May 2008 | By Tovah LaDier and Jane Leung Larson
Former Hong Kong Chief Executive C.H. Tung, now vice-chair of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and chairman of a foundation promoting Sino-American relations, was in the U.S. this spring for ten days, including three days in Washington, DC.
At his request, the Committee arranged a number of meetings for Tung with American opinion leaders. Among those he met were David Brooks, New York Times; Margaret Warner, PBS NewsHour; Congressman Eni Faleomavaega (D-AS), Chairman of the Asia and Pacific Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; and Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA), a member of the Joint Intelligence Committee. In addition, C-100 organized a breakfast with Ambassador Stapleton Roy, chairman of the Committee of 100 Advisory Council. C-100 Chairman John L. Fugh and Cheng Li, who sits on the C-100 Issues Committee, attended several of the meetings.
The discussions addressed a number of issues related to China, but Tibet and the Olympics dominated the conversations. Tung gave a comprehensive presentation on Tibet and its major demographic changes, pre-and-post 1959. For example, he pointed out the large increase in population in Tibet, the educational opportunities that now exist, income growth, and economic support from the Chinese government.
According to Tovah LaDier, who is in charge of the Committee’s Washington Engagement Initiative and attended the meetings with Tung: “The major point that people raised with him is China's "heavy-handed" reaction to the Dalai Lama. The message that was conveyed to him by virtually everyone with whom we met is that the Dalai Lama is considered a man of peace in the U.S., China's harsh rhetoric about the Dalai Lama has had a negative impact in the U.S., and China needs to find a way to manage its highly important, complex, and difficult relationship with the Dalai Lama more effectively.”
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