In a talk titled Jointly Pursuing Prosperity and Harmony: The Prospects for China-U.S. Relations, the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China, New York, Liu Biwei spoke about Cornell-China ties. The talk was given in Chinese with English translation on February 16, 2006. This was Ambassador Liu’s first visit to Cornell University.

He started the talk with an icebreaker about his language skills:

First of all, I should say, because I learned the Laotian in the University so my English is not so good. I working on my English … but today, Mr. Yihu he is the assistant translator for me. He will help me to more good to express my mind for all of you.

Most of the speech was about the harmonious interchange between Cornell University and China, how we had exchanged students, how China is rapidly growing in power, how China and America need to be good partners and friends for the near future, and how a committment to the United China Policy was necessary for America to maintain good relations. It seems Taiwan is a touchy issue, and the Chinese will not tolerate any seperatist thought from America. Personally, if the Taiwanese
want their independence, I’d be inclined to give it to them.

When asked about intellectual property (IP) rights in China, he said:

28 years ago I didn’t have a clue what the internet will be or what a computer will be. But now China is devoloping rapidly and many shortcomes are emerging in this process. There is much room to improve. But I can respond to you in a responsible manner that the Chinese government has already seen the impact of this issue and are trying to curb piracy.

To me, this sounds like a longer, more formalized version of a “no comment.” The other questions asked were about the Olympics, about which he said China was proud, and about the ability for Chinese students in the US to return to China later to work after graduating.

For more information, you can download a recording of the lecture.