美国第一夫人访华 加强教育交流 US First Lady Visiting China to Strengthen Educational Exchanges

U.S. first lady Michelle Obama and her with her daughters are here in Beijing, visiting China as the guest of Peng Liyuan, the wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
应中国国家主席习近平的夫人彭丽媛女士之邀，美国第一夫人米歇尔.奥巴马携两个女儿在北京开启了访华之旅。

That was Michelle Obama learning Chinese from some primary school students in the US before her visit to China. Talking to the students who had been to China, the first lady says she was fully prepared for the visit.
米歇尔.奥巴马访华前在美国跟一些小学生们学中文时，她对那些曾经来过中国的学生们说，她已经完全准备好了这次访问。

"It's imp0rtant to be open-minded ab0ut what the world is like, right? Because, as you said, you went to China with a whole bunch of misconceptions ab0ut what that country would feel like; what the cities are gonna be like, and you found that you were totally wrong, right? So I might make a few mistakes when I go over there, and trust me, the whole world is watching."
“用开放的眼光看世界是很重要的，是吧？因为正如你们说的，你们去中国时带着好多误解，关于这个国家应该是什么样子的，城市会是什么样子的，但是到了你们发现自己完全错了是吧？所以到那我也许会犯错误，但相信我，全世界都在关注。”

The White House announced on Monday that the trip will be focusing on the power and imp0rtance of education. Michelle will also visit some imp0rtant historical and cultural sites in China, as well as making two separate speeches at Peking University and a Middle school in Chengdu.
白宫周一宣布此次访华将聚焦教育的重要性，米歇尔还将参观中国很多历史文化古迹，还会分别在北京大学和成都的一所中学做演讲。

A senior official with the White House says agenda-setting of the visit is emphasizing the imp0rtance of people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.
白宫一位高级官员说这次访问的日程安排注重了两国民间的交流。

"That's critically imp0rtant given that our role in what gonna play in the 21st century is that again we maintain the very regular context that we had at the leader to leader level, but that we are also reaching out in building relationship with people, particularly young people."
“考虑到我们两国在21世纪所担当的国际责任，这样的交流就尤为重要。我们在领导层面一直保持着固定的联络，我们还希望继续深化民众之间的交流，特别是年轻人之间的交流。”

Tao Wenzhao, Deputy Director of the Institute of American Studies with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, says it is the first time a foreign country's first lady is paying an official visit to China alone. He says, though a first lady does not have any formal position in the government, but everybody understands the role she can play.
中国社科院美国研究所副所长陶文钊说这是首次外国第一夫人单独正式访华，尽管第一夫人在政府中没有正式职位，但每个人都能理解她所扮演的角色。

"And now people are just watching what Michelle Obama will say before she leaves and what kind of exchanges or interactions will take place between Michelle Obama and Madam Peng Liyuan."
“现在人们都在关注米歇尔.奥巴马在她离开前会有什么言论，她和彭丽媛女士之间有什么交流和互动。”

During the past few months, relations between the two countries have seen friction when it comes to territorial disputes between China and some of America's allies in the Asian Pacific region, including Japan and the Philippines.
过去的几个月里，由于中国和美国在亚太地区的盟友包括日本和菲律宾之间的领土争端，中美两国关系中产生了一些摩擦。

Professor Shi Yinghong with Ren University of China, believes, though Michelle's visit will not touch upon hot-button political issues, it can help improve and strengthen Sino-US relations.
中国人民大学教授时殷弘相信，尽管米歇尔访华不会触及热点的政治问题，但也有利于促进和加强中美关系。

Tao echoes this point, but he also suggests that people should bare in mind the common interests of the two sides.
陶也响应了这样的观点，但他也认为人们应该认识到两国有着共同的利益。

"Yes, differences do exist in this or that aspect, over human rights, and over the South China Sea, East China Sea etc. But those disputes do not mean that our relationship is bad. Actually, this is a quite normal collation of Sino-US relations. In general, our common interests are much larger than our differences."
“是的，差异一定存在，或在这方面或在那方面，比如人权、中国南海问题、东海问题等，但争论不意味着我们的关系很糟糕。实际上这是非常正常的综合的中美关系。总的看，我们共同的利益远远大于我们之间存在的差异。”

Instead of having political intentions, Tao adds Michelle Obama's visit is more likely making up for the two first ladies failing to meet in June in California due to a scheduling conflict.
陶还认为米歇尔访华没有政治意图，反而更像是两国第一夫人在弥补去年6月在加利福尼亚因为时间安排不同没有谋面而产生的遗憾。