Hillary Clinton has been working hard to improve relations between China and America recently. The U.S. Secretary of State served as the officiator at the swearing-in of Gary Locke, the first Chinese American ambassador to serve China, on Monday.
In what she described as an “extraordinarily important” relationship between the two countries, Clinton spoke about the necessity of having Locke in place to work out economic talks with the country.
"Gary is going to Beijing at a time when there will be a lot of work for us to do to follow up on with the Strategic and Economic Dialogue, that there will be many difficult issues and challenges to face,” Clinton said. “But I know that Gary is more than ready to tackle that."
Aside from swearing-in Locke this week, Clinton also reached out to seven-time Grammy award winner Will.I.am last Friday.
In hopes of improving relations between the U.S. and China, the rapper will perform at a concert later this year to promote global education initiatives in America, along with Barack Obama’s 100,000 Strong Initiative that aims to send American students to study abroad in China.
The rapper said he was excited to be involved with the project.
“Kids from underserved communities rarely have the opportunity to study and travel abroad, and we want to change that,” will.i.am said in a statement. “We must make sure that American students have the cultural awareness and skills necessary to succeed in a global economy.”
While officiating for Locke’s swearing in ceremony, Clinton spoke about the importance of the U.S. fostering a relationship with China.
“We are two complex, large nations with different histories and different political systems, but we know the importance of getting to know one another better, working together, solving problems together, and that is what we have been committed to doing,” Clinton said.
