The success of the fourth Committee of 100 Journalist Delegation trip to China in late 2011 highlights the invaluable role the Committee continues to play in educating Americans about China and U.S.-China relations.
Journalists Nicolas Goldberg, Eugene Robinson and Rekha Basu at the Great Wall.
From November 28 to December 6, three distinguished American journalists–Eugene Robinson, Pulitzer Prize-winning Columnist and Associate Editor of The Washington Post; Nicholas Goldberg, Editor of the Editorial Pages of The Los Angeles Times; and Rekha Basu, Columnist for The Des Moines Register–visited Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong on their first visit to mainland China. This was the fourth Committee of 100 delegation sent to China since 2007 for the purpose of giving influential American journalists who have little or no direct experience in China an opportunity to gain a first-hand perspective on current issues and developments in the country.
Under the leadership of Vice Chairs of International Programs David Chang and David Ho, and fully supported by C-100 Chairman Dominic Ng and Executive Director Angie Tang, the 2011 program was sponsored by lead supporters Anla Cheng and Cyrus Tang. Members Bob Gee, Kai-Fu Lee, and Shirley Young assisted with trip planning, and C-100 Public Relations Director An Ping coordinated the entire program.
The journalists began their adventure in Beijing with a dinner hosted by C-100 members Tim Chen and Handel Lee. One of the trip’s high points was the home-cooked Peking Duck dinner at member Hao Jiang Tian’s Beijing home. The journalists especially appreciated the Chinese hospitality, and the lively, wide-ranging, and candid conversations with Tian and his artist friends including installation artist Xu Bing, architect Chang Yungho, and German artist Alexander Polzin.
Learning through dialogue and exchange characterized much of the eight-day trip. Juggling a packed schedule of 17 meetings and visits (with additional sightseeing trips to the Great Wall, Forbidden City, and Yu Garden in Shanghai), the journalists exchanged views with a diverse group of Chinese intellectuals, opinion shapers, and leaders in business, government, education, journalism, the environment, the arts, as well as with students and typical Chinese people.
In a visit to Beijing 101 Middle School, eager students peppered the journalists with penetrating questions: Do hard-working Chinese students have a competitive edge over American students? Why doesn’t the American media cover more positive news to make their audience feel better? In turn, Robinson told students about the time U.S. President Barack Obama called him. The President congratulated Robinson on his Pulitzer Prize, but then complained about Robinsons’ Washington Post article criticizing him. Robinson used this example to illustrate that even when criticized, all the President can do is “call you up and yell at you. He can’t put you in jail.” The students were awestruck and captivated.
The journalists concluded their trip at the Fourth Greater China Conference in Hong Kong. Robinson joined C-100 Chair Ng, conference chair Ronnie Chan, and Tavis Smiley, Host of Tavis Smiley on PBS, for a lively luncheon discussion on U.S.-China relations in the context of the 2012 U.S. presidential elections. Goldberg and Basu also interviewed a few of the roundtable speakers.
All three journalists credit the experience of being in China and their discussions with Chinese from different walks of life with giving them fresh, new ways of looking at China, the United States, and U.S.-China relations. Robinson summed it up best when he said, “China seems both more and less formidable now–not an adversary of the United States so much as an inevitable fellow-traveler through the 21st Century.” Click here to view Journalist Delegation Report.
Comments