 First of all, I do feel very honored by this distinction and by this reminder of the moments that are still vivid in my memory. The interaction with the Chinese leadership in 1978 was one of the most intense, significant and engaging activity in which I had the privilege to participate. And I do have to say, and particularly so to my Chinese friends, that getting to know Deng Xiaoping was a source of enormous gratification to me. This was a genuine leader with a sense of direction, but also with a sense of the larger picture in which he would operate. He understood that the normalization of relations with us, difficult as it was to achieve, was not only a Jewish strategic breakthrough. It made the possible, it made possible, the transformation of China. And anyone who went to China in the 70s and then goes again to China today, sees entirely, visually at least, two different countries. One was struggling with the past. The other one is proudly modern and surging ahead. So that was a time of real significance to me. And I was particularly gratified that he and I, somehow in a strange way, struck a bond which was expressed by his willingness to come the moment he arrived in America as part of this mutual recognition. Me and his wife came to my house for dinner, and with my children and with my wife. And then when I left office, he invited me to China for two weeks and to be his guest. So that has not only an international but also a political dimension. But today, I would like to speak very frankly about the nature of that relationship today and the challenges that it faces and how one has to have a sense of balance between what is terribly important, namely, that we as the two most important financial economic powers in the world know so well, which other powers in different stages of history did not, that our fate is interdependent with their fate, and their fate is interdependent with us. There's no such thing as one failing economically and financially, and the other one not suffering. So that's a terribly important bond economically. But that's not the whole thing. We are living in a world in which there are also other issues that we confront at hand, and we have to strike a balance between them and the importance of this financial economic connection that creates a very special relationship between us. And in here and in that are some sensitive issues. And in order to avoid any misunderstanding, I actually did something which I very rarely do when I speak, namely, I wrote out this speech for myself so that I will know what I said when someone objects, including my Chinese friends, some of which on my speech they may not like. But I feel that precisely because we are friends and we will remain friends, it is also important to speak about things that we look at occasionally differently. So let me read to you what I wrote. Looking at the conclusion of the Obama Xi summit two weeks ago in Beijing, President Xi stated, and I now quote, we agreed to continue to advance the development of a new model of major country relations between China and the United States, end of quote. The keywords are a new model of major country relations. He then listed several economic financial areas in which progress has been made and announced an important agreement on respective American and Chinese goals regarding climate change, a terribly important issue that is beginning to haunt the future of humanity. That is all to the good and terribly important. Obama in responding very much agreed, adding also references to progress in political cooperation, especially in security matters in the Far East. And that too is excellent. Especially the specific agreement between our two countries regarding climate change and the emphasis on the peaceful resolution of the territorial disputes in the Far East. Both leaders endorsed that. Let me note, however, two important issues that crave closer attention. First of all, there are some increasing indications of a deteriorating vision of each by the other, especially in our respective mass media. To be sure, not much can be done about the American press, as we all know, it is independent. It is about China, since they originate from a press that is not responsible or accountable to any government, certainly not to the US government. Moreover, public opinion polls show that most Americans do not endorse the more strident press comments about China. Last but not least, the official position of the United States is strongly supportive of a constructive relationship between China and America. I say so even though US efforts to exclude China from the trans-Pacific partnership are, in my view, counterproductive. On the other hand, some months ago, I cited in an interview with a leading Chinese newspaper some very negative comments in the Chinese press about the United States. The Chinese media do in effect speak for the Chinese government since they are officially censored. Moreover, such negative comments originate from serious scholars as well as from senior military officers and have been appearing in significant major applications. In that interview, I cited some of these comments to my Chinese interlocutors. For example, in Liao Wang, that's an important journal, last August an article appeared in which it was asserted that the strategic objective of the United States is to ensure its leading status in the entire Asia Pacific, build a trans-Pacific order centered on the United States, and continue a specific domination, and the key link in achieving this objective is to dismantle the East Asian regional cooperation framework which has already taken shape. The key link here is to sow discord in the good, neighborly, friendly and cooperative relations between China and the countries on its periphery. In other words, the United States is accused of deliberately promoting discord between China and its neighbors. Here's another quote from Renmin Rinbao, the official organ of the Chinese Communist Party. It alleged that the United States, quote, is boosting old military alliances, damaging the political foundation of East Asian peace, sharpening the territorial sovereignty contradictions between China and the countries around it, building a united front aimed at China, forcibly pushing the trans-Pacific strategic economic partnership and disrupting the self-determined cooperation and regional integration process between the East Asian countries, end of quote. One more example, also from Renmin Rinbao this year, quote, America's overall goal is to secure the total control of the Eurasian continent, and the purpose of clearing the perimeter is to pave the way for ultimately subduing China and Russia. Note the linkage, China and Russia, as being molested by the United States. This no longer is simply containment aimed at impeding expansion, rather it is a way of choking aimed at controlling or even suffocating the other side, judging by the historical experience of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, containment will surely be accompanied by murder, end of quote. And I repeat, this appeared in the China's official newspaper. And finally, a quote from a military journal. We should cast away that pacifism, speaking for China, by a senior military officer, we should cast away that pacifism and romanticism, which will easily evolve into capitulationism under pressure and threat. We should make full struggle preparation and war preparation, only by doing so can China maintain a longer period of peace and development, end of quote. I cite these examples as something that should be of concern to both of us. These provocative statements reflect a hostile undercurrent, undercurrent towards America in some parts of the Chinese political and military elite. And we should not overstate their importance, their examples, but they're not the dominant phenomenon. Certainly President Xi does not reflect it. Nor is that sentiment widespread at the top echelons of the Chinese leadership. But in the event of some political crisis, it obviously represents a point of view which should not be ignored. My second and currently much more important concern pertains to the deteriorating global security context which should be jointly addressed as we shape President Xi's words, the new model of major country relations between China and America. The fact is that the principal threats in today's world involve the regions of the Middle East and the challenge posed by Russia to Europe. With regard to the first, it is noteworthy that China participates in the five power talks regarding Iran with us shoulder to shoulder. Its role in the Middle East is important and constructive. However, it is my opinion that China needs to be more directly engaged in encouraging and assisting the moderate Islamic states which currently are striving, literally striving, for their own survival. The Middle East crisis should not be viewed by China just as America's problem. As might be the case with those who would like to see America bogged down. That obviously pertains to the authors of the hostile quotations that I just cited. As the conflict in the Middle East enlarges its scope eastward and northward, China in any case will become more directly affected and threatened. But precisely for that reason, more overt Chinese-American collaboration and consultations are both needed and very timely. With respect to Europe, the basic fact is that Russia violated international law in an openly aggressive fashion. It has thereby challenged international stability. To make matters worse, Russia accompanied its unilateral seizure of some Ukrainian territory by continued military provocations designed to destabilize Ukraine itself. Moreover, it has voiced nuclear threats at the highest levels in a way unheard since the end of the Cold War. And it has engaged in military overflights over Europe in an obvious effort at military intimidation. Making matters even worse, the above actions by Russia, by Russia's leadership, are accompanied by reaffirmation that Russia and China are, and I quote, strategic partners, and I quote, in effect hinting that in some fashion China endorses such conduct. I know that China does not. Moreover, China, for obvious political and economic reasons, is in a good position to influence Russia. I trust that China will not underestimate the serious challenge to global peace and the stability of the global economy that such Russian conduct poses. The Chinese-American partnership is unique in that both parties know that they would suffer if the economy of one or the other were to be somehow threatened. This is a great asset to both of us because it reassures each that the reconciliation and cooperation between us is genuine and based on solid foundations. I have high confidence that both the U.S. leadership and the Chinese leadership at the highest levels are fully aware of this unique independence and will make it work more effectively. Accordingly, it is my fervent hope that the advance towards a new model of major country relations will be increasingly accompanied by a cooperative U.S.-PRC response to the worsening global security problems. It is clearly in our mutual interest that the very special relationship between America and China deepens and widens and is not strained by global tensions. A public affirmation of our common political responsibility and shared economic destiny in an increasingly turbulent world could perhaps be even dramatized by a jointly issued Pacific Charter, in some respects reminiscent of the historically reassuring role of the Atlantic Charter in the darkest days of World War II. The fact is that if we fail to respond together and now to today's security challenges, the more distant calamities of tomorrow, such as global warming, will simply get worse. We need to strategize together. Thank you.