Seek common ground to spread cultural seeds

• Source: Global Times
• [23:25 December 02 2009]
• Comments

Illustration: Liu Rui

By Ding Gang

Basketball has a unique resonance in Sino-US relations, symbolized by one man, Yao Ming. The ubertall Chinese player attracts fans in both countries. In New Jersey, at a match in which he was playing, I saw a group of blonde and blue-eyed American girls holding a banner written in Chinese, "Yao Ming, I want to marry you!"

For many Americans, Yao's charm lies in, "He is from China. Chinese people can play basketball as well as us!" Even US President Barack Obama repeatedly mentioned Yao when talking about relations with China.

In his town hall meeting with Shanghai youth, he said, "We have nearly 200 sister cities between the two countries. American and Chinese scientists are cooperating in many areas of research and discoveries. People of both countries like playing basketball and Yao Ming is a good example."