Committee of 100 Newsletter

Honorable Mentions: Recent Awards to C-100 Members - Stewart Kwoh

Stewart Kwoh, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, Korean Churches for Community Development, and Asian Law Caucus.

Stewart Kwoh speaking at the Asian Law Caucus gala.

Three Los Angeles organizations honored President and Executive Director of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC) Stewart Kwoh this April.

On April 5, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles [CHIRLA], an organization “serving and empowering low-income immigrant workers and youth,” honored Kwoh for “his inspirational leadership for the immigrant communities of Los Angeles.”

Making Moves: C-100 Members in Transition: Jackson Tai, Interim President and CEO, Brookstone, Inc.

Jackson Tai took over in January as Interim President and CEO of Brookstone, the 300-store and direct marketing retailer of practical electronic gadgets and other home and travel products based in New Hampshire. Tai had served as Brookstone’s Chairman of the Board since 2009 and a director since 2008.

Newsmakers: Links to Members in the News - Haojiang Tian

“Home Bass” by Kelly Chung Dawson in China Daily on March 3 describes the U.S.-China career of Metropolitan Opera bass Haojiang Tian and spotlights Tian’s newest cross-cultural innovation, I Sing Beijing, which selects twenty young Western opera singers for a month of training in Mandarin and Chinese opera in Beijing.

Newsmakers: Links to Members in the News - Teddy Zee

Hollywood producer and entertainment executive Teddy Zee’s op-ed appeared in the April 25 New York Times’ “Room for Debate” discussion, “Whitewashing on the Small Screen.” Zee’s take on HBO’s hit series, “Girls,” and its lack of minority representation, is excerpted below:

 

Newsmakers: Links to Members in the News - Janet Yang

A new cross-cultural comedy, Shanghai Calling, is Janet Yang’s latest production aiming at American and Chinese audiences and another feather in Yang’s cap as a “matchmaker between China and Hollywood” (Wall Street Journal). Yang assembled this $3 million co-production directed by Daniel Hsia with funding from American investors and a Chinese state-owned film company. “For independent foreign producers looking to reach the growing number of Chinese movie-goers, Ms. Yang sees co-productions as the best ticket, believing that a willingness to work within the boundaries of China’s censors is worth the promise of a release and the opportunity to reach across an increasingly important cultural divide.” National Public Radio’s Frank Langfitt introduced the film in an April 4 segment, “‘Shanghai’: A Rom-Com Look At Americans In China.” Shanghai Calling will debut this spring at Southern California film festivals and in China later in the year.

Newsmakers: Links to Members in the News - Cheng Li

As one of the nation’s rare authorities on China’s elite politics, Brookings Institution Research Director Cheng Li has given over 200 interviews in the past month on Bo Xilai’s dramatic fall from power, first as Chongqing Party Secretary, then from his position in the Politburo. In a New York Times news analysis on April 6, Michael Wines asked Li about Bo’s ouster from the Politburo: “‘The concern was not that Bo would change the delicate balance of power, but that he would lead the party completely out of control,’ said Cheng Li, an expert on China’s elite at the Brookings Institution in Washington. ‘It’s more than a power struggle. It’s a corresponding interest to maintain the legitimacy of the Communist Party—to survive.’”

Honorable Mentions: Recent Awards to C-100 Members - Dominic Ng, Business Person of the Year, Los Angeles Business Journal

Committee of 100 Chairman Dominic Ng was honored by the Los Angeles Business Journal as its Business Person of the Year at a March 29 luncheon at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel attended by over 400 guests. Ng, East West Bank Chairman and CEO, has played an ever-growing role in the economic revitalization of Los Angeles. Past winners of this award include former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan and Panda Express founder and Chairman Andrew Cherng.

Newsmakers: Links to Members in the News - Wing Chao, Gareth Chang, Steve Chen, David Ho, Yue Sai Kan, George Koo, Cheng Li, Edmond Pi, Jerry Yang, and Shirley Young

The Los Angeles-published Art and Living digital magazine celebrates creativity in all its forms, and the Chinese connection in particular in its 2012 issue. On the cover, Wing T. Chao stands near a painting of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse, a salute to Chao’s 37-year “Enduring Legacy at Disney” as chief architect and master planner for Disney properties all over the world. Chao escorted Art and Living’s publisher Jeff Marinelli throughout China and other countries last year.

Newsmakers: Links to Members in the News - Wei Sun Christianson, Yue-Sai Kan, and Cher Wang

Three Committee of 100 members are among the 50 most powerful businesswomen in Asia, according to Forbes Asia, which issued its first list of Asia’s 50 Power Businesswomen on February 29:  Wei Sun Christianson, Managing Director and CEO of Morgan Stanley China; Yue-Sai Kan, President of Yue-Sai Kan Productions (China); and Cher Wang, Chair, HTC Corp (Taiwan). Forbes Asia acknowledged that “although the role of women in Asia-Pacific’s economy is growing, most of these honorees still have had to overcome significant barriers to get where they are today.”

Pro Bono: Committee Members Contributing to the Greater Good - Ronnie Chan

A new home for the Asia Society Hong Kong Center has long been the dream of its Chairman, Ronnie Chan, and on February 9, Chan presided over the opening of the new Center in Admiralty, located in re-purposed heritage buildings.

Chan also is Co-Chair of the Asia Society. Hong Kong SAR Chief Executive Donald Tsang and Asia Society President Vishakha Desai attended the Center’s opening. New York architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien led the effort to preserve the past while transforming the buildings in the Explosives Magazine compound into offices, meeting halls, theaters, and galleries.

On March 15, Chan briefed CEOs on China’s economic outlook at the Asia Society AustralAsia Centre in Sydney.