Secretary of State’s Video Message for International Women’s Day

March 8th is International Women’s Day—a day to reflect on the progress the world has made in advancing women’s rights, and to recognize what work remains to be done.

This year marks an anniversary very close to my heart.  Fifteen years ago, along with women and men from around the world I attended the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing.  The message from that conference rang loudly and clearly, and still echoes across cultures and continents:  Human rights are women’s rights, and women’s rights are human rights.(Full text)

Why the U.S.-China relationship is the most important in the world

by Jon M. Huntsman, Jr., U.S. Ambassador to the PRC

I’ve seen a lot of reporting lately in the Chinese and American press on the state of the U.S.-China relationship.  It is variously described as heading for a “trade war” or suffering from “the United States' Cold War mentality.”  Comments like this remind us that even with the many changes over the past thirty years, we continue to experience “ups and downs” our complex and comprehensive relationship.  This is only natural.  There are real differences between our two nations; differences in interests, differences in values, differences in approaches to issues both at home and abroad.  But more noteworthy are our common interests and the increasingly common approaches that have developed with the maturing of our relationship.(Full text)

Consul General Brown and Environmental Officer Jeff Graham meet with the Imam of a mosque in Shadian, Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan

Consulate Officers Take Familiarization Trip to Southern Yunnan: From January 17-23, Consul General David E. Brown, Economic Officer Elizabeth Wharton and Environmental Officer Jeff Graham visited China’s borders with Vietnam and Laos in Yunnan Province to learn about border trade, economic development of minority areas, and environmental issues.(Full text)

U.S. Born Pandas Tai Shan and Mei Lan Arrive in Chengdu

Remarks by Consul General David E. Brown: Welcome Ceremony for Pandas Tai Shan and Mei Lan, Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport

On the afternoon of Friday, February 05, 2010, the Federal Express 777F air freighter carrying the two U.S.-born pandas touched down in Chengdu, bringing Tai Shan from the Washington National Zoo in Washington, D.C. and Mei Lan from Zoo Atlanta in Atlanta Georgia. 

In a welcome ceremony organized by the Sichuan Forestry Department, U.S. Consul General David E. Brown presented a speech to welcome the pandas, saying,

“Ever since Tai Shan was born in Washington, D.C. in 2005, and Mei Lan in Atlanta, Georgia in 2006, both pandas have become endearing goodwill ambassadors for China in the United States.  They, along with their parents and the other pandas on loan from China in San Diego, California and Memphis, Tennessee occupy a special place in the U.S.-China relationship, which has matured and expanded over the past 30 years.  In 1972, even before formal diplomatic relations between our two countries were established in 1979, the National Zoo welcomed its first pair of pandas -- Hsing Hsing and Ling Ling.  Since then, the personal and institutional relationships formed through these panda exchanges have deepened, and they are now a foundation for important joint efforts that continue to advance the conservation of pandas and their habitat.” 

Following the arrival ceremony, Tai Shan was driven two and a half hours to Wolong’s Bifengxia Panda Base, just outside the city of Ya’an, Sichuan, which will be his new home.  Mei Lan was taken to Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding Center in Chengdu.

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