Top Chinese culture official calls for growing

A leading Chinese culture official on Wednesday urged to increase exchange and dialogue between China and the United States in a bid to improve understanding of the two peoples and bridge the existing great cultural disparity between the two countries. Chinese Minister of Culture Cai Wu made the remarks while delivering a speech at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars based in Washington, D.C.. He made the speech under the auspices of the center and the U.S. National Endowment for the Humanities, with more than 100 American officials and people from U.S. academic and cultural communities in attendance. "So long as we adhere to the principles of mutual respect and seeking common grounds in diversity, and continue to expand our exchanges and communications, the two countries will definitely reach more consensus in culture and particularly achieve more understanding," said Cai. He dismissed the notion of "China threat", concocted by some U. S. politicians, as a fallacy because China has been pursuing a culture of harmony, not a culture of conflict, violence or hegemony. The Chinese official also hoped that both countries could join hands in promoting cultural competition and sustainable development of human civilization, and protecting cultural diversity, for maintaining world peace. Cai is visiting the U.S. to launch a month-long celebration event, known as "China: the Art of a Nation," which features Chinese traditional and modern art performances and a landscape exhibition. The event is slated to formally start later Wednesday at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington.