[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 26 (Monday, June 29, 1998)]
[Pages 1237-1238]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks to the People of Xiahe

June 26, 1998

    Nin men hao, Xiahe.
    Thank you, Yunlong, for your welcome. I thank all of the students 
for the greeting and for the wonderful music, and I thank all the rest 
of you for making all of us in the American delegation feel so welcome 
here.
    My wife and I are delighted to be joined by our daughter, my mother-
in-law, and Secretary Albright, Secretary Daley, Ambassador and Mrs. 
Sasser, and six Members of the United States Congress, Senator 
Rockefeller, Senator Baucus, Senator Akaka, and Representatives Dingell 
and Hamilton and Markey, along with a number of people who work with me 
in the White House. We are all very honored to be here. Thank you.
    I understand that soon, like nearly half a million other villages 
across China, you will be voting to choose your local leaders. I know 
what it is like to run for office. I have won elections, and I have also 
lost two. I like winning better than losing, but whenever there is an 
election and the people decide, everyone wins.
    I have come to China to strengthen the ties between our two nations. 
Over the past 25 years, your country has launched a remarkable period of 
change, and today, most

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Chinese, including the members of this village, enjoy a higher standard 
of living than at any time in China's history.
    Here, by using better farming techniques, you have freed up time and 
money for other projects, like your brick factory, your construction 
crews, your handicrafts. Your village has sponsored language classes in 
English and Japanese to help you in dealing with foreign tourists. 
Today, your village committee owns a dozen businesses, with 300 hard-
working people now able to provide for their families. Many of you have 
opened your own businesses, and in only 15 years, average income here 
has grown 17 times. I congratulate you.
    I also appreciate the fact that you have invested money back into 
your community in better schools, in better roads, in installing cable 
television to bring the world into your homes. Your achievements are a 
window for all the world to see what local democracy has brought to 
China and what a brighter future you are building for the children here 
with us today.
    We Americans respect your devotion to family, to education, to work, 
your respect for the land and for your heritage. And we hope you will 
reap the fruits of your labor for many years to come.
    Thank you again for making us all feel so welcome here in Xiahe. 
Thank you. Xie xie.

Note: The President spoke at 11:40 a.m. In his remarks, the referred to 
Yang Yunlong, chief, Xiahe Village Committee, and Mary Sasser, wife of 
U.S. Ambassador James M. Sasser. A tape was not available for 
verification of the content of these remarks.