Independence Day Speech of Ambassador Clark T. Randt, Jr.

228TH Anniversary of the Independence of the United States of America

Ambassador Clark T. Randt, Jr.
Ambassador of the United States of America to China

Speech Presented to the Guests of the July 4th Celebration

Kerry Hotel,
Beijing, China
July 4, 2004
(Approximately 10 minutes)

THANK YOU, MR. BISHOP, ASSISTANT VICE MINISTER LI, CHINESE PEOPLE'S ASSOCIATION FOR FRIENDSHIP WITH FOREIGN COUNTRIES PRESIDENT LU QIUTIAN, AND VICE PRESIDENT LI XIAOLIN, ALL CHINA FEDERATION OF RETURNED OVERSEAS CHINESE VICE PRESIDENT TANG WENSHENG, DISTINGUISHED GUESTS REPRESENTING THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA, YOUR EXCELLENCIES AND OTHER COLLEAGUES IN THE DIPLOMATIC CORPS, HONORED GUESTS, FRIENDS AND MY FELLOW AMERICANS.

THIS YEAR, AS YOU CAN SEE, OUR FOCUS IS ON THE GREAT AMERICAN STATE OF FLORIDA.

I WISH TO THANK THE TERRIFIC AMERICAN COMPANIES THAT HAVE JOIN US IN SPONSORING TODAY’S EVENT. SARAH AND I HOPE THAT YOU WILL JOIN US IN ENJOYING THEIR FINE PRODUCTS. I ALSO WANT TO THANK ACTING ADMINISTRATION CONSULAR TERRY WONG AND HIS TEAM FOR ORGANIZING AND DECORATING FOR TODAY’S EVENT.

I NOW HAVE THE HONOR OF READING TO YOU AN INDEPENDENCE DAY MESSAGE FROM PRESIDENT GEORGE W BUSH.

ON INDEPENDENCE DAY, WE REMEMBER NAMES LIKE WASHINGTON, ADAMS, JEFFERSON, AND FRANKLIN--AND WE HONOR THEIR COURAGE AND VISION. WE ARE GRATEFUL THAT OUR FOUNDERS PLEDGED THEIR LIVES, THEIR FORTUNES, AND THEIR SACRED HONOR TO CREATE AN INDEPENDENT AMERICA.

AND WE ARE THANKFUL THAT THIS NATION UNDER GOD IS STILL FREE, INDEPENDENT, AND THE BEST HOPE OF MANKIND. AMERICA IS A PLACE OF FREEDOM AND OPPORTUNITY. WE ARE CARING TOWARD NEIGHBORS IN NEED AND GENEROUS TO THE SICK AND STRUGGLING. WE ARE A STRONG, DECENT, AND GOOD-HEARTED COUNTRY.

ALL OF US ARE BLESSED TO BE CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES AND ARE PROUD TO CALL AMERICA OUR HOME. THIS FOURTH OF JULY WEEKEND, WE THINK OF THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO ARE DEFENDING OUR FREEDOM AS MEMBERS OF THE UNITED STATES MILITARY. IN AFGHANISTAN, IRAQ, AND ELSEWHERE, THEY ARE FIGHTING THE TERRORISTS WHO THREATEN AMERICA AND THE CIVILIZED WORLD. OUR NATION HONORS THESE BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN, AND THEIR FAMILIES, FOR THEIR SERVICE AND SACRIFICE.

LAURA AND I SEND OUR BEST WISHES TO ALL AMERICANS FOR A SAFE AND HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY. MAY GOD CONTINUE TO BLESS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

OVER THE LONG INDEPENDENCE DAY HOLIDAY IN THE UNITED STATES, MANY OF THE VISITORS TO WASHINGTON ARE DRIVING INTO NEARBY VIRGINIA TO VISIT THE HOME OF GEORGE WASHINGTON, MOUNT VERNON. OTHERS ARE TRAVELING A SHORT DISTANCE FARTHER ALONG THE SAME HIGHWAY TO VISIT THE HOME OF HIS NEIGHBOR, GEORGE MASON. MASON’S HOME IS CALLED GUNSTON HALL.

THESE NEIGHBORING VIRGINIA FARMERS ARE NOW RECOGNIZED AS TWO OF THE LEADING MEN OF THE FOUNDING GENERATION. GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA HONORS OUR FIRST PRESIDENT. A FEW MILES AWAY IN VIRGINIA IS GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY. A VISIT TO GUNSTON HALL IS REWARDING. IT IS A BRICK BUILDING IN THE EARLY GEORGIAN STYLE OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. A MODERN VISITOR IS DELIGHTED TO FIND THAT MASON CHOSE TO DECORATE ONE OF THE ROOMS IN WHAT WAS THEN THE CHINESE STYLE, OR “CHINOISERIE.” THERE HE AND HIS WIFE DISPLAYED SOME CHINESE PLATES AND VASES.

THE WALLS WERE PAINTED WITH WHAT ENGLISH DECORATORS THEN IMAGINED TO BE SCENES OF CHINA. YOU CAN ALSO SEE THIS SAME STYLE IN THE DIPLOMATIC ENTRANCE FOYER OFF THE SOUTH ENTRANCE TO THE WHITE HOUSE. WHAT DO THESE ITEMS IN MASON’S “CHINOISERIE” ROOM TELL US? THEY SHOW THAT THE TRADE BETWEEN CHINA AND EUROPE IN THE REIGN OF EMPEROR QIANLONG HAD REACHED AMERICA. THEY DEMONSTRATE HOW CHINESE ART, THEN AS NOW, EXERTED A POWERFUL INFLUENCE ON THE WESTERN IMAGINATION. BUT THEY ALSO TELL US THAT WHILE AMERICANS KNEW SOMETHING OF CHINA AND THE WONDERS OF ITS CIVILIZATION, THERE WAS NOT YET MUCH CONTACT BETWEEN CHINA AND AMERICA.

WHAT DID GEORGE MASON AND OTHERS OF HIS GENERATION KNOW OF CHINA? THAT CHINA WAS A POWERFUL AND WEALTHY CIVILIZATION. THAT IT PIONEERED SUCH INNOVATIONS IN GOVERNMENT AS THE CIVIL SERVICE EXAMINATIONS. BUT NO DOUBT THEY ALSO KNEW THAT CHINA UNDER THE MANCHUS FACED SEVERE PROBLEMS, ESPECIALLY FROM ARBITRARY RULE AND CORRUPTION. THESE WERE PROBLEMS THAT AMERICANS OF THE TIME KNEW AT FIRST HAND BECAUSE THEY FACED SIMILAR PROBLEMS AS A COLONY.

MASON’S CONTRIBUTION TO AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE WAS THE DRAFTING OF THE VIRGINIA BILL OF RIGHTS, ADOPTED BY THE STATE OF VIRGINIA JUST THREE WEEKS BEFORE THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS SIGNED THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. IT GUARANTEED THE RIGHTS TO LIFE, LIBERTY, PROPERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS AND SAFETY.

IT ESTABLISHED THE SEPARATION OF POWERS AMONG THE EXECUTIVE, LEGISLATIVE AND JUDICIAL BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT. IT GUARANTEED FREE ELECTIONS, FAIR TRIALS, FREEDOM OF THE PRESS AND FREEDOM OF WORSHIP. THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES, AND THE BILL OF RIGHTS ALL TOOK PHRASES AND CUES FROM THE VIRGINIA BILL OF RIGHTS AND FROM THE THINKING OF GEORGE MASON.

IN 1901, WHEN DR. SUN YAT-SEN TRANSLATED THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION INTO CHINESE, MANY OF THE WORDS HE BRUSHED ON THE PAPER HAD COME ORIGINALLY FROM GEORGE MASON. AND SO – IMAGINE GEORGE MASON IN HIS HOME IN THE SUMMER OF 1776. HE LOOKS AT THE CHINESE LANDSCAPES ON THE WALL AND WONDERS WHAT DISTANT CHINA MUST BE LIKE AND PERHAPS HE DREAMED OF THE FUTURE – WHEN CHINA AND THE UNITED STATES WOULD BE TIED, NOT ONLY BY THE FLOWS OF TRADE, TRAVEL, EDUCATION AND COMMERCE; OF A TIME WHEN CHINESE AND AMERICANS CAN FIND COMMON GROUND IN MANY AREAS INCLUDING THE IDEALS THAT MASON AND OTHERS PENNED THOSE MANY GENERATIONS AGO.

THOSE THOUGHTS OF GEORGE MASON ARE OUR THOUGHTS TODAY, FOR INDEPENDENCE DAY IS NOT FOR AMERICANS ALONE. EVERY YEAR AT THIS TIME WE ASK ALL WHO CHERISH DEMOCRACY AND ENTERPRISE AND LAW AND JUSTICE TO JOIN WITH US. THIS YEAR OUR THOUGHTS ARE PARTICULARLY WITH THE CITIZENS OF IRAQ, AND WE WISH THEM AND THEIR NEW SOVEREIGN GOVERNMENT EVERY SUCCESS. “LET FREEDOM REIGN.”

PLEASE JOIN ME IN AN INDEPENDENCE DAY TOAST. TO PRESIDENT HU AND PRESIDENT BUSH, MAY THE FRIENDSHIP AND MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN CHINA AND THE UNITED STATES CONTINUE TO EXPAND AND PROSPER NOT ONLY TO THE BENEFIT OF OUR TWO GREAT NATIONS AND PEOPLES BUT ALSO TO THE BENEFIT OF ALL NATIONS AND PEOPLES. AND, MAY HUMAN DIGNITY AND LIBERTY FLOURISH.