I like young people very much. Because young people are always so energetic and they have the least conservative ideas, and they represent the future of our world. And this year during the outbreak of the SARS epidemic, I thought about the students. I cared a lot for them, and I wanted to gain strength from them. So that was why I went to our Tsinghua University to have lunch with them. And also I went to Beijing University and I had a chat with the students in the library. At that time probably you could not have imagined what an atmosphere we were in, but I felt that the young people were as hopeful as ever. They always dream about a beautiful future. They pointed to the trees outside the window and said to me, "People like to say that when all the leaves grow, when the tree becomes green all over, this crisis will be over. And they also said that they would all rather be the green leaves themselves, and they asked me, Premier, in this big tree, which part of the tree are you? I immediately replied, "I'm also one of the leaves like you."
As the speaker today, of course I think I need to explain myself a little bit to my audience, and I owe you this because in this way we can have a heart-to-heart discussion.
As you know, as you probably know, I'm the son of a schoolteacher. I spent my childhood mostly in the smoke and fire of war. I was not as fortunate as you as a child. When Japanese aggressors drove all the people in my place to the Central Plaza, I had to huddle closely against my mother. Later on, my whole family and house were all burned up, and even the primary school that my grandpa built himself all went up in flames. In my work life, most of the time I worked in areas under the most harsh conditions in China.
Therefore I know my country and my people quite well and I love them so deeply. I like young people very much. Because young people are always so energetic and they have the least conservative ideas, and they represent the future of our world. And this year during the outbreak of the SARS epidemic, I thought about the students. I cared a lot for them, and I wanted to gain strength from them. So that was why I went to our Tsinghua University to have lunch with them. And also I went to Beijing University and I had a chat with the students in the library. At that time probably you could not have imagined what an atmosphere we were in, but I felt that the young people were as hopeful as ever. They always dream about a beautiful future. They pointed to the trees outside the window and said to me, "People like to say that when all the leaves grow, when the tree becomes green all over, this crisis will be over. And they also said that they would all rather be the green leaves themselves, and they asked me, Premier, in this big tree, which part of the tree are you? I immediately replied, "I'm also one of the leaves like you."
As the speaker today, of course I think I need to explain myself a little bit to my audience, and I owe you this because in this way we can have a heart-to-heart discussion.
As you know, as you probably know, I'm the son of a schoolteacher. I spent my childhood mostly in the smoke and fire of war. I was not as fortunate as you as a child. When Japanese aggressors drove all the people in my place to the Central Plaza, I had to huddle closely against my mother. Later on, my whole family and house were all burned up, and even the primary school that my grandpa built himself all went up in flames. In my work life, most of the time I worked in areas under the most harsh conditions in China.
Therefore I know my country and my people quite well and I love them so deeply.