On May 20-21 I participated in the Media Forum for Central and West Asia. After this I went to Beijing and participated in a meeting with some officials from the State Council of Information and the Beijing Olympic Press Center. Right now I am in Kashgar as a part of a group of reporters preparing for the Kashgar Trade Fair on June 28. At every venue I have heard people have talked about the need to be known. China Central Asian countries and Kashgar all want to introduce themselves through their media as quickly and accurately as possible. As an American this is something I have never considered before.

5月20到21日，我参加了中西亚媒体论坛，然后我去北京参加中国国务院新闻办公室和北京奥运会新闻中心的会议。目前我是参观喀什地区记者团的成员，我们为将于6月28日开幕的喀交会做宣传。在每个场合我都听到人们说起被认识的需要。中国、中亚国家，我现在所在的喀什地区都想通过新闻媒体尽快而准确地介绍自己。作为一个美国人，我从来没考虑过这一点。

There are not many people in the world that do not know about America. In my travels I have found that most have two opinions about my country? they admire and they detest it at the same time. I have met people that praise my country for its equality freedom and wealth and I have met others that lambaste it for its inequality tolerance of iniquity and selfishness. I have never considered the need to be known before because during all my travels abroad I have been preoccupied with the need to be understood.

世界上很少有人不知道美国。在我的旅游中，我发现大多数人对我的国家有两种感觉——他们一面佩服一面嫌恶。我见过由于平等、自由和财富赞成美国的人，我也见过由于不平等、宽容邪恶和自私、强烈斥责我的国家的人。我从来没想到有被知道的需要，原因是在我的国外旅行中我全神贯注的是被理解的需要。

I can understand the point of view of those who attended the Media Forum and government officials in Kashgar. Without positive attention from the world it is difficult to improve the economics of the region. It is also difficult to be given the respect that is so deserved. Societies of the developed world do not pay much attention to developing countries much like eastern China pays little attention to western China. This is a natural situation but occasionally I talk with Chinese people who have grave misunderstandings about America and consequently have a very low opinion of it. Before I came to China some American friends actually told me that I should not come. It is hard to talk with people like this. They think they have understood when they barely know.

我可以理解参加媒体论坛的人和喀什地区领导的看法，没有对世界的积极关注，当地经济很难发展，同时也难以受到应有的尊敬。发达国家不太在乎发展中国家，这与中国东部地区不太在意中国西部一样。这是很自然的情况，但是我偶尔遇到对美国有挺严重误解的中国人，结果他对我的国家的评价也很低。到中国以前，一些美国朋友也劝我不应该去。跟这样的人很难沟通，他们以为全面理解了，但事实上还没把握基本情况。

In his speech at the Media Forum our editor in chief Mr. Su Jishang said ″Without cultural understanding between nations it would be impossible to build trust and to conduct economic exchanges.″ The need to be known is also the need to be understood and the best way to do this is through cultural exchanges. It is this focus on relationships that I think my culture can learn a lot from the East.

在中西亚媒体论坛的演讲中，新疆经济报社的总编辑苏继赏说：“各国之间没有文化方面的了解，信任感就无法建立，经济交流也不会产生。”被知道的需要也是被理解的需要，最好的实现方法是通过文化交流。从强调关系的角度看，我以为我国的文化能够向东方学习很多东西。