英語(yǔ)演講稿
As I said in my speech, It is vitally important that we young people do more serious thinking ... to take them [issues like globalization] on and give them honest thinking is the first step to be prepared for both opportunities and challenges coming our way. We need to respond honestly.
A competition like this draws talented students from all over the country. And of course, I learnt more things than just about public speaking. Since in the final analysis, public speaking is all about effective communication. And this goes true for all communications, whatever their setting.
And the following is the final version of my speech:
Thirty years ago, American President Richard Nixon made an epoch-making visit to China, a country still isolated at that time. Premier Zhou Enlai said to him, Your handshake came over the vastest ocean in the world—twenty-five years of no communication. Thirty years since, China and America have exchanged many handshakes. The fundamental implication of this example is that the need to communicate across differences in culture and ideology is not only felt by the two countries but by many other nations as well.
As we can see today, environmentalists from different countries are making joint efforts to address the issue of global warming, economists are seeking solutions to financial crises that rage in a particular region but nonetheless cripple the world economy, and politicians and diplomats are getting together to discuss the issue of combating terrorism. Peace and prosperity has become a common goal that we are striving for all over the world. Underlying this mighty trend of global communication is the echo of E. M. Forsters words Only connect!
With the IT revolution, traditional boundaries of human society fall away. Our culture, politics, society and commerce are being sloshed into one large melting pot of humanity. In this interlinked world, there are no outsiders, for a disturbance in one place is likely to impact other parts of the globe. We have begun to realize that a world divided cannot endure.
China is now actively integrating into the world. Our recent entry to the WTO is a good example. For decades, we have taken pride in being self-reliant, but now we realize the importance of participating in and contributing to a broader economic order. From a precarious role in the world arena to our present WTO membership, we have come a long way.
But what does the way ahead look like? In some parts of the world people are demonstrating against globalization. Are they justified, then, in criticizing the globalizing world? Instead of narrowing the gap between the rich and the poor, they say, globalization enables the developed nations to swallow the developing nations wealth in debts and interest. Globalization, they argue, should be about a common interest in every other nations economic health.
We are reminded by Karl Marx that capital goes beyond national borders and eludes control from any other entity. This has become a reality. Multinational corporations are seeking the lowest cost, the largest market, and the most favourable policy. They are often powerful lobbyists in government decision-making, ruthless expansionists in the global market and a devastating presence to local businesses.