Angie Tang
Executive Director, Committee of 100
June 2011
For our 20th Annual Conference in May, we chronicled the past 20 years of our organization and of the U.S. – China relationship. In this month’s newsletter, you’ll learn about what has changed, what has stayed the same and why it matters.
In 1990, the world, and the world order, were vastly different - the Berlin Wall had just fallen, and Deng Xiaoping was on the verge of unleashing China’s monolithic economy. Back then, our small pioneering group of Committee 100 members understood China’s scale and anticipated China’s economic clout and political influence when they assembled in New York to launch our inaugural conference and boldly called for a yearly forum to strengthen the U.S.-China relationship and to address American misperceptions of an awakening giant.
Twenty years later, China is a surging economic powerhouse driving global trade and capital flows and altering geo-political relationships. Misperceptions of China still persist, but they are now compounded by fears that a hyper-competitive giant will unilaterally dictate the economic and political agenda across the globe.
Just as China's growth has transformed the U.S.-China relationship, the Committee of 100 annual conference has been continuously shaped by the evolving relationship between the two countries. The audience has grown from 60 to over 600 participants, including senior government officials, decision-makers, policy experts and thought leaders. The topics and themes have evolved over the last 20 years from a focus on cross-strait relations between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan to discussions of building sustainable cities and forging cross-border market opportunities.
The one constant throughout our two-decade history is the critical importance of a balanced U.S. -China discourse and a mutually beneficial future. The Committee of 100's annual conference consistently embraces high-quality content and candid debate to be the premier forum to build on the future of the U.S.-China relationship.
Heartfelt thanks to our conference participants and supporters over the years for helping the Committee of 100 accomplish our mission of finding common ground between the two great nations of the United States and China.
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