Historic First
In May 1973, the National Committee and the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) brought the first delegation of journalists from the People’s Republic of China to the United States. Twenty-one Chinese journalists participated in the month-long visit, which reciprocated an ASNE trip to China that had taken place the prior fall.
The ten-city itinerary — New York, Boston, Washington, Atlanta, Macon, Chicago, Denver, San Francisco, and Honolulu — was designed to introduce different regions of the United States and different aspects of the country’s history, culture, and society. The Chinese journalists not only met with their professional counterparts, but also had the opportunity to speak with American governors, mayors, university presidents, students, and factory workers, among others.
The delegation was led by Mr. Zhu Muzhi, director of the Xinhua News Agency, and included leading journalists from Chinese publications and government information agencies. In good journalistic fashion, delegation members enthusiastically asked questions wherever they went. This historic trip paved the way for many future National Committee-sponsored exchanges in the print and electronic media fields.