Address given by Xiao Fang Zhou, President of the Zhou Enlai Peace Institute, to the Announcement of the Peace Garden in Pearl City, Hawaii; Sept.23, 2012.
Details about this event: peacegardenhawaii.com
The future is coming for us.
When you’re ready, the time is always right! And that time is right now, right here, for our world peace garden on this perfect day, United Nations Peace Day.
About 70 years ago, not far from here, the air force of Japan attacked Pearl Harbor; the war that followed killed millions, including our enemies. Today, we celebrate two heroes of peace from China, and from Japan — Dr. Ikeda, whose family suffered tremendously, losing their elder son during the war, and whose mentor Josei Toda was imprisoned for opposing the military government — and the former premier of China, Zhou Enlai, who fought the war on Americaʼs side.
The Zhou Enlai Peace Institute was established in 2011, as a non-profit organization based in Honolulu. We work closely with the Chinese government, local businesses, and non-profit organizations in China, America, and around the world.
Our purpose is to serve our people by building a stronger bridge between China and America, through stories of Zhou Enlai, to better understand Chinese people, by studying world heroes such as Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, and many others, to bring people together, to build peace together, and to build a better world together.
I stand before you today, behind our two heroes of peace, and many world heroes to come in gathering in this beautiful place, as a daughter of China, and America — to move forward followed by their foot steps, carry on their legacy, continue peacebuilding for our children and grandchildren. In the honored presence of the sister of our President, we declare our commitment to peace today, beginning in our own hearts.
Hawaii may be a small island, but we can create one of the largest peace gardens on the planet, as we are the many gathering place of many nations; we are the world. The spirit of aloha is powerful, everywhere in the world.
Peace doesn’t always come from big places, or from one particular person, or one group. Peace comes from one inner heart, connecting with another, and then another — you are the best peacemaker to yourself, to your family, to your neighbors, to your community, to your nation, and to our world.
I look forward to hearing from you on how the Zhou Enlai Peace Institute can help you — to help our world.
Thank you, and Mahalo
