honorable judges, ladies and gentlemen. today，we are gathering here to discua very hot issue. how to find harmony in a new age between man and nature? where modern science and technology are concerned i am only a layman i have to say. however, living in this "new age" , seeing my dear ones suffering from respiratory diseases from time to time, finding the beautiful colors of green and blue are being replaced by that of gray and pale, and realizing that our mother planet is getting more and more unhealthy; i can't help trying to offer my idea and my trivial efforts to look for the answer of the question.
as the ancient greek oracle goes: know thyself. i think in answering this above-mentioned question, this precondition is also very important.
who are we? this is a question, which should be answered not only by those specialists, but also by every one of human beings.
some people may proudly say: we are the masters of nature. it is true that the idea of "man can conquer nature" has dominated people's mind for years, and it is true, man has kept acting like a master and doing whatever things he wants for thousands of years. however, as the consequence of this kind of "leadership" , now the "master" seems to be confronted with problems that are far beyond his control. facts are really very ample. the
green house effect leaves islands and cities along the coast, such as this oriental pearl-shanghai, in danger of the disaster of being drowned; the holes of the ozone layer make the earth lesuitable to live for some creatures including human beings; the phenomena of el nino and la nina leave the land with serious flood and drought, and the diseases, caused by pollution, are increasing at an incredible speed... seeing all these facts, can we still ignore the counterattack of nature? we are not the masters of nature. facing all the disasters made by ourselves, we, mankind as a whole should realize that we are just a normal member of the big family of nature. any mistreatment towards nature will meet only with the revenge from her.
by saying so, i do not mean we should give a sudden stop to any development. because that will result in a threat to the existence of human society. i mean we should treat nature equally, leaving the chance of existence and development to nature as we are obtaining the same thing, and thus we will get the situation of win-win.
i am very pleased to find that now more and more people, from every corner of the planet, have come to realize that harmony with nature is the only way to universal and continuous progreand prosperity. and i think that is why we come here from all over the country to discuthis topic today.
i want to end my speech by quoting from mr. nixon. "our destiny offers, not the cup of despair, but the chalice of opportunity." the future is not ours to see of course. however, by seizing firmly the opportunities, by knowing clearly about ourselves, we, human beings, can doubtlessly achieve the real harmony with nature!
thank you.