During his recent visit to the United States, President Xi Jinping saluted the Chinese railroad workers on several occasions in in Seattle, Washington and Washington, D.C. In one speech President Xi Jinping spoke about the relations between the people of China and the United States (emphasis ours):
“Though geographically far apart, our peoples boast a long history of friendly exchanges. Some 230 years ago, Empress of China, a U.S. merchant ship, sailed across the vast oceans to the shores of China. Some 150 years ago, tens of thousands of Chinese workers joined their American counterparts in building the Transcontinental Pacific Railway. Some 70 years ago, China and the United States, as allies in World War II, fought shoulder-to-shoulder to defend world peace and justice. In that war, thousands of American soldiers laid down their precious lives for the just cause of the Chinese people.”