The Final State of the Union
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Summary:
In a major speech on U.S.-China relations, the Vice President expressed confidence in America's ability to compete in the 21st century
Watch the Vice President's full remarks here.
Sichuan University, located in China's rapidly developing southwestern city of Chengdu, was the site of Vice President Biden's major speech on U.S.-China relations on the morning of his 4th day in China. Speaking on a range of issues facing the two largest economies in the world, the Vice President reiterated that a "rising China" is a "positive development, not only for the people of China but for the United States and the world as a whole."
He noted that with increased cooperation between the US and China comes increased competition. "We should reject the misplaced notion of the zero-sum game in which everything one nation achieves somehow comes at the expense of the other," said Vice President Biden (you can watch the full speech, above). Vice President Biden also expressed confidence in America's ability to compete in the 21st century. "The United States is hardwired for innovation," he said. "Openness, free exchange of ideas, free enterprise and liberty are among the reasons why the United States, in my view is at this moment the wealthiest nation in the history of the world. It's why our workers are the most productive, why our inventors and entrepreneurs hold more patents than any other country in the world, why we are reinvesting in the fundamental sources of our strength -- education, infrastructure, innovation -- and why President Obama and I are so confident that America will weather the current economic storm and emerge even stronger."
He was invited to visit the region -- heavily affected by a devastating earthquake in 2008 -- by Vice President Xi. Following the speech in Chengdu, the two traveled to Dujiangyan City where they visited with a local high school class of English language students (see video, below) and toured the city's ancient irrigation site built in 256 BC.
The Vice Presidents concluded their day in Sichuan Province with an informal dinner, and a commitment to build this new direct channel of communication between our two nations.
For more information about the Vice President's trip to Asia, check out our photo gallery and watch his first travelogue from the road. You can follow the Vice President's trip in real time on Twitter, #VPinAsia
Watch the video of Vice Presidents Biden and Xi at a classroom in Dujiangyan.
