Committee of 100 Newsletter

The Committee of 100 and World Expo 2010 in Shanghai: Monthly Progress Report

February 2010 | By Jane Leung Larson

Come Build the “Chinese in America” Wall, Brick by Brick, Face by Face!

The May 1 kick-off of World Expo in Shanghai is drawing near, spurring the Committee of 100 to ramp up promotion of the USA Pavilion and its Committee-created “Chinese in America” photo wall. As the USA Pavilion Strategic Partner, the Committee is focusing on fundraising to support the Pavilion and creation of a video wall showing the diverse faces of Chinese America.

To help build the “Chinese in America: We are Family” exhibit—open to contributions of photos without charge to anyone of Chinese descent living in the U.S.—the Committee of 100 is offering individuals and companies an opportunity to display their names on bricks that will form the physical wall of the USA Pavilion,which promises to be one of the most popular country pavilions at the Shanghai Expo. A limited number of bricks are available for tax-deductible gifts of $1,000 to $10,000, giving donors their only opportunity to have their names be seen by as many as 70 million visitors to World Expo. Construction of the “Chinese in America” exhibit in Shanghai is underway, but the deadline for ordering bricks has been extended to March 12. Sign up at http://www.comebuildthewall.org.

Fresh News: Press Clips and Links for the 2010 Shanghai World Expo

February 2010| By Jane Leung Larson

Shanghai soon welcomes the world when the Expo debuts on May 1. For now, the atmosphere is one of intense preparation with more than 50 country pavilions in the final stages of completion, including the USA Pavilion, which the Committee of 100 supports as the Pavilion’s only Strategic Partner. In the U.S., the Committee has promoted Chinese American participation in the World Expo with its “Chinese in America” exhibit, and other organizations are sponsoring exhibitions and events in conjunction with China’s first world’s fair.

"Chinese Americans Launch U.S. Campaign to Promote Shanghai Expo"
People’s Daily | January 23, 2010

C100 Members Meet Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou

February 2010| By Yong Lu

The Committee of 100 hosted a meeting in San Francisco with Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou on January 26 during his brief stop in the U.S. before traveling to Central America.

Ma spoke about the care that Taiwan must use to conduct relations with both Beijing and Washington, a task made more difficult because of differences of opinion within Taiwan itself. Looking to the future, Ma said that he would like to see Taiwan become a “global innovation center” and “trade nexus.” Discussion between Taiwan and mainland China is now underway concerning the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) to normalize cross-strait trade and investment.

Committee members encouraged Ma to continue pursuing a peaceful cross-strait relationship and praised him for all that had been accomplished to date.

2009 Nobel Laureate Charles Kao among Committee of 100 Honorees in San Francisco

February 2010 | By Jane Leung Larson

The newest Chinese American Nobel Laureate is Charles K. Kao, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2009, for his optical fiber research. Kao, known as the Father of Fiber Optics, along with Nobel Laureates Daniel Tsui (Physics, 1998) and Chen Ning (Franklin) Yang (Physics, 1957), will receive the Chinese American Distinction award at the Committee’s 19th Annual Conference in San Francisco. Kao is a citizen of Great Britain and the U.S., where he lives in Mountain View.

Charles Kao and his Nobel Prize.

The 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics was shared three ways, with Kao receiving one-half for “"for groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication." The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences described the significance of Kao’s work:

In 1966, Charles K. Kao made a discovery that led to a breakthrough in fiber optics. He carefully calculated how to transmit light over long distances via optical glass fibers. With a fiber of purest glass it would be possible to transmit light signals over 100 kilometers, compared to only 20 meters for the fibers available in the 1960s. Kao's enthusiasm inspired other researchers to share his vision of the future potential of fiber optics. The first ultrapure fiber was successfully fabricated just four years later, in 1970.

Teaching about China Evokes Creativity in Bay Area Classrooms Thanks to C100 Summer Institute

February 2010| By Karen Leong Clancy

Last summer, seventeen teachers spent three weeks learning about and experiencing China as part of the third Committee of 100-sponsored San Mateo County Summer Institute. In exchange for this opportunity, teachers are required to develop lesson plans and be observed teaching a sample lesson related to China. The exciting results show how exposure to the history and culture of China can bring fresh ideas to teachers of subjects from geography to ceramics to music. Hundreds of students are benefiting from this inspired teaching and learning more about China in the process.

In October, group leaders from the Institute began visiting schools to observe the classroom impact of the Summer Institute, which incorporates a week of lectures and field trips led by academic China specialists and two weeks of travel and study in China.

C100 Regional Activities

February 2010 | By Jane Leung Larson

Los Angeles members and spouses with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Standing from left: Robert Mah, Rob Peppell, Julie Fong, Edmond Pi, Mayor Villaraigosa, Ming Hsu, Adeline Mah, Brian Sun, Pat Kwoh. Seated: Charlie Woo (click the photo to enlarge).

Southern California C-100 members shared dinner and discussion with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa at Getty House, the official mayoral residence, on January 25. Among the topics on the agenda were promotion of Mandarin teaching in the Los Angeles Unified School District; working with the Mayor to promote the World Expo in Shanghai and participation in the Committee of 100 sponsored virtual wall in the USA Pavilion, “The Chinese in America”; and development of a closer trade and investment relationship between Los Angeles and China. Also, Mayor Villaraigosa is interested in visiting China, and Committee members offered their suggestions for potential meetings there.

Did you know? Findings from the Committee’s 2009 Survey, “Still The 'Other'?: Public Attitudes Toward Chinese and Asian Americans”

February 2010| By Jane Leung Larson

Are Chinese Americans still seen as “perpetual foreigners”? The 2009 Committee of 100 opinion survey found that while most Americans attributed to Chinese Americans such positive qualities as “hardworking and diligent,” a sizeable portion of the public also expressed views that indicate discomfort and doubt about Chinese Americans in American society.

For example:

• 42% of the public agreed that “Chinese Americans should think in more American ways.”
• 34% agreed that “Chinese Americans are more loyal to China than to the U.S.”
• 31% agreed that “Chinese Americans have too much influence in the US high technology sector.”

For the full survey report, go here.

Pro Bono: Committee Members Contributing to the Greater Good

February 2010 | By Jane Leung Larson

Leslie Tang Schilling is a member of the Board of Advisors of the Rural China Education Foundation (RCEF), a relatively new organization founded by a group of young overseas Chinese to enrich education in China’s rural schools. Generally, RCEF is working with a small group of schools to help them implement the Chinese government’s promotion of student-centered teaching, a form of pedagogy now universal in the U.S. but new to rural China. Schilling is co-chair of the Committee of 100 Education Committee, which works in American schools to expand the teaching of Mandarin and study of Chinese culture and society.

Honorable Mentions: Recent Awards to C-100 Members

February 2010 | By Jane Leung Larson

Larry Tu at the AALDEF Annual Lunar New Year Gala. Photo by Lia Chang.

The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) honored Larry Tu, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Dell Inc., on February 11 in New York City at its annual gala. He received the Justice in Action Award “for his commitment to diversity and his outstanding achievements in the legal profession.” AALDEF Assistant Director Lillian Ling added, “At Dell, Larry has used his position to implement diversity efforts – both internally as well as outside with legal counsel and suppliers.”

In his acceptance speech, Tu talked about his experiences as an Asian American straddling two cultures. He also spoke about his involvement with the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association and as a board member of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, and he described the important work of C-100. AALDEF was founded in 1974 and works nationally to protect and promote the civil rights of Asian Americans through litigation, advocacy, education, and organizing. Past Justice in Action Award recipients include the late civil rights icon Fred Korematsu, David Henry Hwang, Harold Koh, Mira Nair, Deval Patrick, Salman Rushdie, Seymour Hersh, Charles Ogletree, Jr., Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, Harry Belafonte, Margaret Cho, and Yoko Ono.

Newsmakers: Links to Members in the News

February 2010 | By Jane Leung Larson

In "Currency Imbalance Should Not Become a Distribution," Huffington Post, February 1, Committee of 100 Chairman John Chen, the CEO of Sybase, argues that in our trading relationship with China, "fixing our attention on the currency issues is a distraction, and takes our eyes off the core issues that will keep our lead in our economic power." Instead we must focus on "how to drive long-term competitiveness with innovation, the factor that ultimately allows us to achieve a high-level of productivity, just as it has done so for us in the past." Chen feels that the U.S. must concentrate on creating more innovation-based jobs, in part because manufacturing jobs are not likely to return to the U.S. even with a more expensive RMB, but also because we are losing our lead in innovation industries, while China is making innovation a national strategy. "With a much smaller population than China and some other developing nations, it will for sure be a losing battle to fight if we shift the focus of our economy to compete in labor-intensive industries. Our innovativeness will continue to trend down."

Read the full article here.