On-the-ground visits to China by U.S. lawmakers have deepened their understanding of the country and fostered a wider range of pragmatic perspectives on bilateral economic and political relations, said Sean Stein, president of the U.S.-China Business Council.
Speaking to China Media Group, Stein said that the long-held image of a single, uniform approach to China among U.S. lawmakers is beginning to fade.
"The China hawks like to pretend that everybody agrees on China hawk policies, that we all, whether you're a Democrat or Republican or something in between, everyone agrees that there's this uniform view about China and the 'China danger' and the 'China risk'. And I think the Select Committee was very instrumental in trying to convince people that there was not a diversity of views on China. What we've seen in particular over the last year is, in fact, there's a lot of different views on China. There are people in Congress who are very hawkish, and there are people in Congress who recognize the value of a productive, stable, constructive relationship, and there's everything in between," he said.
Stein pointed out that this growing diversity of congressional views is chipping away at the perception of a single, unified policy approach to China — a shift driven in large part by lawmakers' first-hand experiences in China.
"So what we've been seeing is this fake wall that was built to make it appear that everyone agreed on this one policy approach is starting to crumble. And what's helped it crumble, I think the first thing that helped it crumble was a group of House members, members of the U.S. Congress, came to China last year. For many that was the first time they'd been to China; for some of them it was the first time they'd been to China in years. They were like, oh, do you know what? The China that I imagined or the China that I read about in the newspaper isn't the China that I experienced and saw with my own eyes, and that shaped their views, I think, in a meaningful way," he said.
US lawmakers gain fuller understanding of China through in-person visits: business leader
The ongoing 48th WorldSkills Competition in Shanghai has introduced a drone event combining engineering, programming and piloting, underscoring demand for multidisciplinary technicians as unmanned aircraft find wider commercial use.
The four-day Unmanned Aerial Systems contest began Wednesday at Shanghai's National Exhibition and Convention Center, with results due at the closing ceremony on Sunday.
All 11 competitors spent the opening day assembling and calibrating their drones. China's entrant Zeng Chen, an instructor at the Hangzhou Technician Institute in east China's Zhejiang Province, was the first to complete the assembly and begin a test flight, according to the event's competition manager.
Across six modules, competitors must shift among three roles: engineer, programmer and pilot. They assemble and repair drones, debug software and write flight plans, perform complex maneuvers and respond to emergencies.
That mix mirrors the real-world job of an unmanned aerial systems technician, a role that spans aerodynamics, flight-control systems, communications, robotics and software.
"The obstacle-avoidance module requires competitors to process point-cloud data, which is then used to generate a three-dimensional indoor map. The task is a bit like navigating a maze. The drones may also have to carry sandbags or other payloads for remote delivery, making that part extremely challenging," said Gu Junjie, a coach for the Unmanned Aerial Systems competition.
Judges assess competitors on their adherence to operating procedures, work quality, completion time and ability to diagnose and resolve faults.
Zeng's performance over the first three days drew praise from Alan Ball, unmanned aerial systems skill competition manager.
"Chinese competitor -- he has done very well in the competition so far. Yes, in the overseas market, the drones are used in multiple different industries, from security to agriculture to safety to surveys, mapping. As a career as a drone technician, I think, globally, the future of drones is very bright," Ball said.
Drone event at WorldSkills spotlights demand for multidisciplinary talent
