Recent Events

The National Committee hosted a program with Congressmen Charles Boustany (R-LA) and Rick Larsen (D-WA) at the New York University School of Law. The two co-chairs of the bipartisan U.S.-China Working Group shared their perspectives on China and discussed potential China-related legislation.

The National Committee held a luncheon in honor of Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on September 22, 2011 in New York City. The event, co-hosted with the US-China Business Council, was timed to coincide with the Foreign Minister’s trip to New York to address the United Nations General Assembly.

Richard McGregor discussed his new book The Party: The Secret World of China's Communist Rulers. Former Beijing bureau chief for the Financial Times (FT), Mr. McGregor illuminates the complex inner workings of the Chinese Communist Party and examines its influence over the military, local governments, and the Chinese people. Mr. McGregor has been Washington bureau […]

In a conference call moderated by National Committee president Stephen Orlins, Dr. Jeffrey Bader, recently retired senior director for East Asian affairs at the National Security Council and special assistant to the President, discussed the China portion of the Vice President Joseph Biden’s August 2011 trip.

The director of the China Development Brief Translation Project, Shawn Shieh, discussed the burgeoning relationship between grant-making foundations and independent nonprofit organizations in China in a talk at the Henry Luce Foundation. In the U.S., philanthropic organizations and civil society organizations are natural partners, with grant-making foundations serving as an important source of funding for nonprofits. In China, foundations have long had close ties with the government, and have subsequently shied away from supporting independent nonprofits.

National Committee Vice Chairman Henry A. Kissinger discussed his new book, On China, in an interview with National Committee President Steve Orlins. Dr. Kissinger answered questions ranging from the role of the United States in cross-Strait relations, his reflections on the Vietnam conflict, the publication of his book in China, and President Obama’s meeting with the Dalai Lama in Washington, DC. Dr. Kissinger took questions from the audience submitted on note cards. Full video of the event is now available:

National Committee Director Dr. Kenneth Lieberthal discussed his new book, Managing the China Challenge: How to Achieve Corporate Success in the People's Republic, during a public program on May 24, 2011. Dr. Lieberthal's book focuses on the implications of China's political economy for multinational corporate strategies.

At a National Committee public program on May 19, author Michael Meyer discussed living in one of Beijing's oldest hutongs, a traditional alleyway neighborhood which defined the city's layout for centuries. Mr. Meyer's first book, The Last Days of Old Beijing, chronicles the destruction of many of these neighborhoods as the city was redesigned for the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Susan Shirk, professor of political science at the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, University of California, San Diego, discussed how the Internet and media are changing Chinese politics and vice versa during a National Committee program on April 25. Video of the program can be found below.

The National Committee co-hosted a program with the New York University School of Law featuring Ira Belkin, program officer for law and rights at the Ford Foundation in Beijing. Mr. Belkin discussed recent developments in China’s criminal justice system. The program was moderated by National Committee President Stephen Orlins and NYU School of Law Professor Jerome Cohen and took place on April 13 at NYU’s School of Law.

In early March, China’s central government proposed a defense budget for 2011 that increases military spending nearly 13 percent over 2010. As China expands and modernizes its armed forces, it holds an increasingly influential position in Asian-Pacific security. China has been a crucial player in the Six Party Talks on North Korea’s nuclear proliferation during […]

Some 130,000 students from China now study a variety of fields in colleges and universities around the United States. What about the first Chinese students in this country? In a lecture and discussion at the Luce Foundation offices in New York, Edward Rhoads shared stories and research from his new book Stepping Forth into the World: The Chinese Educational Mission to the United States, 1872-81, which examines the individual and collective histories of the first 120 Chinese students in the United States.