党的十二大重申了实行对外开放政策,这就意味着要继续促进我国同世界各国在科学技术、经济贸易和文化教育等各个领域的交往。粉碎“四人帮”以后,特别是十一届三中全会以来的实践已经证明,加强同外国的交往,不仅有助于加快我国实现四个现代化的步伐,而且可以增进我国人民同世界各国人民的友谊,促使各国人民通过互相取长补短共同得到进步。要交往就得加强了解。时代在前进,世界在变化。不但对外国新出现的事物需要了解,就是对外国过去了解过的东西,随着时间的推移,依然有个重新了解的问题。以我自己的感受为例,早年我曾在美国呆过较长的时间,解放以前同美国一直有着频繁的交往,但是,当我1979年重新到我的母校——美国密执安大学访问时,我发现经过三十多年的变迁,美国在 The 12th CPC National Congress has reiterated the policy of opening to the outside world, which means continuing to promote our country’s engagement with other countries in various fields such as science, technology, economy, trade and culture and education. The smashing of the “Gang of Four,” especially since the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee, has shown that strengthening exchanges with foreign countries not only helps to speed up the pace of our country’s realization of the four modernizations but also enhances the friendship between our people and people of all countries in the world So as to promote the common progress made by people in all countries through mutual complementarity. To get in touch, you have to understand better. The times are moving forward and the world is changing. Not only do we need to understand what new things are emerging in foreign countries, they are things that our foreign countries have learned in the past. As time goes by, we still have a problem of re-understanding. Take my own feelings as an example. In the early years, I had spent a relatively long time in the United States and had had frequent contacts with the United States before liberation. However, when I returned to my alma mater, the University of Michigan, in 1979 I found that after more than three decades of change, the United States was there