第一节 背景介绍
1998年6月29日，北京大学刚刚结束了百年校庆，与此同时了也迎来了另一位重要人物的来访，那就是克林顿总统。
克林顿的演讲是在北大办公楼的礼堂里进行的。虽然克林顿这么多年经历了很多公众演讲，但是在接受北大校长陈佳洱介绍他时，还是对手中的稿子念念有词，不敢掉以轻心。在开始的30分钟里，克林顿从容地念着专业撰稿人写的演讲稿，显得很轻松。然而在后面的半个小时里，克林顿就变得严肃起来，因为现场他挑选的七名学生所提问的问题都让他深深地体会到，中国的年轻人并不对美国总统的演讲照单全收。
演讲当中，第一个提问克林顿的学生语气比较严肃并且话题直接，他问道：“中国人民自从改革开放以来，对美国的文化、历史、文学有了更好的了解，甚至欣赏美国的著名电影，如《泰坦尼克号》。但美国人民对中国的认识却少得可怜。你打算怎样加强两国人民真正的了解与相互的尊重呢？”
克林顿不得不说这是个好观点。他承认这是一个没有轻松答案的问题。不过克林顿也补充说道，他带了一大群记者来访问中国，就是希望此行能向美国介绍并客观地反映中国的景象。克林顿有感美国有很多学生在北大念法律专业，希望两国人民交往越多越好。
不过，紧接着另一个尖锐的问题又提出来了。第二位学生的问题牵涉到了很敏感的政治问题，谈及到了美国一直对台湾出售武器，又与日本修订美日防卫条约，这一系列的军事行动范围把台湾也包括进去。这位同学勇敢地指出：“如果中国也把导弹指向夏威夷，以及与其他国家签订安全条约，针对着美国的部分领土，美国政府和人民会同意吗？”
此时，全场响起了一阵掌声，克林顿第一次露出了严肃的神情。他客观地回答了这个问题：“美国的政策不是要阻碍中国与台湾的重归统一。”虽然一直在解释美国长时期以来一直奉行“一个中国”的政策，可还是费了一番口舌。克林顿还呼吁绝对不要以为美国是在破坏自己的中国政策，同时还告诉在场的所有听众，他们将会看到两国在安全问题方面以后会有更多的合作。克林顿说：“我们不可以用过去的冲突做镜子来看今天的协议。”
也许克林顿认为自己已经说明白了，但是令他感到尴尬的一个问题又接踵而至，接下来的学生问道：“中国人民所期望的是两国能建立平等的友谊关系，而总统您带着微笑来到中国说是交往，是不是您的微笑背后又另有所图呢？”
对于这个直率的问题，克林顿的脸上顿时闪现出一丝惊讶，他完全没有想到在场的学生会问这样的问题。为了强调美国对中国人民的感情，克林顿重申：“在21世纪美国与中国建立平等、互相尊敬的伙伴关系总比耗费很多时间和金钱来阻碍中国发展好。你问我是不是想要阻碍中国发展。很显然答案是否定的。”克林顿郑重地声明，“对于美国人民最有利的就是与你们建立良好的关系。”
在连续地被问及三个尖锐的问题后，克林顿才得以稍微放松，回答了一个相对温和的问题，表达了他对两国年轻人的期望。随后又有学生对克林顿总统提出关于民主、自由方面的问题。由此可见，克林顿在北大的演讲吸引了众多北大学子的思考。然而，不管问题多么的严肃尖锐，克林顿总是能凭借自己的沉着、冷静，幽默而又不失风度地回答他们的问题。
回答了学生们的问题，克林顿的演讲也接近尾声，他用一句话做了结束语：“你们提的问题远比我的演讲词更重要。我从没有在讲话时学到什么，而只有在聆听时才会学到东西。”
这样尖锐并且严肃的问题换做其他人可能会有些吃不消，但是克林顿却能巧妙地作答，并能博得大家的掌声。因为克林顿在美国时就以其风度翩翩的个人魅力所闻名，他的演讲技巧高超，同时又谈吐风趣，注重在和风细雨中说服别人。通过这次演讲北大的学子们深深地领略到了克林顿总统的亲和力，也为能近距离与克林顿总统交流而感到兴奋。除此之外，克林顿演讲时所散发出的独特气质，让人们看到了他性格上的闪光点，也体现出克林顿对在场所有观众的充分尊重。
克林顿此番来北大不但进行了一场演讲，同时还举行了一个赠书仪式。这个赠书仪式是在图书馆前的露台草坪举行的。在如此酷热的天气下，学生们不惧热毒的太阳，在露天倾听克林顿总统的演讲并且参加赠书仪式，这份热情深深地感动了克林顿。赠书仪式结束后，总统携夫人以及女儿走向演讲台前，频频向台下的学生挥手，并与美国留学生相互问候，人们拿起手中的相机为总统一家人拍照。热烈的场面一直持续了十几分钟，之后克林顿才返回图书馆贵宾室和北大的领导告别。克林顿在此次演讲中，不但给观众留下了美好的印象，就连保卫人员也对克林顿称赞有加，因为克林顿总统对这些工作人员也展现出良好的修养和对他们的尊敬，这也是克林顿独特的人格魅力之一。
第二节 克林顿1998年在北京大学的演讲
June 29， 1998
Thank you. Thank you， President Chen， Chairmen Ren， Vice President Chi， Vice Minister Wei. We are delighted to be here today with a very large American delegation， including the First Lady and our daughter， who is a student at Stanford， one of the schools with which Beijing University has a relationship.
We have six members of the United States Congress； the Secretary of State； Secretary of Commerce； the Secretary of Agriculture； the Chairman of our Council of Economic Advisors； Senator Sasser， our Ambassador； the National Security Advisor and my Chief of Staff， among others. I say that to illustrate the importance that the United States places on our relationship with China.
I would like to begin by congratulating all of you， the students， the faculty， the administrators， on celebrating the centennial year of your university. Gongxi， Beida.
As I'm sure all of you know， this campus was once home to Yenching University which was founded by American missionaries. Many of its wonderful buildings were designed by an American architect. Thousands of Americans students and professors have come here to study and teach. We feel a special kinship with you.
I am， however， grateful that this day is different in one important respect from another important occasion 79 years ago. In June of 1919， the first president of Yenching University， John Leighton Stuart， was set to deliver the very first commencement address on these very grounds. At the appointed hour， he appeared， but no students appeared. They were all out leading the May 4th Movement for China's political and cultural renewal. When I read this， I hoped that when I walked into the auditorium today， someone would be sitting here. And I thank you for being here， very much.
Over the last 100 years， this university has grown to more than 20，000 students. Your graduates are spread throughout China and around the world. You have built the largest university library in all of Asia. Last year， 20 percent of your graduates went abroad to study， including half of your math and science majors.
And in this anniversary year， more than a million people in China， Asia， and beyond have logged on to your web site. At the dawn of a new century， this university is leading China into the future.
I come here today to talk to you， the next generation of China's leaders， about the critical importance to your future of building a strong partnership between China and the United States.
The American people deeply admire China for its thousands of years of contributions to culture and religion， to philosophy and the arts， to science and technology. We remember well our strong partnership in World War II. Now we see China at a moment in history when your glorious past is matched by your present sweeping transformation and the even greater promise of your future.
Just three decades ago， China was virtually shut off from the world. Now， China is a member of more than 1，000 international organizations enterprises that affect everything from air travel to agricultural development. You have opened your nation to trade and investment on a large scale. Today， 40，000 young Chinese study in the United States， with hundreds of thousands more learning in Asia， Africa， Europe， and Latin America.
Your social and economic transformation has been even more remarkable， moving from a closed command economic system to a driving， increasingly market-based and driven economy， generating two decades of unprecedented growth， giving people greater ******* to travel within and outside China， to vote in village elections， to own a home， choose a job， attend a better school.
As a result you have lifted literally hundreds of millions of people from poverty. Per capita income has more than doubled in the last decade. Most Chinese people are leading lives they could not have imagined just 20 years ago.
Of course， these changes have also brought disruptions in settled patterns of life and work， and have imposed enormous strains on your environment.
Once every urban Chinese was guaranteed employment in a state enterprise. Now you must compete in a job market. Once a Chinese worker had only to meet the demands of a central planner in Beijing. Now the global economy means all must match the quality and creativity of the rest of the world. For those who lack the right training and skills and support， this new world can be daunting.
In the short-term， good， hardworking people some， at least will find themselves unemployed. And， as all of you can see， there have been enormous environmental and economic and health care costs to the development pattern and the energy use pattern of the last 20 years from air pollution to deforestation to acid rain and water shortage.
In the face of these challenges new systems of training and social security will have to be devised， and new environmental policies and technologies will have to be introduced with the goal of growing your economy while improving the environment.
Everything I know about the intelligence， the ingenuity， the enterprise of the Chinese people and everything I have heard these last few days in my discussions with President Jiang， Prime Minister Zhu and others give me confidence that you will succeed.
As you build a new China， America wants to build a new relationship with you. We want China to be successful， secure and open， working with us for a more peaceful and prosperous world. I know there are those in China and the United States who question whether closer relations between our countries is a good thing. But everything all of us know about the way the world is changing and the challenges your generation will face tell us that our two nations will be far better off working together than apart.
The late Deng Xiaoping counseled us to seek truth from facts. At the dawn of the new century， the facts are clear. The distance between our two nations， indeed， between any nations， is shrinking. Where once an American clipper ship took months to cross from China to the United States. Today， technology has made us all virtual neighbors.
From laptops to lasers， from microchips to megabytes， an information revolution is lighting the landscape of human knowledge， bringing us all closer together. Ideas， information， and money cross the planet at the stroke of a computer key， bringing with them extraordinary opportunities to create wealth， to prevent and conquer disease， to foster greater understanding among peoples of different histories and different cultures.
But we also know that this greater openness and faster change mean that problems which start beyond one nations borders can quickly move inside them—the spread of weapons of mass destruction， the threats of organized crime and drug trafficking， of environmental degradation， and severe economic dislocation. No nation can isolate itself from these problems， and no nation can solve them alone.
We， especially the younger generations of China and the United States， must make common cause of our common challenges， so that we can， together， shape a new century of brilliant possibilities.
In the 21st century—your century—China and the United States will face the challenge of security in Asia. On the Korean Peninsula， where once we were adversaries， today we are working together for a permanent peace and a future freer of nuclear weapons.
On the Indian subcontinent， just as most of the rest of the world is moving away from nuclear danger， India and Pakistan risk sparking a new arms race. We are now pursuing a common strategy to move India and Pakistan away from further testing and toward a dialogue to resolve their differences.
In the 21st century， your generation must face the challenge of stopping the spread of deadlier nuclear， chemical， and biological weapons. In the wrong hands or the wrong places， these weapons can threaten the peace of nations large and small. Increasingly， China and the United States agree on the importance of stopping proliferation. That is why we are beginning to act in concert to control the world’s most dangerous weapons.
In the 21st century， your generation will have to reverse the international tide of crime and drugs. Around the world， organized crime robs people of billions of dollars every year and undermines trust in government. America knows all about the devastation and despair that drugs can bring to schools and neighborhoods. With borders on more than a dozen countries， China has become a crossroad for smugglers of all kinds.
Last year， President Jiang and I asked senior Chinese and American law enforcement officials to step up our cooperation against these predators， to stop money from being laundered， to stop aliens from being cruelly smuggled， to stop currencies from being undermined by counterfeiting. Just this month， our drug enforcement agency opened an office in Beijing， and soon Chinese counter-narcotics experts will be working out of Washington.
In the 21st century， your generation must make it your mission to ensure that today's progress does not come at tomorrow's expense. China's remarkable growth in the last two decades has come with a toxic cost， pollutants that foul the water you drink and the air you breathe—the cost is not only environmental， it is also serious in terms of the health consequences of your people and in terms of the drag on economic growth.
Environmental problems are also increasingly global as well as national. For example， in the near future， if present energy use patterns persist， China will overtake the United States as the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases， the gases which are the principal cause of global warming. If the nations of the world do not reduce the gases which are causing global warming， sometime in the next century there is a serious risk of dramatic changes in climate which will change the way we live and the way we work， which could literally bury some island nations under mountains of water and undermine the economic and social fabric of nations.
We must work together. We Americans know from our own experience that it is possible to grow an economy while improving the environment. We must do that together for ourselves and for the world.
Building on the work that our Vice President， Al Gore， has done previously with the Chinese government， President Jiang and I are working together on ways to bring American clean energy technology to help improve air quality and grow the Chinese economy at the same time.
But I will say this again—this is not on my remarks—your generation must do more about this. This is a huge challenge for you， for the American people and for the future of the world. And it must be addressed at the university level， because political leaders will never be willing to adopt environmental measures if they believe it will lead to large-scale unemployment or more poverty. The evidence is clear that does not have to happen. You will actually have more rapid economic growth and better paying jobs， leading to higher levels of education and technology if we do this in the proper way. But you and the university， communities in China， the United States and throughout the world will have to lead the way.
In the 21st century your generation must also lead the challenge of an international financial system that has no respect for national borders. When stock markets fall in Hong Kong or Jakarta， the effects are no longer local； they are global. The vibrant growth of your own economy is tied closely， therefore， to the restoration of stability and growth in the Asia Pacific region.
China has steadfastly shouldered its responsibilities to the region and the world in this latest financial crisis—helping to prevent another cycle of dangerous devaluations. We must continue to work together to counter this threat to the global financial system and to the growth and prosperity which should be embracing all of this region.
In the 21st century， your generation will have a remarkable opportunity to bring together the talents of our scientists， doctors， engineers into a shared quest for progress. Already the breakthroughs we have achieved in our areas of joint cooperation—in challenges from dealing with spina bifida to dealing with extreme weather conditions and earthquakes—have proved what we can do together to change the lives of millions of people in China and the United States and around the world. Expanding our cooperation in science and technology can be one of our greatest gifts to the future.
In each of these vital areas that I have mentioned， we can clearly accomplish so much more by walking together rather than standing apart. That is why we should work to see that the productive relationship we now enjoy blossoms into a fuller partnership in the new century.
If that is to happen， it is very important that we understand each other better， that we understand both our common interest and our shared aspirations and our honest differences. I believe the kind of open， direct exchange that President Jiang and I had on Saturday at our press conference—which I know many of you watched on television—can both clarify and narrow our differences， and， more important， by allowing people to understand and debate and discuss these things can give a greater sense of confidence to our people that we can make a better future.
From the windows of the White House， where I live in Washington， D.C.， the monument to our first President， George Washington， dominates the skyline. It is a very tall obelisk. But very near this large monument there is a small stone which contains these words： The United States neither established titles of nobility and royalty， nor created a hereditary system. State affairs are put to the vote of public opinion.
This created a new political situation， unprecedented from ancient times to the present. How wonderful it is. Those words were not written by an American. They were written by Xu Jiyu， governor of Fujian Province， inscribed as a gift from the government of China to our nation in 1853.
I am very grateful for that gift from China. It goes to the heart of who we are as a people—the right to life， liberty， and the pursuit of happiness， the ******* to debate， to dissent， to associate， to worship without interference from the state. These are the ideals that were at the core of our founding over 220 years ago. These are the ideas that led us across our continent and onto the world stage. These are the ideals that Americans cherish today.
As I said in my press conference with President Jiang， we have an ongoing quest ourselves to live up to those ideals. The people who framed our Constitution understood that we would never achieve perfection. They said that the mission of America would always be "to form a more perfect union"—in other words， that we would never be perfect， but we had to keep trying to do better.
The darkest moments in our history have come when we abandoned the effort to do better， when we denied ******* to our people because of their race or their religion， because there were new immigrants or because they held unpopular opinions. The best moments in our history have come when we protected the ******* of people who held unpopular opinion， or extended rights enjoyed by the many to the few who had previously been denied them， ******， therefore， the promises of our Declaration of Independence and Constitution more than faded words on old parchment.
Today we do not seek to impose our vision on others， but we are convinced that certain rights are universal—not American rights or European rights or rights for developed nations， but the birthrights of people everywhere， now enshrined in the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights—the right to be treated with dignity； the right to express one's opinions， to choose one's own leaders， to associate freely with others， and to worship， or not， freely， however one chooses.