Bridging cultural differences most challenging thing in US, China collaboration: Expert

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - Trying to bridge culture is the most challenging thing when it comes to US and China collaboration, but there should be a third way, according to the chairperson of a non-profit group on clean energy.

Speaking to Anadolu, Peggy Liu, chairperson of the Joint US-China Collaboration on Clean Energy (JUCCCE), underlined the importance of building cultural bridges between countries to solve global problems.

"Cultural bridges are probably the most important types of people that we need for all of humanity to rise together because all of our problems are cross-cultural problems, cross-border problems, cross-disciplinary problems," she noted.

Mentioning "finding the commonalities" as a way to create a safe space, she stated that there is a need for people who can understand how to create a safe space for people to be curious and to imagine together as well as to share their views without feeling persecuted.

Meanwhile, she said that it is not always an easy task to achieve this among countries like between US and China.

"I think, right now, it is very difficult for US and China to collaborate because the US media has played such a strong role in basically creating a false narrative, one that is very black and white, not very nuanced," claimed Liu.

"...and so the issue is that whenever you look at somebody, as you versus me, it's very difficult to have a middle way," she said, adding that rather people need "a little bit of creativity, childlike innocence, and compassion."

Touching on the obstacles to shifting clean energy as well as tackling climate change, Liu mentioned the global problems that negatively affect the progress of shifting renewables in one way or another.

"I think for climate change specifically, it's a very big issue when we have supply chains that are blocked, whether it's because COVID has stopped the container ships from moving or the trains from moving containers, or it's sanctions or higher tariffs, any of those things don't do well for the average consumer."

"Then we get more expensive solar panels more expensive when we have more expensive electricity," Liu noted.

She further went on to say that people should figure out how they can "more fluid flow" to solve the problems, including food security, renewable energy, or education-related issues.

"We don't want dams at every single stone; otherwise, it blocks our progress," added Liu.

According to its website, JUCCCE plays a role in catalyzing society towards a future where personal and planetary health thrive, as Liu is also known as one of the leading catalysts of a green China and consults companies and governments on sustainability and cross-cultural collaboration with China.

The JUCCCE was founded by Liu, along with Steve Papermaster, US president's council of advisors on science and technology and Jiang Zhaozu, China's national development and reform commission to serve as the bridge between the two countries.

The initiative began following the first public dialogue on clean energy between US and Chinese government officials in 2007, as participants from both sides called for more collaboration between the two countries.