Xiplomacy: Xi's New Year cards cement friendship between Chinese and Americans

A student (L) from the Muscatine High School delegation takes selfies at the Palace Museum in Beijing, capital of China, April 18, 2024. (Photo by Liu Zunshuan/Xinhua)

“I was extremely grateful when I received President Xi's greeting card,” said Brian Suy, an 11th grade student at Lincoln High School in the US state of Washington.

On January 1, Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan responded to a New Year's card sent by representatives of middle school teachers and students in Washington state.

In their reply card, the couple expressed their hope that Chinese and American youth will continue to participate in China's initiative to invite 50,000 young Americans to China for exchange and study programs over a five-year period. years.

Previously, the US-China Youth and Student Exchange Association, as well as representatives of teachers and students from Lincoln and Stadium high schools, who visited China as part of this initiative, sent a new year card to Xi, Peng and the Chinese people. .

“I am willing to be a successor to maintain strong and close relations between the Chinese and American people,” Suy told Xinhua. “I believe the world will ultimately become a better place if future generations strengthen these bonds.”

The school's drum band performs during a farewell ceremony at Lincoln High School in Tacoma, Washington, the United States, January 30, 2024. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling)

FRIENDSHIP BRIDGE

After receiving New Year cards from Xi and his wife twice in response to their greetings, teachers and students in Washington state are greatly encouraged, said Zhou Shuqi, co-president of the American-American Association. Chinese exchange of young people and students.

In February 2024, Xi and Peng sent their best wishes for the Year of the Dragon in their card to Lincoln High School, inviting students to visit China more often, including under the “50,000 in Five Years” initiative. “.

These cards are a token of the friendship between the United States and China and a bridge that connects young people, which “motivates us to move forward,” Zhou said.

In one year, approximately 14,000 young Americans traveled to China for exchanges and studies.

“Our experience in China has been incredibly rich and rewarding,” said Shannon Marshall, principal of Stadium High School. “This experience created a lasting friendship between American students and Chinese students.”

“We would love to send more students in 2025 and we are very grateful for the opportunities,” she said.

“It was a privilege to be able to sign a holiday card for President Xi,” said Lincoln High School student Lucy Arceno.

Recalling her trip to China, she said what impressed her most was the hospitality of the Chinese people. “I made quite a few Chinese friends,” she said. “A Chinese friend of mine said this after we got to know each other: 'Little by little, I realized that we didn't make any difference.' I thought it was a really beautiful statement about friendship.”

“People-to-people exchanges – direct communications between Chinese people and their foreign counterparts from all walks of life – are part of the foundation of President Xi's international thinking,” said Robert Lawrence Kuhn, president of the Kuhn Foundation. China.

“President Xi places more emphasis on people-to-people exchanges” in developing bilateral relations, Kuhn said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (back, 4th left) and his wife Peng Liyuan (back, 2nd left) greet teachers and students during their visit to Lincoln High School in Tacoma, Washington, USA. United States, September 23, 2015. (Xinhua) /Liu Weibing)

A FRIENDSHIP THAT LASTS

For Lincoln High School, the warm interactions with Xi have continued for a long time. As early as 1993, Xi visited the school as secretary of the Fuzhou Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China.

In September 2015, he revisited the school with Peng during his first state visit to the United States as Chinese president, and encouraged students to travel to China to become more familiar with the country.

During their stay, the couple was able to attend a choral performance in the school auditorium composed of students from both countries. Lynn Eisenhauer, a music teacher at the school, was in attendance.

“I have had the incredible opportunity to travel across China three times in 2024,” she told Xinhua in a recent interview. “Many of my friendships with Chinese teachers and students began while learning to do calligraphy together, chant side by side, or do Tai Chi with each other.”

Eisenhauer was amazed that when she joined a group from Washington State to visit China last year, the opportunity arose for the group to perform in front of Peng again at an event. exchange of young Chinese-Americans in Beijing, which was “a truly magical memory”.

“One of the ways our friendships continue to grow is through these shared experiences and the common bonds they help us create,” Eisenhauer said. “Peaceful relationships and lasting friendships can make the world a better place for all of us.”

Maurice Chong, from Washington state, participated in both the choir in 2015 and the youth exchange activity in 2024. Now an exchange student at Peking University, Chong said that he was inspired by Xi to study abroad in 2015, when the Chinese president encouraged them with a Chinese adage: “Read 10,000 books and browse 10,000 miles. »

Xi's initiative to invite American students to China “will indeed have a great effect on people-to-people relations between the United States and China, and that is what we need,” said Elyn MacInnis , founder of “Friends of Kuliang”, a group bringing together American students. descendants of American families who once lived in Kuliang, Fujian Province.

Communication is a good way to build trust, “and trust is very important to friendship,” MacInnis said.

Jeffrey Greene, president of the Chinese-American Aviation Heritage Foundation, touches wrecks of Flying Tigers bombers displayed at an exhibition in Huimin village, Anqing city, east China's Anhui province ), on September 10, 2024. (Xinhua/Guo Chen)

“LONG LIVE PEACE”

The year 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.

During World War II, China and the United States fought together for peace and justice, and the friendship between the two peoples withstood the test of blood and fire and became stronger and stronger. , Xi and Peng said in their New Year card.

The couple's words were a response to the American student ID they were given, which paid homage to this part of history.

“'Long live peace; eternal friendship.' We wrote that wish on our card,” said David Chong, founder and president of the U.S.-China Youth and Student Exchange Association.

“We want to convey to young people in both countries the importance of maintaining world peace and the aspiration for future peace, and encourage them to inherit this precious friendship,” Chong said.

Among those who sent the card was William Felagai, a Grade 12 student at Lincoln High School, who recalled hearing about the two-way friendship from a Flying Tiger veteran. During World War II, an American air squadron made up of pilots from the U.S. Army Air Corps, Navy, and Marine Corps helped the Chinese fight the Japanese invaders. They are better known as the Flying Tigers.

“He explained how American soldiers and pilots found refuge with Chinese villagers willing to risk not only their lives and those of their families, but also that of their entire village to avoid destruction by the Japanese army,” Felagai said.

Jeffrey Greene, president of the Chinese-American Aviation Heritage Foundation, said Xi recalled the epic Flying Tigers several times, including in a response letter to the foundation in 2023.

The foundation launched a Flying Tigers Friendship School and Young Leaders program, with participation from dozens of Chinese and American colleges and universities. The program brought students from 11 U.S. states to visit China in 2024 and will be expanded in the new year, Greene said.

“I'm very proud of how they all understood the importance of what happened between China and the United States 80 years ago,” he said. “What they are learning is that there are enormous opportunities for cooperation between the Chinese and American people in the future.”