Whether speaking or singing, Yale voices were among those heard this week at the U.S.-China Consultation on People-to-People Exchange (CPE) in Beijing.
Secretary of State John Kerry ’66 and Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong co-chaired the seventh annual event, which aims to promote and strengthen people-to-people ties between the United States and China in the fields of education, culture, health, science and technology, sports, and women’s issues.
Yale President Peter Salovey took part in a panel on “Comparing University & Think Tank and Policy Making in the U.S. and China,” moderated by Zhai Kun, a professor at Peking University’s School of International Studies. The panel also included representatives from the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, the University of Pennsylvania, The Brookings Institution, the Torino World Affairs Institute, Beijing Normal Institute, Tsinghua University, and Renmin University.
Also at the international symposium were members of the Yale Spizzwinks(?) a cappella group, who joined singers from Tsinghua University in a performance at the the plenary session prior to remarks by Kerry, who quipped, “Look, at the outset, I want to make it clear to everybody that I was totally prepared to trade my speech for more singing.”
The Yale alumnus then went on to note, “The president of Yale, Peter Salovey, is sitting over here. Yale has a very active, engaged educational relationship with China, and I think all of us should join together in thanking those who entertained us in the beginning and who continue this relationship. Peter, we’re very grateful. Thank you very much.”