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Q & A | Marilyn Strickland

Will it be your first time to meet the Chinese President? What is your expectation of the meeting?

Yes, It will be my first time to meet President Xi.

First of all, we are very excited in Tacoma and honored to have the opportunity to meet President Xi, given his importance in the world. It is a big deal to happen here, especially his coming to a school, because so much of what we share as countries is the desire for children to get a good education.

What will you say to President Xi when you first meet him?

First of all, I would say welcome to Washington state. We are very excited to host you in Tacoma at Lincoln High school. And secondly I would say as you travelled around the country and the world, we hope Tacoma always has a special place in your heart. Not just because of what happened twenty-one years ago, but let people know this warm and welcoming place. We welcome people from around the world but especially our Chinese brothers and sisters. Tacoma is a beautiful city to visit and a good place to have education and investment.

So for the president, it is not his first time to visit the city?

Right. There is a history here. Twenty-one years ago, when he was an official in Fuzhou, an official sister city agreement between Tacoma and Fuzhou was signed and he was here.

Does the city have any China programs?

We do a lot of work with China in general. We have the Port of Tacoma and China is our largest trading partner of the Port of Tacoma. The city has a lot of education programs. Starting January, we are in the process of trying to have a group of students from China spend several months here. We have a sister city program and the Chinese Reconciliation Park located at 1741 North Schuster Parkway in Tacoma. Fuzhou donated the Pavilion. (The project is a critical component of the community-led reconciliation process intended to commemorate the 1885 expulsion of Tacoma's Chinese citizens led by the mayor and community leaders of that time, to express Tacoma's commitment to end racism and hatred, and to promote a peaceful, multicultural community).

The city has welcomed and hosted more than 30 delegations from Fuzhou since 1994.

Next week when President Xi is here, the city will host a lot of events on China and celebrating and elevating the US-China relationship. (A welcoming ceremony at the Chinese Reconciliation Park for Chinese delegation, an opening ceremony of the Tacoma-Fuzhou Sister city relationship, the Word Trade Center's Third Annual PNW-China Trade & Investment Summit and more).

On the school you mentioned, we know it will be Lincoln High. Why this one?

The school is very special for few a reasons: it is one of the best schools in the State of Washington; they do a lot of really good work. They have teachers who have won national awards. And as for the population of the school that it serves, these are not children of privilege. These are children who come from a lot of different economic backgrounds.

The fact is that President Xi wants to really help people to understand he is the man of people. He worked for the local government earlier in his career so he really wants to have an opportunity to interact with ordinary American and regular American kids. I think it is really important and speaks highly of him.

But this is not the only good high school in Tacoma, so my question is still: Are there any other reasons for the President to choose this school?

The school has the highest minority population. The majority of the students there are Latino, African American and Asian. It has the highest population of immigrant students. The school is a nice reflection of the diversity of the United States. I think it is a good choice.

After Lincoln principal Pat Erwin announced the presidential visit, the students said they are very excited. What does the visit mean to these students?

Yes, they are very excited about this visit. The president's visit means a few things to the students. How many high school students in the United States will have a chance to interact with a president of another country? Let alone the president of one of the most powerful countries in the world. It is a once-in-lifetime opportunity that they will remember the rest of their lives.

Right now the school does not have any Chinese programs and as far as I know this year the school has only one student from China.

After this school visit takes place, there will be a lot of interest in having that kind of interaction. It is my hope that more students from Lincoln High School and Tacoma have a chance to go study in China. It is an opportunity for more exchanges between students of the next generation.

Based on the city's history with China and the coming Chinese president's visit to the city, what are do you looking forward to?

Looking forward to strengthening our relationship there are three things I think specifically: I would like to see more student exchanges between the city and China, more tourism from China and more investment from China.

According to Mayor Strickland, now the city convention center has a developer from Shanghai proposing a hotel project. And part of the city's waterfront $1.5 billion development project is financed by Chinese developers and investors.

Mayor Strickland will be one of the 20 people to greet President Xi at Pane Field Tuesday Morning. Mayor Strickland also said she hopes to visit China again in 2016.

lindadeng@chinadailyusa.com