The Committee of 100 was well represented at the February 15 luncheon for Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping in Washington, D.C., which was attended by over 600 guests representing academia, government, industry, international organizations, media, and think tanks. C-100 Chairman Dominic Ng was seated at the head table, one of 44 senior American and Chinese government and industry leaders, including members John Chen and Chi Wang, selected for this honor.
Standing: Eugene Robinson (Washington Post), Cheng Li, Ted Wang, Dominic Ng, John Collingwood (Bank of America), Stewart Kwoh. Seated: Walter Wang, Shirley Young, Anla Cheng, Shirley Wang.
C-100 was a cooperating organization for this important event welcoming the likely next President of the People’s Republic of China on his first visit to the U.S. in a leadership capacity. Seated at the Committee’s table were Anla Cheng, Ming Hsu, Stewart Kwoh, Walter Wang and his wife Shirley Wang, and Ben Wu. Also attending the luncheon were Guoqing Chen, Cheng Li, Henry Tang, Charles P. Wang, Ted Wang, Shirley Young and Executive Director Angie Tang. An Ping, Director of Public Relations; Alice Lin, Director of Special Projects; and Mercy Kuo, Director of Research, provided staffing support to the National Committee of U.S.-China Relations (NCUSCR) and the U.S.-China Business Council, the two lead sponsor organizations.
Muhtar Kent, Chair of the U.S.-China Business Council, opened the event with a toast to Vice President Xi and the attendees. U.S. Secretary of Commerce John Bryson emphasized the “great opportunity and great responsibility” of the United States and China to cooperate and lead together and “to find common ground to forge a future that benefits the entire world.” NCUSCR Chair Carla Hills introduced Henry Kissinger, the architect of the U.S.-China détente, who introduced Vice President Xi Jinping.
The Chinese vice president underscored four key themes: 1) increase mutual understanding and trust through strategic and economic dialogues and people-to-people diplomacy, 2) respect each other’s core interests and concerns, 3) deepen mutual benefit and cooperation through trade and investment, and 4) enhance coordination and cooperation on international issues.
C-100 Chairman Ng was quoted in a report on the luncheon by the Los Angeles Times : “‘Clearly [Vice President Xi] gives an impression of a leader with a lot more personal touch, which is in contrast to [current President Hu Jintao], who is much more conservative in his demeanor,’ said Ng, who is chairman of the Chinese American organization Committee of 100, one of the hosts of the event.”
Visit the National Committee’s website for a video of Vice President Xi’s speech.
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