth and prosperity. A geologist by training and an experienced public servant over more than three decades, Premier Wen has the very well-established reputation of being a very able and very well-trusted statesman. He and I had a chance to meet, it was my very great privilege to meet with him, when I traveled to China several years ago on behalf of the U.S. government, and I am now delighted to welcome to Harvard University Premier Wen. Premier Wen, we look forward to your remarks.

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PREMIER WEN:

Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen. I would like to begin by sincerely thanking President Summers for his kind invitation. Harvard is a world famous institution of higher learning, attracting the best minds and bringing them up generation after generation. In its 367 years of history, Harvard has produced seven American presidents and more than 40 Nobel Laureates. You have reason to be proud of your university. It is my great pleasure today to stand on your rostrum and have this face-to-face exchange with you. I like young people very much. Because young people are always so energetic and they have the least conservative ideas, and they represent the future of our world. And this year during the outbreak of the SARS epidemic, I thought about the students. I cared a lot for them, and I wanted to gain strength from them. So that was why I went to our Tsinghua University to have lunch with them. And also I went to Beijing University and I had a chat with the students in the library. At that time probably you could not have imagined what an atmosphere we were in, but I felt that the young people were as hopeful as ever. They always dream about a beautiful future. They pointed to the trees outside the window and said to me, "People like to say that when all the leaves grow, when the tree becomes green all over, this crisis will be over. And they also said that they would all rather be the green leaves themselves, and they asked me, Premier, in this big tree, which part of the tree are you? I immediately replied, "I'm also one of the leaves like you."

I think the developments proved to be like they predicted. When spring came back, when the trees became green, this outbreak was driven away.

As the speaker today, of course I think I need to explain myself a little bit to my audience, and I owe you this because in this way we can have a heart-to-heart discussion.

As you know, as you probably know, I'm the son of a schoolteacher. I spent my childhood mostly in the smoke and fire of war. I was not as fortunate as you as a child. When Japanese aggressors drove all the people in my place to the Central Plaza, I had to huddle closely against my mother. Later on, my whole family and house were all burned up, and even the primary school that my grandpa built himself all went up in flames. In my work life, most of the time I worked in areas under the most harsh conditions in China. Therefore I know my country and my people quite well and I love them so deeply.

The title of my speech today is "Turning Your Eyes To China." China and the United States are far apart, and they differ, they differ greatly in the level of economic development and culture. [At this point a protester interrupted.]

Please allow me to continue with my speech. Ladies and gentlemen, I will not be disrupted. Because I'm deeply convinced that the 300 million American people do have friendly feelings towards the Chinese people.

And I'm deeply convinced the development and improvement of China-U.S. relations will not only serve the interests of our two peoples but is also conducive to peace and stability of the whole world.

I know that China and the United States are far apart geographically and they differ greatly in the level of economic development and a cultural background. I hope my speech will help increase our mutual understanding.

In order to understand the true China, a changing society full of promises, it is necessary to get to know her yesterday, her today, and her tomorrow.

China yesterday was a big ancient country that created a splendid civilization.

As we all know, in the history of mankind, there appeared the Mesopotamian civilization in West Asia, the ancient Egyptian civilization along the Nile in North Africa, the ancient Greek-Roman civilization along the northern bank of the Mediterranean, the ancient Indian civilization in the Indus River Valley in South Asia, and the Chinese civilization originating in the Yellow and Yangtze river valleys.Owing to earthquake, flood, plague or famine, or to alien invasion or internal turmoil, some of these ancient civilizations withered away, some were destroyed and others became assimilated into other civilizations.Only the Chinese civilization, thanks to its strong cohesive power and inexhaustible appeal, has survived many vicissitudes intact.The 5,000-year-long civilization is the source of pride of every Chinese.

The traditional Chinese culture, both extensive and profound, starts far back and runs a long, long course.More than 2,000 years ago, there emerged in China Confucianism represented by Confucius and Mencius, Taoism represented by Lao Zi and Zhuang Zi, and many other theories and doctrines that figured prominently in the history of Chinese thought, all being covered by the famous term "the masters' hundred schools".From Confucius to Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the traditional Chinese culture presents many precious ideas and qualities, which are essentially populist and democratic.For example, they lay stress on the importance of kindness and love in human relations, on the interest of the community, on seeking harmony without uniformity and on the idea that the world is for all.Especially, patriotism as embodied in the saying "Everybody is responsible for the rise or fall of the country"; the populist ideas that "people are the foundation of the country" and that "people are more important than the monarch"; the code of conduct of "Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you"; and the traditional virtues taught from generation to generation: long suffering and hard working, diligence and frugality in household management, and respecting teachers and valuing education. All these have played a great role in binding and regulating the family, the country and the society.

On this year's Teacher's Day which fell on 10thof September, I went to see Professor Ji Xianlin ofPekingUniversityin his hospital ward.Professor Ji, 92, is a great scholar in both Chinese and western learning, specializing in oriental studies.I enjoy reading his prose.In our tête-à-tête we talked about the movement of "Eastern learning spreading to the West" and "Western learning spreading to the East".In the 17thand 18thcenturies foreign missionaries translated Chinese classics into European languages and introduced them toEurope, and this aroused great interest in some eminent scholars and enlightenment thinkers there.Descartes, Leibniz, Montesquieu, Voltaire, Goethe and Kant all studied the traditional Chinese culture.

In my younger days I read Voltaire's writings.He said that a thinker who wanted to study the history of this planet must first turn his eyes to the East,Chinaincluded.

Interestingly, one and a half century ago, R.W. Emerson, famous American philosopher and outstanding Harvard graduate, also fell for the traditional Chinese culture.He quoted profusely from Confucius and Mencius in his essays.He placed Confucius on a par with Socrates and Jesus Christ, saying that we read [the moral teachings of the Confucian school] with profit today, though they were "addressed to a state of society unlike ours".

Rereading these words of Voltaire and Emerson today, I cannot but admire their wisdom and farsight.

China today is a country in reform and opening-up and a rising power dedicated to peace.

The late Dr. John King Fairbank used the following words to describeChina's over population and land scarcity.On the land owned by one farmer in theUS, there might live hundreds of people forming a village inChina.He went on to say that although the Americans were mostly farmers in the past, they never felt such pressure of population density.

A large population and underdevelopment are the two factsChinahas to face.SinceChinahas 1.3 billion people, any small individual shortage, multiplied by 1.3 billion, becomes a big, big problem.And any considerable amount of financial and material resources, divided by 1.3 billion, becomes a very low per capita level.This is a reality the Chinese leaders have to keep firmly in mind at all times.

We can rely on no one except ourselves to resolve the problems facing our 1.3 billion people.Since the founding of the People's Republic, we have achieved much in our national reconstruction; at the same time we have made a few detours and missed some opportunities.By 1978, with the adoption of the reform and opening-up policies, we had ultimately found the right path of development - the Chinese people's path of independently building socialism with Chinese characteristics.

The essence of this path is to mobilize all positive factors, emancipate and develop the productive forces, and respect and protect the freedom of the Chinese people to pursue happiness.

China's reform and opening-up have spread from rural areas to the cities, from the economic field to the political, cultural and social arenas.Each and every step forward is designed, in the final analysis, to release the gushing vitality of labor, knowledge, technology, managerial expertise and capital, and allow all sources of social wealth to flow to the fullest extent.

For quite some time in the past,Chinahad a structure of highly-centralized planned economy.With deepening restructuring toward the socialist market economy and progress in the development of democratic politics, there was gradual lifting of the former improper restrictions, visible and invisible, on people's freedom in choice of occupation, mobility,enterprise, investment, information, travel, faith and lifestyles.This has brought extensive and profound changes never seen before inChina's history.On the one hand, the enthusiasm of the work force in both city and countryside has been set free.In particular, hundreds of millions of farmers are now able to leave their old villages and move into towns and cities, especially in the coastal areas, and tens of millions of intellectuals are now able to bring their talent and creativity into full play.On the other hand, the massive assets owned by the state can now be revitalized, the private capital pool in the amount of trillions ofYuancan take shape, and more than 500 billion US dollars worth of overseas capital can flow in.This combination of capital and labor results in a drama of industrialization and urbanization of a size unprecedented in human history being staged on the 9.6 million square kilometers of land calledChina.Here lies the secret of the 9.4% annual growth rate thatChina's economy has been able to attain in the past 25 years.

The tremendous wealth created byChinain the past quarter of a century has not only enabled our 1.3 billion countrymen to meet their basic needs for food, clothing and shelter, and basically realize a well-off standard of living, but also contributed to world development.Chinaowes all this progress to the policy of reform and opening-up and, in the final analysis, to the freedom-inspired creativity of the Chinese people.

It has become so clear to me that at the current stageChinahas an abundant supply of labor in proportion to her limited natural resources and short capital.If no effective measures are taken to protect the fundamental rights of our massive labor force, and in particular the farmer-workers coming to the cities, they may end up in a miserable plight as described in the novels by Charles Dickens and Theodore Dreiser. Without effective protection of the citizens' right to property, it will be difficult to attract and accumulate valuable capital.

Therefore, the Chinese Government is committed to protecting (1) the fundamental rights of all workers and (2) the right to property, both public and private.This has been explicitly provided for inChina's law and put into practice.

China's reform and opening-up aims at promoting human rights inChina.The two are mutually dependent and reinforcing.Reform and opening-up creates conditions for the advancement of human rights, and the latter invigorates the former.If one separates the two and thinks thatChinaonly goes after economic growth and ignores the protection of human rights, such a view does not square with the facts.Just as your former President Franklin Roosevelt said, "True individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence," and "Necessitous men are not free men."

I am not suggesting thatChina's human rights situation is impeccable.The Chinese Government has all along been making earnest efforts to correct the malpractices and negative factors of one kind or another in the human rights field.It is extremely important and difficult inChinato combine development, reform and stability.Seeing is believing.If our friends come toChinaand see for themselves, they will be able to judge objectively and appreciate the progress made there in human rights and the Chinese Government's hard work in upholding human rights since the beginning of reform and opening-up.

Chinais a large developing country. It is neither proper nor possible for us to rely on foreign countries for development.We must, and we can only, rely on our own efforts.In other words, while opening still wider to the outside world, we must more fully and more consciously depend on our own structural innovation, on constantly expanding the domestic market, on converting the huge savings of the citizens into investment, and on improving the quality of the population and scientific and technological progress to solve the problems of resources and the environment.Here lies the essence ofChina's road of peaceful rise and development.

Of course,Chinais still a developing country.There is an obvious gap between its urban and rural areas and between its eastern and western regions.If you travel to the coastal cities inChina's southeast, you will see modern sights of skyscrapers, busy traffic and brightly-lit streets.But in ruralChina, especially in the central and western rural parts, there are still many backward places.In the poor and remote mountain villages, folks still use manual labor and animals to till the land.They live in houses made of sun-dried mud bricks.In times of severe drought, there will be scarcity of drinking water for people and animals.A Chinese poet-magistrate of the 18thcentury wrote:

The rustling of bamboo outside my door.

Sounds like the moaning of the needy poor.

AsChina's Premier, I am often torn with anxiety and unable to eat or sleep with ease when I think of the fact that there are still 30 million farmers lacking food and clothing, 23 million city-dwellers living on subsistence allowances and 60 million disabled and handicapped people in need of social security aid.ForChinato reach the level of the developed countries, it will still take the sustained hard work of several generations, a dozen generations or even dozens of generations.

China tomorrow will continue to be a major country that loves peace and has a great deal to look forward to.

Peace-loving has been a time-honored quality of the Chinese nation.The First Emperor of Qin Dynasty commanded the building of the Great Wall two thousand years ago for defensive purposes.The Tang Dynasty opened up theSilk Roadone thousand years ago in order to sell silk, tea and porcelain to other parts of the world.Five hundred years ago Zheng He, the famous diplomat-navigator of the Ming Dynasty, led seven maritime expeditions to seek friendly ties with other countries, taking alongChina's exquisite products, advanced farming and handicraft skills.The great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy was right when he called the Chinese nation "the oldest and largest nation" and "the most peace-loving nation in the world".

As the modern times began, the ignorance, corruption and self-imposed seclusion of the feudal dynasties ledChinato prolonged social stagnation, declining national strength and repeated invasions by the foreign powers.Despite compounded disasters and humiliation, the Chinese nation never gave up and managed to emerge from each setback stronger than before.A nation learns a lot more in times of disaster and setback than in normal times.

Now,Chinahas laid down her three-step strategy toward modernization.From now to 2020,Chinawill complete the building of a well-off society in an all-round way.By 2049, the year the People's Republic will celebrate its centenary, we will have reached the level of a medium-developed country.We have no illusions but believe that on our way forward, we shall encounter many foreseeable and unpredictable difficulties and face all kinds of tough challenges.We cannot afford to lose such a sense of crisis.Of course, the Chinese Government and people are confident enough to overcome all the difficulties and achieve our ambitious goals through our vigorous efforts.This is because:

- The overriding trend of the present-day world is towards peace and development.China's development is blessed with a rare period of strategic opportunities.We are determined to secure a peaceful international environment and a stable domestic environment in which to concentrate on our own development and, with it, to help promote world peace and development.

- The socialismChinaadheres to is brimming with vigor and vitality.Socialism is like an ocean that takes in all the rivers and will never go dry.While planting our feet solidly on our national conditions, we will boldly press ahead with reform and opening-up and boldly absorb all fine achievements of human civilizations.There is no limit to the life and exuberance of a socialism that is good at self-readjustment and self-improvement.

- Twenty-five years of reform and opening-up has givenChinaa considerable material accumulation, and her economy has gained a foothold in the world.The motivation ofChina's millions to pursue happiness and create wealth is an inexhaustible reservoir of drive for the country's modernization.

- The Chinese nation has rich and profound cultural reserves. "Harmony without uniformity" is a great idea put forth by ancient Chinese thinkers.It means harmony without sameness, and difference without conflict.Harmony entails co-existence and co-prosperity, while difference conduces to mutual complementation and mutual support.To approach and address issues from such a perspective will not only help enhance relations with friendly countries, but also serve to resolve contradictions in the international community.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

A deeper mutual understanding is a two-way process.I hope American young people will turn their eyes toChina.I also trust our young people will turn their eyes more to theUS.

TheUnited Statesis a great country.Since the days of the early settlers, the Americans, with their toughness, frontier spirit, pragmatism, innovation, their respect for knowledge, admission of talents, their scientific tradition and rule of law, have forged the prosperity of their country.The composure, courage and readiness to help one another shown by the American people in face of the 9.11 terrorist attacks are truly admirable.

Entering the 21stcentury, mankind is confronted with more complicated economic and social problems.The cultural element will have a more important role to play in the new century.Different nations may speak different languages, but their hearts and feelings are interlinked.Different cultures present manifold features, yet they often share the same rational core elements that can always be passed on by people.The civilizations of different nations are all fruits of human wisdom and contribution to human progress; they call for mutual respect.Conflicts triggered by ignorance or prejudice are sometimes more dreadful than those caused by contradictory interests.We propose to seek common ground in the spirit of equality and tolerance, and carry on extensive inter-civilization dialogue and closer cultural exchanges.

In his poem, Malvern Hill, the famous American poet Herman Melville wrote:

"Wag the world how it will,

Leaves must be green in Spring."

The youth represents the future of the nation and the world.Faced with the bright prospect of China-US relations in the new century, I hope the young people ofChinaand theUSwill join their hands more closely.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Chinese forefathers formulated their goals as follows:

To ordain conscience for Heaven and Earth,

To secure life and fortune for the people,

To continue lost teachings for past sages,

To establish peace for all future generations.

Today, mankind is in the middle of a period of drastic social change.It would be a wise approach for all countries to carry forward their fine cultural heritages by tracing back their origin, passing on the essentials, learning from one another and breaking new grounds.My appeal is that we work together with our wisdom and strength for the progress and development of human civilization.Our success will do credit to our forbears and bring benefit to our posterity.In this way, our children and their children will be able to live in a more peaceful, more tranquil and more prosperous world.I am convinced that such an immensely bright and beautiful tomorrow will arrive!

Thank you.

 校長先生，

　　女士們，先生們：

　　衷心感謝薩莫斯校長的盛情邀請。

　　哈佛是世界著名的高等學府，精英薈萃，人才輩出。建校367年來，曾出過7位總統(tǒng)，40多位諾貝爾獎獲得者。這是你們的光榮。

　　今天，我很高興站在哈佛講臺上同你們面對面交流。我是一個普通的中國人。我出生在一個教師家庭，有過苦難的童年，曾長期工作在中國艱苦地區(qū)。中國有2500個縣（區(qū)），我去過1800個。我深愛著我的祖國和人民。

　　我今天演講的題目是——把目光投向中國。

　　中美兩國相隔遙遠，經濟水平和文化背景差異很大。但愿我的這篇講演，能增進我們之間的相互了解。

　　要了解一個真實的、發(fā)展變化著的、充滿希望的中國，就有必要了解中國的昨天、今天和明天。

　　昨天的中國，是一個古老并創(chuàng)造了燦爛文明的大國。

　　大家知道，在人類發(fā)展史上，曾經出現(xiàn)過西亞兩河流域的巴比倫文明，北非尼羅河流域的古埃及文明，地中海北岸的古希臘——羅馬文明，南亞印度河流域的古文明，發(fā)源于黃河——長江流域的中華文明，等等。由于地震、洪水、瘟疫、災荒，由于異族入侵和內部動亂，這些古文明，有的衰落了，有的消亡了，有的融入了其它文明。而中華文明，以其頑強的凝聚力和雋永的魅力，歷經滄桑而完整地延續(xù)了下來。擁有5000年的文明史，這是我們中國人的驕傲。

　　中華民族的傳統(tǒng)文化博大精深、源遠流長。早在2000多年前，就產生了以孔孟為代表的儒家學說和以老莊為代表的道家學說，以及其他許多也在中國思想史上有地位的學說流派，這就是有名的“諸子百家”。從孔夫子到孫中山，中華民族傳統(tǒng)文化有它的許多珍貴品，許多人民性和民主性的好東西。比如，強調仁愛，強調群體，強調和而不同，強調天下為公。特別是“天下興亡、匹夫有責”的愛國情操，“民為邦本”“民貴君輕”的民本思想，“己所不欲，勿施于人”的待人之道，吃苦耐勞、勤儉持家、尊師重教的傳統(tǒng)美德，世代相傳。所有這些，對家庭、國家和社會起到了巨大的維系與調節(jié)作用。

　　今年9月10日中國教師節(jié)，我專程到醫(yī)院看望北京大學老教授季羨林。他已經92歲高齡，學貫中西，專攻東方學。我很喜歡讀他的散文。我們在促膝交談中，談到近代有過“西學東漸”，也有過“東學西漸”。17、18世紀，當外國傳教士把中國的文化典籍翻譯成西文傳到歐洲時，曾引起西方一批著名學者和啟蒙思想家的極大興趣。笛卡爾、萊伯尼茲、孟德斯鳩、伏爾泰、歌德、康德等，都對中國傳統(tǒng)文化有過研究。

　　我年輕時讀過伏爾泰的著作。他說過，作為思想家來研究這個星球的歷史時，首先要把目光投向包括中國在內的東方。

　　非常有意思的是，一個半世紀前，貴國著名的哲學家、杰出的哈佛人——愛默生先生，也對中國的傳統(tǒng)文化情有獨鐘。他在文章中摘引孔孟的言論很多。他還把孔子和蘇格拉底、耶酥相提并論，認為儒家道德學說，“雖然是針對一個與我們完全不同的社會，但我們今天讀來仍受益不淺。”

　　今天重溫伏爾泰和愛默生這些名言，不禁為他們的睿智和遠見所折服。

　　今天的中國，是一個改革開放與和平崛起的大國。

　　費正清先生關于中國人多地少有過這樣的描述：美國一戶農莊所擁有的土地，到了中國卻居住著整整一個擁有數(shù)百人的村落。他還說，美國人盡管在歷史上也曾以務農為本，但體會不到人口稠密的壓力。

　　人多，不發(fā)達，這是中國的兩大國情。中國有13億人口，不管多么小的問題，只要乘以13億，那就成為很大很大的問題；不管多么可觀的財力、物力，只要除以13億，那就成為很低很低的人均水平。這是中國領導人任何時候都必須牢牢記住的。

　　解決13億人的問題，不能靠別人，只能靠自己。中華人民共和國成立以來，我們的建設取得了很大成就，同時也走了一些彎路，失去了一些機遇。從1978年開始改革開放，我們終于找到了一條發(fā)展自己的正確道路。這就是：中國人民獨立自主地建設中國特色的社會主義。

　　這條道路的精髓，就是調動一切積極因素，解放和發(fā)展生產力，尊重和保障中國人民追求幸福的自由。

　　中國的改革開放，從農村到城市，從經濟領域到政治、文化、社會領域。它的每一步深入，說到底，都是為了放手讓一切勞動、知識、技術、管理和資本的活力競相迸發(fā)，讓一切創(chuàng)造社會財富的源泉充分涌流。

　　中國在相當長時間內曾實行高度集中的計劃經濟體制。隨著社會主義市場經濟體制改革的深入和民主政治建設的推進，過去人們在擇業(yè)、遷徙、致富、投資、資訊、旅游、信仰和選擇生活方式等方面有形無形的不合理限制，被逐步解除。這就帶來了前所未有的、廣泛而深刻的變化。一方面，廣大城鄉(xiāng)勞動者的積極性得以釋放，特別是數(shù)以億計的農民得以走出傳統(tǒng)村落，進入城市特別是沿海地區(qū)，數(shù)以千萬計的知識分子聰明才智得到充分發(fā)揮；另一方面，規(guī)模龐大的國有資產得以盤活，數(shù)萬億元的民間資本得以形成，5000億美元的境外資本得以流入。這種資本和勞動的結合，就在中國960萬平方公里的國土上，演進著人類歷史上規(guī)模極為宏大的工業(yè)化和城市化。過去25年間，中國經濟之所以按平均9.4%的速度迅速增長，其奧秘就在于此。

　　25年間中國創(chuàng)造的巨大財富，不僅使13億中國人基本解決了溫飽，基本實現(xiàn)了小康，而且為世界發(fā)展作出了貢獻。中國所有這些進步，都得益于改革開放，歸根到底來自于中國人民基于自由的創(chuàng)造。

　　我清醒地認識到，在中國現(xiàn)階段，相對于有限的資源和短缺的資本，勞動力的供應是十分充裕的。不切實保護廣大勞動者特別是進城農民工的基本權利，他們就有可能陷于像狄更斯、德萊塞小說所描寫的那種痛苦境地。不切實保護公民的財產權利，就難以積累和吸引寶貴的資本。

　　因此，中國政府致力于兩個保護：一個是保護勞動者的基本權利；一個是保護財產權利，既要保護公有財產，又要保護私人財產。關于這一點，中國的法律已經作出明確規(guī)定，并付諸實施。

　　中國的改革開放正是為了推動中國的人權進步，兩者是相互依存、相互促進的。改革開放為人權進步創(chuàng)造了條件，人權進步為改革開放增添了動力。如果把兩者割裂開來，以為中國只注意發(fā)展經濟而忽視人權保護，這種看法不符合實際。正如貴國前總統(tǒng)羅斯福曾指出的“真正的個人自由，在沒有經濟安全和獨立的情況下，是不存在的”，“貧者無自由”。

　　我并不認為，今天中國的人權狀況是盡善盡美的。對人權方面存在的這樣那樣的弊端和消極現(xiàn)象，中國政府一直認真努力加以克服。在中國，把發(fā)展、改革和穩(wěn)定三者結合起來，具有極端的重要性和艱巨性。百聞不如一見。只要朋友們到中國實地看一看，對改革開放以來中國的人權進步和中國政府為保障人權所作的艱苦努力，就會有客觀的理解和認識。

　　中國是個發(fā)展中的大國。我們的發(fā)展，不應當也不可能依賴外國，必須也只能把事情放在自己力量的基點上。這就是說，我們要在擴大對外開放的同時，更加充分和自覺地依靠自身的體制創(chuàng)新，依靠開發(fā)越來越大的國內市場，依靠把龐大的居民儲蓄轉化為投資，依靠國民素質的提高和科技進步來解決資源和環(huán)境問題。中國和平崛起發(fā)展道路的要義就在于此。

　　當然，中國仍然是一個發(fā)展中國家。城市和農村、東部和西部存在著明顯發(fā)展差距。如果你們到中國東南沿海城市旅行，就會看到高樓林立、車流如織、燈火輝煌的現(xiàn)代景觀。但是，在我國農村特別是中國西部農村還有不少落后的地方。在那些貧窮的偏僻山村，人們還在使用人力和畜力耕作，居住的是土坯房，大旱之年人畜飲水十分困難。古詩云：“衙齋臥聽蕭蕭竹，疑是民間疾苦聲”。作為中國的總理，每念及還有3000萬農民同胞沒有解決溫飽，還有2300萬領取最低生活保障金的城鎮(zhèn)人口，還有6000萬需要社會幫助的殘疾人，我憂心如焚、寢食難安。中國要達到發(fā)達國家水平，還需要幾代人、十幾代人甚至幾十代人的長期艱苦奮斗。

　　明天的中國，是一個熱愛和平和充滿希望的大國。

　　中華民族歷來酷愛和平。2000年前，秦始皇修筑的長城是防御性的。1000年前，唐朝開辟通向西域的絲綢之路，是為了把絲綢、茶葉、瓷器等銷往世界。500年前，明朝著名的外交家和航海家鄭和七下西洋，是為了同友邦結好，帶去了精美的產品和先進的農業(yè)、手工業(yè)技術。正如俄羅斯偉大文學家托爾斯泰所說，中華民族是“最古老的民族，最大的民族”，“世界上最酷愛和平的民族”。

　　近代以來，由于封建王朝愚昧、腐敗和閉關鎖國，導致社會停滯、國力衰竭，列強頻頻入侵。中華民族盡管災難深重、飽受凌辱，但始終自強不息、愈挫愈奮。一個民族在災難和挫折中學到的東西，會比平時多得多。

　　中國已經制訂了實現(xiàn)現(xiàn)代化的“三步走”戰(zhàn)略。從現(xiàn)在起到2020年，中國要全面實現(xiàn)小康。到2049年，也就是中華人民共和國成立100周年的時候，我們將達到世界中等發(fā)達國家的水平。我們清醒地估計到，在前進的道路上還要克服許許多多可以想見的和難以預料的困難，迎接各種各樣嚴峻的挑戰(zhàn)。我們不能不持有這樣的危機感。當然，中國政府和中國人民有足夠的信心，勵精圖治，艱苦奮斗，排除萬難，實現(xiàn)我們的雄心壯志。這是因為：

　　——當今世界的潮流是要和平、要發(fā)展。中國的發(fā)展正面臨非常難得的戰(zhàn)略機遇期。我們已下定決心，爭取和平的國際環(huán)境和穩(wěn)定的國內環(huán)境，集中精力發(fā)展自己，又以自己的發(fā)展促進世界的和平與發(fā)展。

　　——中國堅持的是充滿生機和活力的社會主義。社會主義是大海，大海容納百川，永不枯竭。我們立足國情，大膽推進改革開放，勇于吸收人類一切優(yōu)秀文明成果來充實自己。一個善于自我調整、自我完善的社會主義，其生機和活力是無限的。

　　——改革開放25年來已積累起一定的物質基礎，中國經濟在世界已占有一席之地。中國億萬人民追求幸福、創(chuàng)造財富的積極性，乃是推進國家現(xiàn)代化取之不盡、用之不竭的巨大力量。

　　——中華民族具有極其深厚的文化底蘊。“和而不同”，是中國古代思想家提出的一個偉大思想。和諧而又不千篇一律，不同而又不彼此沖突；和諧以共生共長，不同以相輔相成。用“和而不同”的觀點觀察、處理問題，不僅有利于我們善待友邦，也有利于國際社會化解矛盾。

　　女士們、先生們：

　　加深理解是相互的。我希望美國青年把目光投向中國，也相信中國青年會進一步把目光投向美國。

　　美國是一個偉大的國家。從移民時代開始，美利堅民族的頑強意志和拓荒氣慨，務實和創(chuàng)新精神，對知識的尊重和人才的吸納，科學和法治傳統(tǒng)，鑄就了美國的繁榮。美國人民在遭受“9·11”恐怖襲擊時所表現(xiàn)出來的鎮(zhèn)定、互助和勇氣，令人欽佩。

　　進入二十一世紀，人類面臨的經濟和社會問題更加復雜。文化因素將在新的世紀里發(fā)揮更加重要的作用。不同民族的語言各不相同，而心靈情感是相通的。不同民族的文化千姿百態(tài)，其合理內核往往是相同的，總能為人類所傳承。各民族的文明都是人類智慧的成果。對人類進步作出了貢獻，應該彼此尊重。人類因無知或偏見引起的沖突，有時比因利益引起的沖突更可怕。我們主張以平等和包容的精神，努力尋找雙方的共同點，開展廣泛的文明對話和深入的文化交流。

　　貴國著名詩人梅爾維爾在《麥爾文山》中曾這樣寫道：“無論世界怎樣變化，樹木逢春便會綠葉招展”。

　　青年代表著國家和世界的未來。面對新世紀中美關系的廣闊前景，我希望兩國青年更加緊密地攜起手來！

　　女士們，先生們：

　　中華民族的祖先曾追求這樣一種境界：“為天地立心，為生民立命，為往圣繼絕學，為萬世開太平”。今天，人類正處在社會急劇大變動的時代，回溯源頭，傳承命脈，相互學習，開拓創(chuàng)新，是各國弘揚本民族優(yōu)秀文化的明智選擇。我呼吁，讓我們共同以智慧和力量去推動人類文明的進步與發(fā)展。我們的成功將承繼先賢，澤被后世。這樣，我們的子孫就能生活在一個更加和平、安定和繁榮的世界里。我堅信，這樣一個無限光明、無限美好的明天，必將到來！

　　謝謝諸位。