 Hello, and Nihao, welcome to Understanding China, brought to you live from the Think Tank studios in downtown Honolulu, and from the offices of Asia Pacific Group, an investment firm in Beijing. I'm Michael North, and our co-host on the other end is Xiaofeng Zhou North. Through this series, we're going to be speaking with key leaders throughout China, including people, business, academia, the arts, about China today, its future, its hopes and dreams, its plans in the world, and above all, about its people. We want to help our international audience to see China through Chinese eyes, by talking direct to the people who are leading the largest nation in the world today. We're honored to welcome back to the program today Lin Fanlin from Beijing, Mozi, a media and translation firm based in the capital city of China. In our last program, we spoke to Mr. Lin, and we wanted to spend more time with him now and get into some more detail about the one-belt, one-road policy. Now, Mr. Lin's group is working as part of the giant media company China International Publishing Group, and they have a long history of leadership in modern China. The group was founded in 1949, shortly after China's independence, by the great Chinese peacemaker, Zhou Enlai. And today, this organization encompasses a vast range of television, radio, publishing, and other media, electronic media enterprises, including the largest television network in the world, CCTV. So Mr. Lin is an authority on the subject of China's one-belt, one-road policy. And we want to explore that topic with him now in some more depth. So Fanlin, Nihao, good to see you again. Fanlin, Lin Fanlin, can you say hello? Are you hearing us? We have a translator with us also today, Nicholas Partiom from Montreal. Nicholas, can you hear us and say hello? Okay. We need to fall back to our audio method. We're going to fall back to a phone call and see if we can talk with people on the phone. My name is Crystal. Let me tell you. My talk show, I'm all about health. It's healthy to talk about sex. It's healthy to talk about things that people don't talk about. It's healthy to discuss things that you think are unhealthy because you need to talk about it. So I welcome you to watch Quok Talk and engage in some provocative discussions on things that do relate to healthy issues and have a well-balanced attitude in life. Join me. Hello. This is Martin Despeng. I want to get you excited about my new show, which is called Humane Architecture for Hawaii and Beyond. And it's going to be on Think Tech Hawaii from downtown Honolulu on Tuesday afternoon 5 p.m. And we're going to talk about to make architecture more inclusive on the islands, which is one of the definitions of humane, which is being tolerant of many people, of nature, of many other influences. So we're going to have some great guests, like today's guest, for example, my collaborator, David Rockwood, who's the author of the awesome manifestation of humane architecture in the background. So see you on Tuesdays, 5 p.m., and I look forward to... Hi. I'm David Rockwood, an energy man, and I want you to be here every Friday. Noon. ThinkTechHawaii.com. Watch the show. Be there. Aloha. My name is John Waihei. And I used to be a part of all the things that you might be angry at. I served in government here and may have made decisions that affects you. So I want to invite you in. I want to invite you in to Talk Story with me and some very special guests. Every other Monday here at Talk Story with John Waihei. Come on in, join us, express your opinion, learn more about your state, and then do something about it. Aloha. So we're speaking with Lin Fan Lin on the phone from Beijing, and I want to ask a question which our translator there will translate for us. And the question is, in history there was, when the Silk Road was very powerful as a force in Chinese history. Can you describe a little bit about the Silk Road and the tradition and history behind it? So the Silk Road is actually connected to China and the Eurasian continent, a trade road. So the concept of the Silk Road is actually proposed by a German, not by the Chinese at the time. And the Silk Road is actually one of China's cultural symbols. So now we are using the Silk Road as our Chinese name, and the Silk Road is just a history symbol. Mr. Lin said that the old Silk Road used to be a commercial route, and this concept of the Silk Road only appeared later in the 19th century. It was actually brought forward by a German scholar. Nowadays, the Silk Road is seen more as China's business card, as we talk of silk as a symbol, a cultural symbol today. And that has been revived in order to follow with the plan for the One Belt One Road. So why are the leaders of China bringing back the image of the Silk Road today, and what is its ultimate purpose for China and the world? Why are the leaders of China bringing forth the Silk Road, and what is its ultimate purpose? Why? The One Belt One Road concept is China's creativity. It is mainly the economic globalization of the world, and then the cultural diversity of the world. Well, the Silk Road, as Mr. Lin said, and the One Belt One Road initiative, all of this has been put forward again by the Chinese leaders as a way to respond to many cultural and economical needs in the region. Of course, there are some of these needs that are China's own needs, but most importantly, I think, and as Mr. Lin said, it's a strategy that is meant to respond to the needs of all countries developing and developing in this region. And this symbol is not only a symbol that China can identify itself with, but it's also a symbol that other countries that are also related and have been part of the historical Silk Road can also identify with. So it's an important symbol. So what is your role personally in understanding and communicating the meaning of the Silk Road and what is the role of Beijing Moza in this process? Well, at the same time, I would like to introduce the language of the world to the world, and at the same time, I would like to introduce it to China. Well, in the One Belt One Road initiative, we mainly come from the human culture, and more importantly, from the cultural point of view, we come to the role of Moza in introducing and explaining the revival of the Silk Road as well as the new One Belt One Road strategy. We feel it is our responsibility to introduce these things to the outside world using languages from the outside world from one point. And on the other hand, as well, to reintroduce these things to the Chinese people and to make sure that everybody is on a level of equality, of good as equality. We mostly work from the perspective of humanities and culture, and we try to select outstanding cultural aspects in China that we think are of interest for the outside world and to help the outside world better understand China this way and in this fashion to tell China's story. So you're involved in the production of video and audio and conferences and translation. What are the specific activities that your group engages in? In the future, we will form some cooperation agreements. For example, in the local area, we will build some communication about languages or training or research center. Through this form, we will not only spread the voice of China but we will also study these cultural languages in the local area and use their cultural languages to introduce them to China and integrate the Chinese culture into the world's largest cultural community. Well, as Mr. Lin said, other than the things that you have for mention, we also do a lot in terms of cultural communication. So we will participate in conferences, in training, in meetings with representatives and delegations from outside China and we will basically engage in what we have explained as being cultural communication and try to, on the first hand, explain what is China's story and what it consists in and on the other hand, explain to the Chinese people what these delegations and representatives from outside might have to bring to the table and share with us in terms of this great initiative and in terms of cultural communication. Very good. There is a story in the China Daily today by Zhang Fei. He is an associate researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation at MOFCOM, the Ministry of Commerce. And there's a couple of passages from it that I would like to read and get a comment. Is that okay, Fan Lin? I would like to read those to you. Okay. Here's a quote. In the United States, the upcoming administration led by Donald Trump may pose a challenge to the country's economic policy. And along with the United Kingdom preparing to break away from Europe and the need to accommodate the continuing influx of refugees, the European Union now has the rise of right-wing forces to worry about. We can translate that. Yes. He said that the next generation of leaders will have a lot of challenges for the whole world and the EU. In addition, in the EU, the UK is not going to leave the EU. The problems with refugees are getting worse and worse. What is the biggest worry about the EU? Okay. I will go on and then ask for a comment. But even as Western decision makers retreat from globalization and shift their focus to domestic issues, China is pursuing and upholding more open and inclusive cross-border trade. Now, Western leaders are more and more not interested in this international project and are more interested in domestic issues. China is still insisting on reform and reform. And then, the more and more we are reforming, the more and more we are changing. This has become the world's first solution. Participant and major beneficiary of globalization, China is now the leading advocate of sustainable economic globalization. So, Mr. Fan Lin, I would like to have your comment on this quote from China Daily. And this is from Zhang Fei at Mofcom. As an important participant and a major beneficiary of globalization, China has become a world-class economic stability which is an important role in this situation. Can you comment on this? This is from Zhang Fei at Mofcom. This is from Zhang Fei at Mofcom. Regarding the article you just read, I haven't read it before. I mean, it only represents my personal thoughts and doesn't represent other people's point of view. First of all, the Chinese have changed a lot in this regard. I think most of them are the same as me. Each country has its own different development conditions. Some are good and some are bad. So, why China has proposed reform and reform, including the Belt and Road Initiative, is based on the development of its own country. Some of our development conditions are good and some of our development conditions are bad. China has proposed the Belt and Road Initiative in a comprehensive way. Other countries have their own different conditions. Each country has its own different conditions and the environment is complicated. So, I can't do this now. I can only say that China has a saying, that we should slowly observe and solve these problems. Mr. Nian said that, well, first of all, I can only speak for myself on this issue, but even as this is, I think that most Chinese people would agree that these initiatives, well, initiatives such as the Belt and Road Initiative have a starting point, the domestic situation in China right now. Of course, in terms of economic development, China has, or in terms of development in general, China has high points and has also aspects in which maybe it has lost a certain balance and this is why it has continuously kept deepening its will to reform and it's the reform itself. When it comes to other countries, obviously, China is not really in a position to make that strong of comment about the rates of their development. This is why we speak mostly of China. We have a saying in China, basically, that could translate to, we will wait and see. But basically, this is what we are doing here in China. We are observing countries and their development and we are trying to see how their development can be incorporated with our development or the other way around also, how everybody's development can be incorporated together so that all countries may benefit and become stronger from such an initiative and data. Well, China is definitely being very active in this way, not just sitting and waiting and seeing, but the commitments that China has made with the many partners that it has in up to 60 nations around the world amount to as much as a trillion dollars worth of Chinese investment in infrastructure. I'll give you one example and ask if you've heard of this. Maybe I'll give you two examples. Let's translate and go forward. No, that's okay. I've been translating as you've been speaking so that's great. Oh, okay. So one example is China has put a tremendous amount of investment into Greece. There's a port near Athens called Piraeus and China is helping to create a new high productivity deep water port in Piraeus that's been needed literally for centuries and China is very actively involved in that. So I wonder if Fan Lin is also familiar with that project. Do you know about this project? I've heard about this project. I've heard about this project, yes. I've also made some simple explanations about the problem with Greece's port. China is now... I've understood that it has only one port with a special economic power. And it will use China as a base and some experience on the economy. And it wants to achieve a global port in Greece. And at the same time, for the whole world, for China, of course, it's more important for the public. For example, it can be an entry to China's goods into Europe. Because the port in Greece is directly connected to China's goods. It can directly connect China's goods through this port and through the port of Greece into Europe. In fact, it is still a project based on infrastructure. So yes, I've heard a little bit about this project and I've done my own research on it. And I know that China has obtained special rights for operation in Greece. And I think that what the project is about is incorporating and importing some of China's strong points in order to build an international port. So mostly we will be... As I understand it, we will be using Chinese technologies and Chinese specialties and characteristics in order to build this port. And of course, this will be very beneficial for the region and the world in general as an international port. And it will also be a way for China to be able to export its numerous products to the European market through the port in Greece. And as well as the railways in... the railways that are currently being built in Hungary. I can also give you a specific example. I know that there are about 14 airports in Greece which are currently being built in Hungary. And I think that is very important for the region. And I think that is very important for the region. And I think that is very important for the region. In Greece, which... for which the operational rights have been bought by a German conglomerate. Actually, what China is doing in Greece is not an abnormal situation at all. And it's basically a very basic and normal commercial attitude and activity. I think that there might be some political repercussions. And that's what a lot of people want to concentrate on. But I really don't think that this is the gist of the project in itself and what we should be concentrating on. I think there are a lot more important aspects of this project for us as a guest. So I find it fascinating that at a time when Greece is very much in disfavor by most investors, including Greek investors themselves because of their economic and political issues, I find it very interesting that China is not sitting back. China is moving forward and participating fully in rebuilding Greece and their economy. China has always supported such an attitude, especially since the establishment of the new China in 1949. We don't want to hold on to the world. We just want to build our own country and have a good relationship with other countries. And we want to develop the world and the environment so that we can grow together. Well, as our prime minister once said, that the idea is to be able to live in harmony in this world. Well, China, since the birth of the new China basically in 49, China has been developing itself and focusing on its own development. And now it's also become interested in the development of developing countries. And the goal in this is not to let anybody fall behind, but rather to try to find a way to share the benefits of all this development and, well, achieve this ideal goal that we have to be living in a world in harmony where everybody develops their own countries Well, this is actually very similar to the development philosophy, the international development philosophy of the United States, which we've been trying to practice to share prosperity and technology and people with all the countries of the world, especially since World War II. So I must say that it is truly inspiring at this time to see China joining America in their role in international development and what America and China can do together could be very exciting. But, in terms of some of the differences in culture, China has some some prejudices with China's economic strength China's leaders also realize that we have to use more of this form, more of this method to eliminate the misunderstanding so that we can respect each other in different cultures and pursue the same values. Thank you very much, Liefan. We need to move on. We'll close this and we'll take this subject up again in the next program and go even deeper. Aloha from Honolulu to Beijing.