The Bush China Foundation bestowed its inaugural George H. W. Bush Award for Statesmanship in U.S.-China Relations on Jimmy Carter in 2019, saying he made "profound contributions to the development of constructive and mutually beneficial relations" between the two countries.
HOUSTON, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- Jimmy Carter, who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981, died on Sunday at the age of 100, the Carter Center confirmed.
China and the United States formally established diplomatic relations during Carter's presidency.
ROAD TO WHITE HOUSE
Carter was born on Oct. 1, 1924, in the southeastern U.S. state of Georgia. His father was a farmer who owned large areas of peanut land.
Carter began his 11-year military career in 1943 after entering the U.S. Naval Academy. In 1948, he started officers' training for submarine service and was assigned to duties in the Pacific Ocean. In 1952, he participated in the research work of the U.S. Navy's fledgling nuclear submarine program.
In December 1952, an accident with the experimental reactor at Atomic Energy of Canada's Chalk River Laboratories resulted in millions of liters of radioactive water flooding the reactor building's basement. Carter joined other American and Canadian service personnel lowered into the reactor to clean the site.
After his father died in 1953, Carter sought and obtained a release from active duty to take over the family peanut business.
In addition to his business endeavors, Carter actively engaged in public life and was elected Governor of Georgia in 1970. During this term, he focused on enhancing government efficiency and tackling racial discrimination.
In the 1976 presidential election, Carter defeated then-incumbent President Gerald Ford and was inaugurated as the 39th president of the United States in January 1977.
LONGEST-LIVED PRESIDENT
As president, Carter faced the challenges of persistent stagflation, a combination of high inflation, high unemployment, and slow growth, and his administration implemented policies such as raising interest rates to as much as 20 percent to combat these issues.
Carter also established two new cabinet-level departments -- the Department of Energy and the Department of Education. To address the energy crisis, he encouraged energy conservation by all U.S. citizens and installed solar panels in the White House.
Carter signed the Panama Canal Treaties in 1977 which restored Panama's full jurisdiction over the Panama Canal Zone starting from 2000 and guaranteed its neutrality. He also witnessed the inking of the Camp David Accords, which were signed by then-Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and then-Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in 1978.
Since leaving the presidency, Carter and his wife established the non-governmental organization Carter Center in 1982 to promote world peace and reduce poverty.
On March 22, 2019, Carter became the longest-living president in U.S. history, surpassing George H. W. Bush, who lived 94 years and 171 days before his passing in November 2018.
BREAKTHROUGH WITH CHINA
During Carter's presidency, in December 1978, China and the United States issued the Joint Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between the People's Republic of China and the United States of America. On Jan. 1, 1979, the two countries officially established diplomatic relations.
Only 28 days later, then-Chinese Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping paid an official goodwill visit to the United States at the invitation of Carter. This was the first visit by a Chinese leader to the United States after the founding of the People's Republic of China.
"The 40th anniversary of this relationship is a testament to the ability of countries with different histories, cultures and political systems to work together for the greater good," Carter wrote in an article published in the Washington Post at the end of 2018.
In June 2019, the George H. W. Bush Foundation for U.S.-China Relations, also known as the Bush China Foundation, bestowed its inaugural George H. W. Bush Award for Statesmanship in U.S.-China Relations on Carter, saying he made "profound contributions to the development of constructive and mutually beneficial relations" between the two countries. ■