TRANSCRIPT: ALBRIGHT, DALEY AT TELEMEDICINE DEMONSTRATION
(Project made possible by closer U.S.-China relations)Xian, China -- Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Secretary of Commerce William Daley congratulated the participants at the Xian Medical University telemedicine technology demonstration for showing what technology can do for individuals.
In a presentation at the university June 26, Secretary Albright said: "What you have achieved here can be and should be an inspiration for others in China and the U.S. and all over the world. It is truly a demonstration of how individuals working with businesses and governments can cooperate to benefit real people in real time."
"It is a sign of how quickly the newest information technology is coming to China and how far reaching its effects will be," Albright continued.
"As I travel around the United States I try to explain to the American people how foreign policy affects their daily lives," she said. "This project which really comes about as the increasingly close relations between the U.S. and China are evident are a real sign of how our working together affects real people. And your success here is a poignant reminder of the fundamental values human beings share across barriers of oceans and mountains of culture and language, and that is the desire to keep our children healthy and to cure them when they are sick and to create for them a better future that is brighter than the past."
Following is the State Department transcript of their remarks:
(begin transcript)
U.S. Department of State
Office of the Spokesman
(Xian, China)June 26, 1998
Remarks by
Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright
Secretary of Commerce William Daley
at the Xian Medical University Telemedicine Technology Demonstration
Xian, China
June 26, 1998SECRETARY DALEY: Let me first of all thank the governmental representatives who are with us today and the university representatives, the doctors, of course, who are with us, and our friends at Stanford for their participation in this tremendous program.
We come here as a delegation along with our President to send a message of a new day in a relationship between China and the U.S. We are participating in an event that is a tremendously informative and an historical event. The technologies we see here today really are changing the way we live and the way in which we will deal with each other around the world -- in this ever shrinking world. These technologies will bring us closer and give us the opportunity to solve problems on behalf of people who have been unable to take advantage of such expertise as was available just today.
I am very proud to say that the Department of Commerce has participated in giving grants to a number of projects like this in our country. Nurses and doctors being able to visit with rural patients over the internet on a regular basis has given the patients opportunities that they would not have and have gone a long way in bringing down the costs of health care in our country.
We would stand ready to work with our colleagues in the ministries in the PRC to set up a series of conferences and seminars in our country to bring a group of your representatives over to meet with ours to see the successes that we have had -- successes like this today. And to further our relationship so that we can see many more examples of this sort of success, of China helping one young child who is ill by bringing experts from around the world together. That is what our President is trying to bring in this visit; the message of bringing us all together in this ever shrinking world and using the new technologies that can make us healthier and, hopefully, better friends than we have been in the past.
I thank you again for your hospitality to our entire delegation.
It is a pleasure for me to introduce my colleague. The Secretary of State is someone who is well versed in these new technologies, is well versed in helping to bring these sorts of technologies around the world, and is well versed in helping the American businesses who have been on the cutting edge in producing many of these technologies and in opening opportunities for these businesses around the world as she travels so often on behalf of American interests. It is indeed an honor for me, and quite a pleasure, to introduce the Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Thank you very much Secretary Daley.
Let me also recognize the members of Congress who are travelling with us this morning: Senator Baucus, Senator Rockefeller, Senator Akaka, Congressman Dingle, Congressman Hamilton, and Congressman Markey. It is very good to have them with us as we show the American team.
This is indeed a very impressive set up and an impressive achievement, and as we inaugurate this link between Xian and The Stanford Medical Center we use technology the way it should be used -- to save and improve people's lives. As the mother of twins who were born 37 years ago in June and couldn't breathe, I am particularly fascinated by the case you are looking at here. I can assure you they breathe well now. I think that this kind of link is really providing a vivid demonstration of how China and the United States can work together for the benefit of both our peoples.
And I congratulate everyone who has worked so hard to bring this connection about, the doctors and staff of this facility of the University of California at San Francisco and Stanford University, the visionaries of Bridge to Asia and their corporate supporters, and the Chinese Ministry of Public Health.
What you have achieved here can be and should be an inspiration for others in China and the U.S. and all over the world. It is truly a demonstration of how individuals working with businesses and governments can cooperate to benefit real people in real time. Sometimes the programs that we're involved in seem so distant from real people but your discussion of a case of a real child. I think, shows us what technology can do for each and every individual. It is a sign of how quickly the newest information technology is coming to China and how far reaching its effects will be. Already Bridge to Asia has another program in place that will help Chinese researchers use the internet as a personal library.
As I travel around the United States I try to explain to the American people how foreign policy affects their daily lives. This project which really comes about as the increasingly close relations between the U.S. and China are evident are a real sign of how our working together affects real people. And your success here is a poignant reminder of the fundamental values human beings share across barriers of oceans and mountains of culture and language, and that is the desire to keep our children healthy and to cure them when they are sick and to create for them a better future that is brighter than the past.
There is absolutely no question that in order to meet these goals we have to work together because no single nation, no matter how powerful, has all the know how to fight the infectious diseases or HIV/AIDS. And no nation acting along can remove the threat of global warming and safeguard the environment for its citizens. And no nation has the resources by itself to foresee the next generation of challenges and opportunities.
But this project is really a vivid example that as partners we can open up new worlds of information to each other, and we can help people such as the patients that are being discussed here today to live fuller, more productive lives, and, who knows, perhaps one day even solve the problem of the common cold.
I wish you a great deal of luck on this project and many others, and, if it's at all possible. I would love to know what happens with that baby.
Thank you.
(end transcript)
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