To govern the country and secure the country, talents come first. In the late 1970s, China had a very urgent need for talents.
At that time, on the one hand, there was a wave of new technologies that were advancing by leaps and bounds in the world. On the other hand, China wasted too much time in the special era that it could not bear to look back on, resulting in a huge gap with the world's advanced technology. This phenomenon caused the central leaders to of great importance.
At that time, Deng Xiaoping did not fully preside over the work of the central government, but focused on education. With his efforts, two major events soon occurred in the field of education.
The first major event is that the country has resumed the college entrance examination, and a large number of colleges and universities that cultivate high-level professional talents have resumed enrollment. When the news of
came out, the whole country celebrated. Countless young people picked up books again, went to night schools, and worked hard to make up for their homework. A trend of national attention to education emerged spontaneously.
The second major event not only shocked the Chinese people, but also shocked the world. It was our government’s announcement that it would reassign overseas students to study scientific knowledge in Western developed countries.
On June 23, 1978, when Deng Xiaoping met with the president of Tsinghua University, he talked about the issue of international students and said: "I agree to increase the number of overseas students sent. Thousands of them should be sent, not just ten or eight." "This year, 3,000 people will be sent out. How to select them and where to send them? The Ministry of Education will study it. It is worth spending more money in this area."
As soon as these words came out, there was an uproar.
You must know that the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee had not yet been held, and reform and opening up had not been formally proposed. The overriding ideological tone was still class struggle. Under this tone, sending people who lacked life experience and willpower to those capitalist countries Young students who are not determined enough are like pushing these good young people into a dark dye vat!
Therefore, as soon as this idea was put forward, it was immediately questioned and opposed by many people, and their reasons were also very good: those reactionary forces and spies who are determined to destroy themselves will definitely try their best to extend their black hands to these young people. Instigating them to act as spies, even if these students can maintain their basic political bottom line, they will inevitably be eroded by the extremely tempting capitalist lifestyle and values. They do not want to return to their country to serve, but stay abroad for their own personal interests.
In response to this, Deng Xiaoping responded with a far-sighted and far-sighted mind: "We must believe in the patriotism and enthusiasm of the vast number of young students. Even if some bad things happen, it is not a big deal. If 10% or even 20% of them are lost, 80% will still be there." , 90% of young people come back!"
Since then, our country has begun negotiations with some developed countries. The United States is the world's number one superpower, and its scientific and technological level is the most powerful in the world. Therefore, it is also the key direction for our country to send overseas students. In July 1978, On March 7, Dr. Press, scientific advisor to US President Carter , led a US science and technology delegation to visit China. The core issue was to agree on the exchange of students between the two sides.
At that time, the United States did not know how big a step China would take. They thought it would be at most a dozen, dozens, or at most hundreds of people. Who knew that when Deng Xiaoping met with Price in person, the number he proposed surprised him. , completely contrary to the expectations of the Americans, Press could not immediately reply to Deng Xiaoping, saying that he would report to the president for instructions.
At that time, it was three o'clock in the morning in the United States, and the president had already taken a rest. But Price couldn't wait any longer and immediately dialed the dedicated phone number to wake up President Carter.
After the call was connected, Press said nervously: "Mr. President, I am very sorry to disturb you at this time, because China's Premier Deng Xiaoping asked a question that I cannot answer."
Carter asked: "What did he ask?"
Press said: "He asked China if it could send 5,000 international students to the United States?"
Carter was also very shocked when he heard this. He knew that China's previous foreign student policy was consistent with its diplomatic direction. In other words, China's Which country sends a large number of overseas students also indicates which country China will actively develop friendly relations with.
Carter is a president of the United States who is actively friendly to China. He has always hoped to realize the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States during his term, and Deng Xiaoping's proposal suddenly gave him reassurance.
Carter was very excited and immediately replied: "You immediately tell Mr. Deng Xiaoping that even if he sends 100,000 international students, the United States will welcome them with open arms!"
Of course, these talking topics are just a matter of setting the tone, not It may be that so many international students were sent out at once. At that time, China's education industry had just started, and it was impossible for major institutions of higher learning to have so many senior talents with graduate qualifications. Therefore, after careful selection, it was decided to study in two countries. Before the establishment of diplomatic relations, 50 international students were sent as a symbolic breakthrough. Later, two more people were added, making a total of 52 people.
At that time, studying abroad was not just a personal matter, it was almost a disguised diplomatic mission. These 52 international students were gathered together to receive foreign affairs training from the relevant departments of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In addition to patriotic education, they also had the knowledge of life in Western countries. Detailed training.
Some details may seem very ridiculous today, but at that time, training must be carried out seriously, otherwise it would have a bad impact. For example, at that time, Chinese people were accustomed to using newspapers after going to the toilet, but in the United States, everywhere They all have flush toilets, and using newspapers will cause blockage. Therefore, each international student was given large and small packages of toilet paper.
In addition, the state also gave each student a "dressing fee" of 500 yuan. At that time, the Chinese people had no sense of fashion at all, and their clothes were monotonous, gray, black, blue and green. Now they are asked to wear suits. A high degree of unity was formed invisibly. As a result, all 52 people wore black suits. When they appeared at the American airport, the Western reporters waiting for them were shocked. They turned out to be 52 young men in black wearing exactly the same clothes!
After these photos were published in Western newspapers, readers asked: Are all the people sent by China soldiers? Even the clothes are neatly dressed like a military uniform!
This is the first impression left to the world by Chinese students who have been closed off for a long time, and it also carries the infinite expectations of the Chinese people for them.
Two years later, these 52 international students completed their studies. Except for one student who was postponed due to personal reasons, the remaining 51 students all returned to China on time and made irreplaceable contributions to China's reform and opening up.
(reference materials: " China Youth Daily " "Study Abroad")
