Yao Ming joins China-US relations discussion at Brookings

Retired Chinese basketball star Yao Ming attended a forum on China-US relations at the Brookings Institution in Washington March 28, 2014. Yao discussed the role that basketball has played in China-US relations with David Stern, Commissioner Emeritus of the NBA.

"China and the U.S. are totally different cultures and people, but we're all linked by this very simple interest: basketball. This game brings everybody together," Yao said.

He believes that the Chinese public gets to better understand the American life and culture through the NBA games and hopes that more Chinese basketball athletes will play in the US in the future.

Stern spoke highly of Yao's unique contribution to promoting cultural exchanges between the peoples of the two countries.

"Yao Ming is sort of a one man policymaker for bringing China and the U.S. together. We've always viewed basketball as something that was a little bit different than the government relations," Stern said.

The forum, entitled "35 Years of U.S.-China Relations: Diplomacy, Culture and Soft Power", was jointly hosted by the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution and the China Institute for International Studies to mark the 35th anniversary of China-US diplomatic relations.