For forty-five years, the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations has been at the forefront of the dynamic and expanding Sino-American relationship, helping to shape American foreign policy toward China into one that is in the best long-term interest of this country, and creating a model for addressing issues in an informed and constructive way. The Committee educates Americans and Chinese about the realities of each others' countries, promotes the principles of education, not advocacy, represents the diverse views and facets of American society, and reaches out to government officials, opinion makers and the general public.
While 2011 marked our 45th anniversary, the Year of the Dragon commemorates 40 years since the National Committee welcomed the Chinese ping pong team on their historic trip to the United States, jumpstarting the era "Ping Pong Diplomacy" and establishing the National Committee as the premier organization capable of arranging exchanges between the United States and China. But though we are proud of our legacy as the oldest American organization dedicated to productive U.S.-China relations, the National Committee has adopted fresh approaches to addressing critical and emerging issues shaping Sino-American relations in the 21st century.
To get a sense of how we operate, take a moment to check out what kept us busy in 2011. The slide show above, capturing just a selection of our past year's activities, gives a sense of the diverse programming the National Committee undertakes each and every year to accomplish its mission and goals. (You can learn details about each photo in the slideshow by first rolling over the image, clicking the maximize icon in the lower right corner, and then selecting "show info" on the top right corner. You can also access the slide show on the Flickr website.)
Further, look at the highlights from our 2011 Program Calendar below. Learn more about any specific program by clicking on its link.
2012 is already off to busy start. In January we hosted our third annual Economic Forum at the New York Stock Exchange, featuring a slate of economic experts from China who made their predictions for the Chinese economy in the coming year. We expect to continue our many ongoing programs such as CHINA Town Hall, the Public Intellectuals Program, the Young Leaders Forum, the Foreign Policy Colloquium, Teachers Exchange Program, and others too numerous to name. We hope to expand our programs with the U.S. Congress, and plan to lead multiple delegations to China in the coming year. We will continue with our public programming, including the annual Barnett-Oksenberg Lecture in Shanghai, our Jones Day Lecture Series in New York, and a variety of other topical discussions. As always, we hope you join in these programs as well as the annual Members Program and our Gala Dinner.
We invite you to contact us with questions or comments about our mission, programs or web site at feedback@ncuscr.org, and to support our work by making a donation to the National Committee.
Best wishes in the Year of the Dragon,
Stephen A. Orlins, President
