At a National Committee public program on May 19, author Michael Meyer discussed living in one of Beijing's oldest hutongs, a traditional alleyway neighborhood which defined the city's layout for centuries. Mr. Meyer's first book, The Last Days of Old Beijing, chronicles the destruction of many of these neighborhoods as the city was redesigned for the 2008 Summer Olympics.

In 2011, the National Committee, in partnership with the Center for Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims at China University of Political Science and Law, sponsored a two-way exchange for environmental law professionals in China and the United States.

The National Committee co-hosted a program with the New York University School of Law featuring Ira Belkin, program officer for law and rights at the Ford Foundation in Beijing. Mr. Belkin discussed recent developments in China’s criminal justice system. The program was moderated by National Committee President Stephen Orlins and NYU School of Law Professor Jerome Cohen and took place on April 13 at NYU’s School of Law.

Susan Shirk, professor of political science at the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, University of California, San Diego, discussed how the Internet and media are changing Chinese politics and vice versa during a National Committee program on April 25. Video of the program can be found below.

With the rise of tensions in Northeast Asia over the past few months, understanding the complex interactions among China, Japan and the two Koreas has become more important than ever, as has understanding the effect such tensions have on the United States and its interaction with these countries. The National Committee, in cooperation with the Japan Society, brought together three experts to provide insights into the current state of the regional security relationships: the Brookings Institution’s Richard Bush, the Eurasia Group’s Ian Bremmer, and Johns Hopkins University’s Kent Calder.

Chinese President Hu Jintao expressed confidence in the current U.S.-China relationship and optimism for future cooperation at a luncheon in Washington, DC, co-hosted by the National Committee and the US-China Business Council. The luncheon was held on January 20, 2011 at Marriott Wardman Park hotel, in cooperation with nine other organizations.

National Committee Director Edward Steinfeld discussed his new book, Playing Our Game: Why China’s Rise Doesn’t Threaten the West (Oxford University Press, 2010), at a Jones Day program on November 2, 2010. In the book, Steinfeld explores the monumental economic and political ramifications of China’s integration into global production. By examining how contemporary Chinese enterprises […]

His Excellency Wen Jiabao, Premier of People’s Republic of China, expressed optimism about the future of U.S.-China bilateral relations at a dinner co-hosted in his honor by the National Committee and the US-China Business Council. Held at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City, the dinner began with remarks by Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who both marveled at China’s rapid growth and stressed the importance of the bilateral relationship.

The National Committee, in partnership with the Institute for Sustainable Communities and with funding from the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, sponsored an exchange of emerging leaders from earthquake-affected areas of Sichuan and post-Katrina areas of the Gulf Coast designed to exchange ideas about sustainability in long-term post-disaster recovery.

Ambassador Nicholas Platt discussed his new book China Boys: How U.S. Relations with the PRC Began and Grew, and the resumption of U.S.-China relations in the 1960s and 1970s at the offices of Jones Day in New York. The memoir chronicles the preparations and negotiations that went into Nixon’s 1972 trip; fourteen months later setting […]