The United States and China are facing global challenges together, and it's really important that Americans and Chinese understand each other better through educational exchanges, said a U.S. college president. "While we have different views about lots of things, about trade, about politics, about economics, we are on the same small planet and we are facing some extraordinarily critical challenges," Margee Ensign, president of Dickinson College, told Xinhua in a recent video interview. Noting that climate change is one of the areas the two countries could cooperate on, Ensign said the two sides must find ways to work together for "the common good," which is also Dickinson's motto. "I know there are young people in China just as there are young people in the U.S. who see the world that way, who want to work, to make sure that we find those points of agreement, and that we work together to solve them. And it's easier and it's essential if we understand each other," Ensign said. Ensign highlighted the importance of increased international exchange, calling on American and Chinese students to understand their respective history, language, and culture. "When people have a deep education, they have language and culture, and they've actually experienced another society, they have a more sophisticated view of what that country is about," she said.
