《外交风云》基辛格扮演者：因为这些原因，中国永远不会失败

今年是中美“乒乓外交”50周年。“如果没有‘乒乓外交’，没有中美之间的开放，我不会来到中国，遇到我的妻子，不会在地球的另一端找到我的家。我要感谢‘乒乓外交’、感谢中美领导人当年推动两国关系的发展，改变了世界。”美国演员柯国庆（Scotty Cox）日前接受南方英文网记者专访时感叹。

柯国庆曾在电视剧《海棠依旧》和《外交风云》中饰演过同一个人物--“中国人民的老朋友”基辛格。忆起电视剧中的场景，他感叹道：“参与推动中美建交，在这一点上基辛格可谓是生逢其时。”10年前，他来中国追逐自己的梦想，已经爱上了这里，他观察着、思考着中国，还列出多个理由，认为正是因为这些理由，中国永远不会失败。

“为中美建交欢呼的场景让人振奋”

1971年7月，基辛格经由巴基斯坦秘密访华。1972年2月，尼克松访问中国，中美实现“跨越太平洋的握手”，1979年1月1日，中美两国正式建立大使级外交关系，两国领导人共同推动中美这两个国情不同的国家实现了关系正常化，翻开了两国关系的新篇章。

“读了基辛格的著作，我了解到他是一个喜怒不形于色而又风趣幽默的人，这有利于他与人建立良好的关系。”柯国庆说，与唐国强和孙维民两位“老戏骨”演对手戏，感觉彷佛置身于历史，感受毛泽东与周恩来的睿智。“经过数月谈判，中美两国达成一致意见，有了令人欢呼雀跃的‘破冰之旅’，这一幕场景太感人了。”他说。

柯国庆说，自己由衷希望中美关系永远友好。这不仅是因为他喜欢中国，还因为他的儿子。他和中国妻子育有一个男孩。他说，如果中美两国关系紧张，他儿子内心就会有冲突，作为父亲，他不希望儿子面临这样的难题。其实，中美建交几十年，像柯国庆这样的家庭在两国很多。

放弃“铁饭碗” 奔向中国实现梦想

“铁饭碗”、“外卖和快递”、“打太极拳”、“吃苦耐劳”、“越来越好”......在中国生活了近十年后，柯国庆接受记者采访时，会不自觉地在英语中夹杂一些地道的中文短句，以便更清楚地表达，这成了他的一种语言习惯。“来到中国，是我最好的一段时光”。他说。

2010年，柯国庆在美国一所公立小学教书，认识了在孔子学院教汉语的妻子。唱中文歌、打太极拳、练书法，柯国庆渐渐对中国文化产生了浓厚的兴趣。由于生日和中国国庆节同一天，汉语老师给他取了一个接地气的中文名--国庆。因为厌倦一成不变的生活，柯国庆选择放弃“铁饭碗”工作来中国追逐演艺梦想，飞向妻子生活的地方。

儿时的柯国庆，对中国的兴趣起源于李小龙的电影。在看北京奥运会报道和与孔子学院结缘前，他眼里的中国是一个古老而神秘的国度。“神秘”的面纱在抵达这片土地之后，渐渐揭开了。

2011年，成长于美国一个偏远山区的柯国庆初到北京，看到街上熙熙攘攘的人群，深受震撼。谈起这十年来他感受到的最明显的变化，他说，十年前还得用现金支付、用充值卡给手机充话费；十年后，移动支付和科技的发展，带来了“支付宝”、“微信”、“外卖和快递”，让老百姓的日常生活变得更为便捷。

柯国庆坦言：“年轻时，我梦想成为一名百老汇舞台演员，登上舞台去表演。来了中国，我依然梦想成为一名演员。”

十年里，他已出演过一百多部影视作品。

“选择来中国，对我来说是一大幸事，遇到了我的妻子，有了活泼可爱的儿子，我喜欢在这里生活，大连就是我的家。”柯国庆动情地说道。

中国的卓越成就离不开中国共产党领导

作为北方沿海重要港口城市与中心城市，大连早在上世纪80年代，就被列为计划单列市，素有“北方明珠”之称。

“我欣赏大连的地方，在于古典与现代的完美交汇。这里融汇着来自各个地方的不同文化，风格多样的建筑就是一种体现。” 

不拍戏的时候，柯国庆就会回到大连陪伴家人，过着慢节奏生活。每天清晨，他会送孩子去上学，闲暇时就去中山公园散步、跳绳、踢毽球，专注地听公园大爷大妈演奏的歌曲，偶尔还会打打太极。

柯国庆深入中国、观察中国，也思考着中国。在他看来，中国在一个世纪内能够取得卓越成就，一个非常重要的原因是有智慧而有远见的中国共产党领导，这些成就也离不开广大中国人民吃苦耐劳的精神和团结一致，“团结就是力量”，还因为中国人重视教育、商业和家庭，“这些都是中国永远不会失败的主要原因。”他说。

GDToday、南方英文网出品

【统筹】赵杨

【采写】周红豆、区小鸣

【视频】李江锐、罗文琛、许晓鑫

【编辑】张莹、王凯、尹珏文

American actor decodes the biggest reasons that China will never fail

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Ping-Pong Diplomacy. “Had there been no Ping-Pong Diplomacy, no opening up between China and the United States, I wouldn't be here. I'm so thankful to have met my wife and have a young son, and that we live here.”

Scotty Cox, an American actor who played Henry Kissinger in the TV drama “Diplomatic Situation” comments in the exclusive interview with Newsgd.com. In this episode, we invited Scotty to look back on the Ping-Pong Diplomacy between China and the United States, and decode why China will never fail from his perspective.

In Scotty’s mind, Ping-Pong Diplomacy did change the world; Kissinger was the right person at the right time to help president Nixon come around to the idea of opening things up with China. 

In the wake of Ping-Pong Diplomacy, in July 1971, Kissinger secretly came to China through Pakistan. It was followed by Nixon's ice-breaking trip and more high-level visits. Leaders of the two countries jointly promoted the development of diplomatic relationship between two countries with different national conditions. On January 1, 1979, the two major countries officially established diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level. 

In 2010, when Scotty was working in an elementary school in the US, he met his wife. She was teaching Chinese in a Confucius Institute. Scotty developed great interests in Chinese language and culture. “I had a chance to perform Chinese songs, and I learned calligraphy and Tai Chi. There are so many different things about Chinese culture.” Scotty said. 

Although Scotty had already had a stable job in the education system in the US, he gave it up and chose to come to China. “In my life I just was so afraid for things to stay the same. I wanted to change and I knew the change that I wanted was going to be here. I was going to be with my wife.”

Having lived in China for nearly 10 years, Scotty believes coming to China was the best thing that ever happened to him. Not only because of having a wonderful family, but also his love for the life in China. “I feel so fortunate to be here.” He has realized so many dreams in China. The American actor has been in over a hundred different productions these years. 

As the father of a boy in a China-US family, he sincerely hopes that the China-US relationship will strengthen, rather than deteriorate. He wants his son to be proud of both places. “I want our two nations to be prosperous together and get along peacefully. When the relationship is good between our two countries, there isn't this inner conflict with him. Whereas if we are adversaries, that's hard at a child.” It is a sincere hope of a father.

By playing a role in “Diplomatic Situation”, Scotty got a broader view of Chinese history and its development during the late 20th century. He believes that China’s remarkable achievements in the past 100 years have benefited from the hard-working spirit and unity of the Chinese people, as well as from the visionary leadership of the Communist Party of China. 

“You have very intelligent, very forward-thinking leadership around a large hard-working populace that values education, business and family. I think those are the biggest reasons that China will never fail.”

Producer | Zhao Yang

Author | Hannah, Ou Xiaoming, Sherry (Intern)

Video | Li Jiangrui, Luo Wenchen, Axin

Editor | Wing, Keane, Jerry, Jasmine