WASHINGTON - Zhao Qizheng, the Chinese statesman who has devoted much of his time to public diplomacy in China in recent years, visited Washington this Monday for a private meeting with US Sen Richard Lugar of Indiana, the top Republican on the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

"The United States, among all countries in the world, has paid the most attention to public diplomacy and China is doing the catching up," said Zhao, head of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Zhao, who was once the minister of the State Council Information Office, met Sen Lugar most likely in response to Lugar's report in February, which proposed to reinvigorate US public diplomacy to counter balance China's influence in the world.

Zhao said China is still far from achieving the level of public diplomacy that the US is known for. China must address this need if it hopes to get its message across to the rest of the world, he added.

"If we want the US-China relations to go further, public policy is a tool we must take," he said.

His views on the importance of public diplomacy were echoed by political, business and academic leaders whom he met during his 10-day trip to the US.

Stuart Holliday, the former US ambassador to the United Nations for Special Political Affairs who hosted Zhao at the Meridian International Center, said "there will be people in the United States asking why we should help China to improve its public diplomacy, and there will be people in China asking why China should engage and collaborate with United States. But we know whether we disagree or agree on every issue, the more exchange or dialogue we have, the better chance we have of managing this relationship of the century".

The Meridian International Center, where Holliday is the president and CEO, acts as an arm to the US State Department as an organization of public diplomacy and cultural communication.

Holliday said the US has revamped its public diplomacy strategies after the Cold War and strengthened various public policy platforms to better fit the new era under the leadership of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Zhao said the goal of China's public diplomacy is to not promote certain values or ideologies to other countries, but to better explain China's cultural traditions, social development and domestic and foreign policies.

Christopher Burnham, former under-secretary-general to the United Nations for Management, views Zhao's outreach during his trip as an action of effective public diplomacy.

Zhao also visited The Washington Post where he met with publisher Katharine Weymouth and executive editor Marcus Brauchli. Brauchli said he vividly remembers the days when he was the China bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal in Shanghai and Zhao was the deputy mayor of Shanghai and director-general of the Pudong New Area in the mid-1990s.

"You did make a very big difference in the degree to which China, first in Shanghai, then in central government, was open about information, and we as journalists benefited from the steps you took to open up China's information to the world," he said.

Zhao also met Gordon Smith, president of National Association of Broadcasters and former US senator from Oregon who studied Chinese history in college. He said he has an understanding of the damage done to the Chinese mind by the Western powers that tried to colonize Asia in the 19th century.

"The United States, unlike European powers, tended to be much friendlier toward China and defended China against Japan. That's an important piece of history for China and US to build on," Gordon said.

Zhao's visit to the US was accompanied by Zhou Wenzhong, former Chinese ambassador to the US. Zhou is now the secretary-general of the Bo'ao Forum for Asia. Many experts consider the forum a successful platform for public diplomacy in China. During his time as minister of the State Council Information Office (from 1998 to 2005), Zhao improved the role of the government spokesperson. He once famously said, "Give reporters an apple as it is instead of vitamin C or apple jam because a real apple tastes the best and avoids the suspicion that we may add something to the pill or the jam."

China Daily

(China Daily 06/10/2011 page3)