１２ｔｈ Ｅｄｇａｒ Ｓｎｏｗ Ｓｙｍｐｏｓｉｕｍ Ｈｅｌｄ ｉｎ Ｋａｎｓａｓ Ｃｉｔｙ ｏｆ ｔｈｅ Ｕ．Ｓ．

The 12th Edgar Snow Symposium was held in Kansas City， Missouri State of the United States from October 18 to 19， 2006. The China Society for People’s Friendship Studies sent a delegation headed by its Vice President Mei Ping to attend it. Tong Zhiguang， former president of the Export-Import Bank of China and former vice minister of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (now the Ministry of Commerce)， Fan Jinshi， director of the Dunhuang Research Institute， and Jiang Chengyu， professor of biology and biochemistry at the Research Institute of Basic Medical Science under the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences， were specially invited by the American side to attend the symposium.

The symposium included four activities. The first was the round table meeting with the theme of Five Years after China’s WTO Membership and China-US Relationship: Opportunities and Challenges Ahead held at the Performing Arts Centre of the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC). About 200 people were present at the meeting. After the introduction given by Lawyer Albert Yabo Lin， member of the Board of Directors of the Edgar Snow Memorial Fund， Dan Rather， former CBS news anchor who accompanied President Nixon on his visit to China in 1972， presided over the meeting. With rich experience in gathering news he raised questions in a resourceful and quick-witted way， and the main speakers stated their views through answering his questions. The main speakers were Tong Zhiguang， former president of the Export-Import Bank of China and former vice minister of foreign trade and economic cooperation; J. Stapleton Roy， former US ambassador to China; Ambassador Jiang Chengzong， secretary general of the China National Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation; and William Reid， vice president of VISA International. The meeting was very lively in asking and answering questions. There were heated arguments， confrontation of different views， realistic explanations， clarifications and supplements. The audience also asked questions. Through the meeting the participants came to know about China’s past five years’ experience after its accession to the WTO， the problems existing in China-US trade and the efforts needed to be made by both sides. This was a very successful mass symposium.

The second activity was the dinner party held in the Banquet Hall of Intercontinental Hotel. About 400 people attended the party which was also presided over by Dan Rather. In his keynote speech entitled Promotion of China-US Partnership at the banquet， Chinese Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong reviewed the high-level exchanges between China and the U.S. in recent years， showing that with concerted efforts of the two sides， Sino-US relations are further improving and developing. He said， facts have proved again that China and the U.S. which have extensive common interests and shoulder important responsibilities should and can achieve win-win results through cooperation. Healthy and steady development of China-US relationship conforms to the fundamental interests of the two countries and two peoples， and is also an important factor for the promotion of regional and world peace， stability and prosperity. China and the U.S. should further strengthen dialogue， increase mutual trust， develop cooperation and strive to push China-US constructive cooperative relations to a higher level.In the field of international affairs， China and the United States， as two big countries， have the responsibility to make contributions to world peace. Zhou specially pointed out， the biggest obstacle to the development of China-US relations is still the Taiwan issue. To properly handle the Taiwan issue is still the key to the healthy and steady development of China-US relations. Zhou hoped that the U.S. would stick to the one China policy that President Bush had time and again reiterated， and abide by the three China-US joint communiqués， fulfill its commitment of opposing “Taiwan independence”， understand and support all the efforts made by the Chinese government and people to maintain state sovereignty and territorial integrity and realize peaceful reunification of the motherland， and avoid giving any wrong signals to the Taiwan secessionist forces. Zhou said， as long as China’s sovereignty and way of handling its internal affairs are respected， China-US relations will see great improvement. This is also the aspiration shared by the two peoples. At the banquet students of the UMKC Conservatory of Music gave performances.

The third activity of the symposium was lectures on the development of global biological technology held at the UMKC School of Medicine. Jiang Chengyu， professor of biology and biochemistry at the Research Institute of Basic Medical Science under the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences， gave a lecture on the cause and the control of SARS in China and how coronary viruses cause severe acute respiratory syndrome. Dr. Li Linheng， associate investigator at the Stowers Institute， gave a lecture on the study of the application of human genes and stem cells to the treatment of cancer， anticipating that in 15 to 20 years diseases that are most seriously threatening human lives such as cancer and heart disease can be cured by medicine. Dr. Deng Hongwen， Franklin D. Dickson/Missouri Endowed Chair in Orthopaedic Surgery at the UMKC School of Medicine， gave a lecture on the cause and prevention of senile osteoporosis.

The fourth activity was a lecture held in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Fan Jinshi， director of the Dunhuang Research Institute gave a lecture on the Dunhuang Grottoes， treasures of Euro-Asian culture on the Silk Road. She gave a detailed introduction while showing slides. More than 150 people attended the lecture. Immediately after the meeting some people said that they would join the Snow tourist group to visit the Mogao Grottoes and the Silk Road in 2007. Fan said that he would receive them warmly.

To coordinate the activities of the symposium， Edgar Snow Memorial Fund organized musical and dance performances given by the Chinese Music Ensemble of Kansas City， Le Yue Chorus， the Marshal Art Troupe and Zhang Li Dance School at the UMKC Performing Arts Centre. Chinese painters residing in the U.S. displayed and sold their works and part of the earnings were donated to the Edgar Snow Memorial Fund.

In Kansas City， the delegation attended the breakfast reception hosted by the Rotary International， at which Ambassador Mei Ping spoke about China-US trade. John Phillips， vice chairman of Edgar Snow Memorial Fund and managing partner of the Blackwell Sander Peper Martin Law Office， gave a cocktail party in honour of the delegation. The delegation also visited the Harry S. Truman Library in Missouri State.