good morning, ladies and gentlemen:
today i'm very happy to be here to share with you some of my thoughts on the topic of globalization. and first of all, i would like to mention an event in our recent history.
thirty years ago, american president richard nixon made an epoch-making visit to china, a country still isolated at that time. premier zhou enlai said to him, "your handshake came over the vastest ocean in the world - twenty-five years of no communication." ever since then, china and america have exchanged many handshakes of various kinds. the fundamental implication of this example is that the need and desire to communicate across differences in culture and ideology is not only felt by the two countries but by many other nations as well.
as we can see today, environmentalists from different countries are making joint efforts to address the issue of global warming, economists are seeking solutions to financial crises that rage in a particular region but nonetheless cripple the world's economy, and diplomats and politicians are getting together to discuss the issue of combating terrorism. peace and prosperity has become a common goal that we are striving for all over the world. underlying this mighty trend of globalization is the echo of e. m. forster's words, "only connect!"
with the it revolution taking place, traditional boundaries of human society fall away. our culture, politics, society and commerce are being sloshed into a large melting pot of humanity. in this interlinked world, there are no outsiders, for a disturbance in one place is likely to impact other parts of the globe. we have begun to realize that a world divided cannot endure.
china is now actively integrating into the world. our recent entry to the wto is a good example. for decades, we have taken pride in being self-reliant, but now we realize the importance of participating in and contributing to a broader economic order. from the precarious role in the world arena to our present wto membership, we have come a long way.
but what does the way ahead look like? in some parts of the world people are demonstrating against globalization. are they justified then, in criticizing the globalizing world? instead of narrowing the gap between the rich and the poor, they say, globalization enables developed nations to swallow the developing nations' wealth in debts and interest. globalization, they argue, should be about an earnest interest in every other nation's economic health.