Cultural ambassador

US First Lady Hillary Clinton has invited a 15-member delegation of Chinese women on a cultural exchange visit to Washington from Saturday, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The visit, which will also include New York and Houston, is the first of five by Chinese women to share ideas and experiences with women in the US. The 15 women will spend three weeks in the United States.

Hillary Clinton initiated the programme last year when she accompanied her husband on a state visit to China. During that visit, she urged Chinese women to value and respect their daughters so that they can move themselves, their families and their country forward. She told the Shanghai Women8217;s Federation that 8220;enormous reservoirs of talents8221; and 8220;boundless potential8221; exist for Chinese women to 8220;hold up their half of the sky,8221; a phrase coined by Mao Zedong.

8220;Women can8217;t hold up half the sky if, as girls, they are not loved and valued by their parents and given the same opportunities as their brothers to fulfill theirpotential,8221; Clinton said. 8220;Women can hold up their half of the sky when their feet are planted firmly on the soil of freedom and equal justice.8221;