How Xi looks to history and culture to deepen China-US understanding

WASHINGTON -- President Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan, visited the US National Archives in Washington on Friday, accompanied by US President Donald Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, before departing for Beijing after a three-day state visit.

Established in 1934, the National Archives houses the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights -- three documents central to the founding of the United States and essential to understanding its history over more than two centuries.

At the final stop of his US trip, Xi said the archives carry the wisdom of the forebears and offer insights for the future. Over the past 250 years, the American people have pursued the American Dream and built a prosperous country and a beautiful home on the North American continent.

The Chinese people, inheriting 5,000 years of Chinese civilization, have continued to make new achievements on the new journey toward realizing the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, Xi said.

As two distinctive countries, China and the United States have different histories and cultures, social systems and development paths, Xi said.

However, the people of the two countries share the same aspiration for a better life despite the differences, he said.

A day earlier, Peng and Melania also visited the National Museum of Asian Art in Washington, a renowned US institution dedicated to the collection, research and exhibition of Asian art.

The tour to the National Archives and the art museum echoed the special arrangements China made for Trump during his previous trips to Beijing. During the US president's state visit to China in May, Xi invited him to see the Temple of Heaven, a more than 600-year-old landmark near the southern end of the Beijing Central Axis.

Standing inside the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, the iconic centerpiece of the temple, Xi explained to Trump that in ancient times, state rituals were held in the temple, where then Chinese rulers prayed for national prosperity, social harmony and favorable weather for good harvests.

Describing the Temple of Heaven as "great" and "incredible," Trump said the two countries should deepen mutual understanding and strengthen friendship between their peoples.

During Trump's first state visit to China in 2017, Xi accompanied him on a tour of the Forbidden City, or the Palace Museum, another historic landmark along the axis.

Inside the ancient royal palace, Xi briefed Trump on its history, architecture and culture as they toured the three main halls, each bearing the Chinese character "He," meaning peace and reflecting the Chinese people's longstanding aspiration for peace and harmony.

Such interactions reflect Xi's longstanding commitment to promoting exchanges and mutual learning among different cultures.

"For any country in the world, the past always holds the key to the present and the present is always rooted in the past. Only when we know where a country has come from, could we possibly understand why the country is what it is today, and only then could we realize in which direction it is heading," Xi once said.

Xi has noted on many occasions that both China and the United States are great countries, and both the Chinese and American peoples are great peoples. While the two countries differ in histories and cultures, social systems and development paths, he believes that those "differences should not become an obstacle to growing China-US relations."

For Xi, understanding these differences can create more space for dialogue and coexistence between countries, pointing the way toward avoiding the so-called Thucydides Trap and sustaining the steady development of the world's most consequential bilateral relationship.

At the state dinner held by Trump in the White House on Thursday, Xi recounted the history of China-US exchanges that stretches back more than 200 years, including their joint fight against Japanese aggression in World War II, and Ping-Pong diplomacy.

"Exchanges have helped promote heart-to-heart communication between our peoples and cemented public support for China-US friendship and cooperation," he said.

During his just-concluded visit to Washington, Xi announced a series of new initiatives to further boost people-to-people bonds between the two countries, including an invitation for 100,000 young Americans to visit China for exchanges and study in the coming five years.

Just as Xi has said, if the two countries recognize and respect their differences, deepen mutual understanding and learn from each other, seek the biggest common denominator, expand the list of areas for cooperation, and properly manage differences, China-US relations will enjoy steady and sustained growth.