National Committee on United States–China Relations

The National Committee on United States China Relations (NCUSCR) is a nonprofit organization and advisory body founded in 1966 to encourage understanding and cooperation between the United States and China. Since 1966, the committee has conducted exchanges, educational, and policy activities in the areas of politics and security, education, governance and civil society, economic cooperation, media, and transnational issues, addressing these topics with respect to Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

History

The National Committee on United States–China Relations was founded in 1966 by a coalition of academic "China watchers," civic, religious, and business leaders who were concerned with China's isolation and American apparent interest in maintaining that situation. Cecil Thomas, a Secretary of the American Friends Service Committee, was influential in recruiting and organizing them, and became the organization's first executive director. The founders included figures in the China field such as Robert A. Scalapino, A. Doak Barnett, Alexander Eckstein, and Lucian Pye. Their aim was to build a network from a broad political spectrum, committed to fostering open discussion and to improving U.S. policy toward China.

The committee was energized by helping to organize two groundbreaking conferences: the “Institute on China Today” held at University of California, Berkeley in 1964, and the “National Conference on the United States and China” in Washington, D.C. in 1965. Together, they gave a platform to debate the reshaping of the approach towards China. There was heated disagreement among even the scholars, but figures such as Henry Luce and American businessmen argued against defenders of the policy. There was widespread interest from newspapers, television, and the general public.

Several presidents had wanted to move closer to normalization of relations with China but faced resistance in Congress. In 1971, the committee hosted a roundtable featuring guest speakers from countries that had begun exchanges with China in advance of official diplomatic relations.^: 36 Members of the committee expressed the view that like these countries, Americans could develop ad hoc cooperative relations with China.^: 36–37 The committee's mission was to educate the public, but it soon found itself in the position to offer information and advice to President Lyndon B. Johnson and other political leaders. In 1972, it co-hosted the Chinese table tennis team's tour of the United States, a widely publicized event that captured world attention. The historic two-way exchange by American and Chinese table tennis teams became known as Ping Pong Diplomacy.

The Committee originally had intended to be only a "catalyst" in opening relations with China, a short-term temporary goal. But a change in this attitude came when it was called upon to manage the visit of the Chinese table-tennis team, part of American ping-pong diplomacy. Because there were no official diplomatic relations between the two countries, the State Department had to rely on private resources. The Committee stepped in, raised money, and made arrangements. This experience changed the committee's relations with American and Chinese officials, as well as its own goals. In the 1980s, the Committee expanded its work to promote sustained interactions between influential Chinese and Americans in governance, media, urban planning, international relations, and economic management.

On 15 November 2023, the National Committee on United States–China Relations and the US-China Business Council hosted a banquet with Xi Jinping for US business executives during the APEC United States 2023 meeting. The banquet drew questions from media about attendees and criticism from the United States House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party.

Board of directors

• Carla Anderson Hills, chairperson

Vice chairs

Treasurer

• Keith W. Abell

Secretary

• I. Peter Wolff

Members

• Ray Dalio
• Jeffrey A. Bader
• Ajay Banga
• Dennis C. Blair
• Olivier Brandicourt
• Deborah Brautigam
• Milton Brice
• Kurt M. Campbell
• Amy Celico
• John S. Chen
• Daniel Cruise
• Nelson G. Dong
• Richard Edelman
• Martin Feldstein
• William E. Ford
• Barbara Franklin
• M. Taylor Fravel
• Charles W. Freeman III
• Richard Gelfond
• Jimmy Hexter
• Jon Huntsman Jr.
• Muhtar Kent
• Elizabeth Knup
• David M. Lampton
• Terrill E. Lautz
• Cheng Li
• Kenneth Lieberthal
• Andrew Liveris
• Gary Locke
• Samuel J. Locklear
• Evan S. Medeiros
• Kenneth P. Miller
• Howard Milstein
• Douglas H. Paal
• Sheldon Pang
• A. Robert Pietrzak
• Clark T. Randt Jr.
• Anthony J. Saich
• Maggie Sans
• Rob Speyer
• James Steinberg
• Ernie L. Thrasher
• Jan F. van Eck
• Robert H. Xiao
• John Young

Former chairs

• A. Doak Barnett
• W. Michael Blumenthal
• Barber Conable
• Alexander Eckstein
• Lucian W. Pye
• Robert A. Scalapino
• Raymond P. Shafer
• Charles Yost

Notes

Illustrative publications

• Michel Oksenberg, Academy of Political Science (U.S.) and National Committee on United States–China Relations. China's Developmental Experience. (New York: Academy of Political Science, Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science 31.1, 1973).
• Perkins, Dwight (2020). Perkins, Dwight (ed.). Rural Small-Scale Industry in the People's Republic of China. Berkeley, CA. doi:10.1525/9780520314719. ISBN 978-0-520-31471-9. OCLC 1229160797.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Scalapino, R. A. (1967). An annotated guide to modern China. New York: National Committee on United States–China Relations.

References and further reading

External links

• Official website