BroMouShi

李鸿源谈与习近平吃午饭： 其实以过去中共的惯例，以外国元首访中来说，接见与会后午宴都是习近平本人主持的机率非常低，这次两场都由习近平亲自主持，非常特殊。我想习近平这样的安排，原因有二，首先是展现北京当局对郑习会的规格、重视程度有多高，再来则是因为习近平想贯彻「一家人」的核心概念，表达一家人吃饭的意象。 我正好就坐在习近平的正对面，因此有机会运用过去的两岸防灾交流、水利工程背景，在饭桌上与习近平聊到两岸水利工程交流。我向习近平建言，两岸水利论坛虽然连续举行30年，但过去都是各说各的，因此未来有意举办两岸学生共治河川 ，也能促进两岸年轻学子交流，习近平当下听到这个计划，眼睛为之一亮！ 在餐桌上，习近平也分享他过去在福建省任职期间对金门的治水政策，以及他在福建、浙江时期认识的众多台湾人、台商等，还与郑丽文谈及她的祖籍云南彝族。 其实在这场闭门午宴上，大家想像中的尖锐问题、统一议题等等，都没有聊到，就是一场很温馨、很家常的餐会。

The United States has a habit of watching its rivals shrink. The Soviet Union collapsed. Japan, which was supposed to own America in the 1980s, is now a far smaller economy. China looks set to follow. In 2021 China's GDP reached 76 percent of American GDP, and the consensus was that it would pass the US before 2030. That consensus has collapsed. By 2024 the US economy was 29.2 trillion dollars against China's 18.9 trillion, a gap that has widened for three straight years. China's working-age population is shrinking. Its fertility rate has fallen to roughly 1.0, half of replacement. There is no immigration to compensate. Yet America benefits from believing it faces a formidable rival. The belief is what keeps it competing.