The following is the full text of the remarks, as delivered, made by John L. Thornton, Global Co-Chair of Asia Society, in the keynote session of the Eighth Annual Global Think Tank Summit in Beijing, China.

Please kindly see the video of the full speech here.

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Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, old friends, new friends, [and] especially my very old friend, former Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan, good afternoon.

I am very, very happy to be here today.

The last time I was here was in the very first session of this gathering. It has been too long since I have been here. And I know I will leave here today inspired and motivated to be a force for good in helping to solve the real and substantial problems facing the world today.

And I know you will, too.

We gather here this afternoon at a complex time in human history.

We have what I regard as a curious dynamic in the world at present.

On the one hand, we have numerous formidable issues and challenges, many of them global in nature or in their implications, and others, which are so common that they are faced by many nations in the world.

Think, by example, of the extent of the resurgence of nationalism or populism, or think of the many places in the world where large numbers of people are fleeing from their place of birth to seek a better life in a foreign land.

Think also of the emergence of powerful, new technologies that can and are being used for both good and evil.

There are numerous other examples. At the same time, as we are facing arguably the greatest number of common challenges, we also find ourselves at a time when the world’s two most powerful and wealthiest countries cannot seem to find ways to cooperate, find common ground, and work together, anywhere near as much or as often or as deeply as they could and should to assist the world in managing or solving the enormous number of common challenges we face.

Does anyone here think that the world in the 21st century is going to become less complex than it is now?

Or that the global problems we face currently are going to diminish or become easier to manage yourself?

I, for one, do not. I think the global problems are going to become more numerous and more complex.

Therefore, it obviously follows that the world will need the two wealthiest, most powerful countries to work together as often and as deeply as possible and lead the world, also together, to do our collective best to manage and solve our considerable global problems.

In fact, we can go further than that and say that the world’s two wealthiest and most powerful countries have a responsibility to lead the requisite collective effort to make the world a better place than it is today.

Okay, so what can we, the leading think tanks of the world, do to contribute our part of the solution to the dilemmas I have referenced?

We can propose specific, concrete ideas that will make a difference and make them happen.

Here are three. I hope and expect you all will have many, many more and better ideas of a similar character.

[One:] Taking inspiration from President Xi Jinping’s speech in San Francisco last November, we can and should focus on people-to-people initiatives.

President Xi specifically invited 50,000 American students to come to China over the next five years.

At the moment, there are fewer than 1,000 Americans studying in China.

So, 50,000 is appropriately ambitious.

But it will not happen unless we in this room, and others like us, make it happen.

We at the Asia Society are working right now to contribute to this goal by creating and leading a program which will meaningfully contribute to the goal. We encourage every think tank represented here today from the U.S. and China to do the same.

Two: We all know that scientific and academic collaboration and exchange is the greatest, most powerful source of creativity and speed and scale of intellectual and technological breakthroughs. We must not let the current climate of geopolitical tensions put an end to such collaboration.

Humankind does not have the luxury to operate collectively in a suboptimal manner. Even if one accepts that there are genuine concerns related to national security, we must do our utmost to define clearly and carefully what we all mean by national security and not let the definition become any wider than is truly essential.

Three: The Asia Society has been driving a cure for cancer initiative.

Why?

Because over 10 million people a year die from cancer, and many more live diminished lives as a result of cancer. We can cure cancer, but no one can do so alone.

By enhancing collaboration in clinical trials between the U.S. and China and increasing the number and diversity of patients, scientists can better assess the efficacy of various cancer treatments. The U.S. and China working together can create a larger scientific ecosystem that promotes patient-centered clinical trials and harmonizes international regulatory systems.

We all know that there is literally no problem in the world that does not get managed better or solved faster by the U.S. and China working together than by the two leading countries pursuing solutions on their own.

Henry Kissinger quoted himself in the foreword to the book Kissinger on Kissinger, a small gem of a work compiled by Winston Lord and K.T. McFarland.

The quote said: “Everything, therefore, depends on a conception of the future.”

These are wise words from a geopolitical thinker who had a lot of wisdom to share.

For our purposes this afternoon, we do not have to agree on a clear, specific conception of the future. We can simply say that whatever each of us thinks that future should be, we certainly all think that it ought to be better than the present.

All of us want a more peaceful, prosperous future for all mankind than we have today.

Since we can agree on that sentiment with ease, we can also agree that each of us should make his or her contribution to that better shared future.

So, let us all agree to get to work now together to make that better future happen soon.

Thank you very much.

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