A few days ago, U.S. Ambassador Burns visited Yunnan. This is the first time for Ambassador Burns to come to Yunnan since he took office, and also the first visit of the U.S. Ambassador to Yunnan in nearly six years.

On May 13, Wang Yubo, deputy secretary of Yunnan Provincial Party Committee and governor of Yunnan Province, met with U.S. Ambassador Nicholas Burns and his entourage in Kunming.

Wang Yubo welcomed the visit of Burns and his entourage and introduced the achievements of Yunnan's economic and social development under the leadership of President Xi Jinping. He said that Yunnan and the United States have a long history of exchanges, in the 1940s to fight fascist aggression together formed a deep “Flying Tigers Origination”, and in recent years in a number of areas of cooperation to achieve positive results. He pointed out that last year, the heads of state of China and the United States met in San Francisco and reached a series of important consensus. It is hoped that Mr. Ambassador's visit will be an opportunity to jointly implement the “San Francisco Vision”, promote people-to-people exchanges in all walks of life, deepen cooperation in the fields of economy, trade and investment, humanistic exchanges, civil society and youth exchanges, and play a positive role in promoting the stable, healthy and sustainable development of China-U.S. relations.

Ambassador Burns expressed his approval of the cooperation proposals put forward by Wang Yubo. He said that through this visit, he left a good impression on the natural scenery and ethnic culture of Yunnan. The story of Flying Tigers is very touching and worth telling and remembering by American and Chinese people. He hoped to further strengthen communication and exchange with Yunnan, and promote cooperation in economy and trade, agriculture, tourism, biodiversity conservation, university exchanges, especially student exchanges and other aspects to achieve new results.

During his stay in Yunnan, Ambassador Burns visited Lijiang City, where he enjoyed the Naxi culture, the ancient city of Lijiang and the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. He also traveled to Shangri-La to see the Tiger Leaping Gorge. Ambassador Burns also traveled to Dali to visit the Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple.

While in Dali, Ambassador Burns also traveled to the town of Xizhou. He said, “In Xizhou, in rural Yunnan, we visited the morning market of the Bai ethnic minority, got to know the traditional woodblock prints of the region, and learned how Americans Brian and Jeanee Linden are promoting folk exchanges between the two countries in the area.”

Following his visit to Dali, Ambassador Burns traveled to Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province. The Ambassador visited the Flight of the Hump Monument in Kunming and laid a wreath in honor of the more than 1,600 U.S. servicemen and women who lost their lives flying the “Hump Route” during World War II.

Ambassador Burns also visited the Kunming Flying Tigers Memorial Hall. He said, “I came to the Flying Tigers Memorial Hall in Kunming. I saw many young Americans, as well as photos of General Claire Chennault. They all came to China as volunteers and fought together with China in the anti-fascist war of aggression during World War II. The former heroes are still highly honored today.”

In addition, Ambassador Burns had a discussion with faculty, staff and students at Yunnan University. He said, “I had a good discussion at Yunnan University with Executive Vice President Ma Wenhui, deans of colleges, faculty, staff and students. We are working to increase the number of U.S. students coming to China and look forward to exceeding the current number of 880, as well as reconnecting the academic community and the entire community of the two countries, which have been estranged by the epidemic.”