(East-West Question) Li Cheng: Are the youths of China and the United States more "closer" today?

　　China News Agency, Beijing, February 22 Question: Are the youths of China and the United States more "closer" today?

　　——An exclusive interview with Li Cheng, an expert on the American "Knowing China School"

　　Chen Xuelian, a special writer of China News Weekly

　　Youth is the future of the country and the future of the world.

What do American scholars think of Chinese youth?

Is the distance between contemporary Chinese and American youth closer?

　　The Brookings Institution in the United States is the world's number one think tank, and has an important influence on the attitudes and strategies of the US political and business circles towards China.

As the first Chinese director of the John Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution in a century, Li Cheng has a deep understanding of China and the United States.

A few days ago, Li Cheng accepted an exclusive interview with China News Agency's "East and West Questions" and talked about his views on Chinese youth.

He said, "The current generation of young people is unprecedented and unique in Chinese history."

The following is a summary of the interview transcript:

China News Weekly: What prompted you to study contemporary Chinese youth?

Cheng Li:

One of my research motivations is to challenge the stereotype that Chinese youth lack the ability to innovate, think independently and imagination.

Chinese youth, especially the first generation who grew up in the digital age, we call them "digital natives". Many of them are sensitive to information, have studied in the West, and have a deep understanding of Western culture. Unprecedented in Chinese history, they have their own judgments on Western culture.

The West has a great influence on them in education, film, sports and many other aspects.

However, in the American discourse system, when it comes to Chinese youth, they are described as "brainwashed nationalists", and this prejudice is far from reality.

My research shows that Chinese students overseas are very diverse, they study in different majors, have different family backgrounds, and have various philosophies and values.

Therefore, it is unfair to make simplistic comments on them.

Chinese students at the Columbia University graduation ceremony.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Liao Pan

China News Weekly: Polls show that American youths under the age of 29 are 20% to 30% more favorable toward China than those in the 30-40 and 50-60 age groups.

What is the main reason for the increase in US favorability towards China after the "post-90s" and "00s"?

Li Cheng:

The data of "20% to 30% higher favorability" was obtained from several surveys conducted by some American polling organizations and myself over the past 15 years, and the most recent data is also "15% higher". This result is undoubtedly correct.

There are several reasons for this:

　　The Cold War mentality of American youth is not as strong as that of previous generations, who grew up in the mid-1980s during the Cold War, and some of them experienced the Cuban Missile Crisis, etc.

Second, today's American youth are relatively free and open, and are less influenced by conservative extremist religions.

Third, the proportion of Chinese students in American universities is very high. In some American universities, this proportion accounts for 30 to 40 percent of the total number of foreign students.

American students have been in contact with Chinese students for a long time, and they will find that they have a lot in common with themselves. Through their understanding of their Chinese classmates, and their exposure to Chinese culture such as Kung Fu movies, as well as technological products such as Tiktok, American young people have a better understanding of China. The strangeness has disappeared, and there is no sense of the so-called threat from China.

On December 31, 2021, a New Year's countdown celebration was held in Times Square in New York. The opening ceremony of the event was themed on Henan culture in China. Taijiquan, Shaolin Kungfu and fan dance took place one after another.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Liao Pan

　　But I would also like to add that, unlike the general American public, young members of Congress and the executive branch or young officials on China affairs are mainly "post-80s", many of whom belong to anti-China hawks.

This is because they are influenced by two aspects. First, the current strategic positioning of the United States regards China as an adversary or even an enemy; caused a big misunderstanding.

If you want to study a country, you must first have a deep understanding of its human geography and history. You have to live there and have contacts with the people there, instead of just relying on numbers and statistics to study a country.

China News Weekly: According to your research on China's "post-90s" and "post-00s" youth, how have their views on material consumption and values ​​changed?

What is the reason behind it?

Li Cheng:

When I gave a lecture to the "post-90s" students at Harvard University, I said, "Your peers in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Suzhou may be very similar to you." Chinese young people are more concerned with the concept of material consumption and the In terms of values, they are very different from their parents, which is unprecedented in history.

It is reflected in the following aspects.

　　Contemporary Chinese youth grew up in affluent societies.

From 1978 to 2017, during the 40 years of China's reform and opening up, per capita disposable income increased by 22.8 times, and GDP increased by 33.5 times.

China has grown from a poor country to a country with the largest middle class in the world.

Second, the "post-90s" and "post-00s" are the generation receiving education under the background of China's college enrollment expansion.

In 1998, the gross enrollment rate of higher education in China was 9.76%, and by 2018, the gross enrollment rate of higher education reached 48%, and nearly half of the young people in the country can go to university.

Third, over the past 40 years of reform and opening up, China has experienced a wave of migration from rural areas to cities that is rare in history. In 1978, China's urbanization rate was 17%, and in 2020 it was about 62%.

Young people have become a new force in urbanization.

Fourth, this generation of young people is a rare one-child generation in the history of China and the world. In 2010, the total number of only-children in China reached 150 million.

Fifth, the rise of digital natives has fundamentally changed China's social structure, social space and social relations.

The social relations of the traditional agricultural age based on blood and geography were changed, and the younger generation led their parents into the digital age.

The youth's public social interaction center has shifted from the large public space in the past to a small private space and virtual space centered on a certain subject.

　　All of the above factors determine that the material consumption concepts and values ​​of contemporary Chinese youth are bound to undergo revolutionary fundamental changes.

At the Hong Kong Computer and Communications Festival, e-sports competitions attract audiences.

E-sports is gradually becoming the mainstream cultural lifestyle of young people.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Zhang Wei

China News Weekly: Your research points out that today's Chinese youth are patriotic and concerned about social progress issues. Is the same for American youth?

Cheng Li:

The younger generation in China and the United States pay more attention to social justice and rights, which is related to the demographic characteristics of China and the United States.

In the United States, older white people tend to be conservative and racist.

Minorities such as blacks and Asians in the United States are more sensitive to social fairness and justice, which is closely related to their marginal status in American society. They place great emphasis on the right to vote and have to speak out to protest racial discrimination and even violence against them.

China also has the contradiction of "unbalanced and insufficient development". In this sense, young people in China and the United States, the two largest economies in the world, face similar problems.

　　On the other hand, some well-educated young people are more sensitive to issues such as climate change.

At the same time, on issues such as gender equality, homosexuality, the rights of disadvantaged groups, and social justice, the younger generation should be more concerned and more courageous to express themselves than their predecessors.

　　Whether in China or the United States, it is a good thing for the future world pattern that young people pay attention to social progress issues and have diverse ideas.

For example, a big reason why the global fight against the new crown epidemic is now hindered is that human beings cannot achieve solidarity and cooperation without more active participation in the face of a common enemy.

In October 2021, the "Climate Change Youth in Action" Sino-US Youth Dialogue will be held at Tsinghua University.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Yi Haifei

China News Weekly: What are the areas of future cooperation between the youth of China and the United States?

How to push China-US relations to a better direction?

Li Cheng:

Before the global pandemic of the new crown epidemic, the economic differences within and between countries have triggered the phenomenon of globalization "decoupling" worldwide, and led to radical populism, racial discrimination, extreme nationalism and other emotions , these sentiments continue to rise today.

The continued aggravation of the new crown epidemic has further caused disparities in the digital economy, public health, including vaccine distribution and online education, among different countries, and further exacerbated inequality and differentiation.

　　Under such circumstances, China and the United States should emphasize the similarities between people, rather than exaggerating differences. They need to be more sympathetic, empathetic, and empathetic, and to respect each other.

　　People-to-people exchanges, educational exchanges, cultural exchanges, and the promotion of tourism can enhance mutual understanding and friendship between different cultures in the world.

In these areas, youth can become the main driving force of Sino-US exchanges.

In January 2022, "Generation Z" entered the Winter Olympics Experience School and People-to-People Exchange Dialogue was held in Shijingshan District, Beijing, with representatives of coaches, athletes, foreign youth in China, college students, and international students participating in the event.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Zhang Yu

China News Weekly: Do you have any specific and actionable suggestions for American policy makers to pay attention to Chinese youth's views on the United States?

Cheng Li:

Is it in the interests of the United States for American policymakers to break away from the Chinese youth, or push many of the Chinese youth to the anti-American side?

Is it beneficial to the development of China and the United States?

This policy is indeed worth reflecting on.

I have some suggestions for this.

　　First of all, we must do our own affairs well first. If the United States really wants to influence China, we should not use double standards. Doing our own affairs well is more important than anything else.

Second, the U.S. government must condemn any form of racism, including hate speech and violence against Asian Americans.

At the same time, the FBI cannot use the "China Project" for racial profiling, and must cancel the policy of hindering and embarrassing Chinese and Chinese scholars.

　　In addition, it is necessary to strengthen non-governmental exchanges with China, continue to open doors, and welcome Chinese students and scholars to study and exchange in American universities. There should be no restrictions, because universities themselves are open.

At the same time, more American students can be sent to China for long-term study and exchange.

It is also necessary to establish various dialogue mechanisms between the youth of the two countries, especially to promote the discussion of international issues such as climate change, epidemics or plagues, nuclear weapons control, and economic and social divides among the youths of China and the United States.

(over)

Interviewee Profile:

　　Li Cheng, director of the John Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution and senior fellow of the Foreign Policy Program, is a board member of the National Committee on US-China Relations.