Confucius Institute can help eliminate cultural ignorance and illiteracy

For a journalist, not being able to understand what an interviewee is saying is truly awkward. My latest experience, however, is one of both embarrassment and excitement.

I was talking on WeChat recently with Nicholas Kovacich, an Italian high school student, when he quoted, in classical Chinese, words by Matteo Ricci (1552-1610), an Italian missionary who spent much of his life in China.

I could not grasp the exact meaning of the words. So Kovacich, who likes to be known by his Chinese name Qi Yuanhang, explained what they mean: that China and Italy, two nations with long histories, will have a lasting friendship.