Since
2012, a commission led by
Ernest J. Wilson III, dean of the
University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, and
Wang Jisi, then dean of the
Peking University School for International Studies, have led a distinguished bi-national commission of scholars, former officials, and businesspeople in an investigation of how to best improve
U.S.-China understanding. Such understanding is essential if we are to reduce our differences and work together to address pressing problems.
The commission's report draws on major public opinion surveys, extensive meetings and interviews with leading policy-makers, business people, and organization chiefs, and the deep experience and expertise of our distinguished commissioners. The commission found that as interaction and interdependence between the U.S. and
China has grown, favorable attitudes towards the other country and trust in the other country has fallen. This is unacceptable and potentially even dangerous.
The U.S.-China relationship is too important for our two peoples and for the world and the need for cooperation is too great for us to let suspicion and distrust to harden. At present, leaders and the media tend to focus almost exclusively on what separates the U.S. and China, paying insufficient attention to the many ways people in the two countries work together every day to deepen understanding and resolve shared problems. We need to act now to strengthen those effective collaborations and make them better known and we need to create new programs which utilize new technologies and involve a greater array of people. The report offers principles to guide such efforts and includes examples of effective programs.
The report presentations also introduced a new website,
US-China Exchange (uschinaexchange.usc.edu), which offers a unique database of past and present exchange programs and will be the go-to reference for all those interested in U.S.-China affairs and, especially, for those eager to link up with standard-bearers in U.S.-China exchanges and to learn from the best practices of others.
Ronald Cheng
Assistant U.S. Attorney,
Los Angeles
Mr. Cheng served as the resident legal advisor at the
U.S. Embassy in
Beijing for several years. In that capacity he traveled extensively and met with
Chinese legal officials and lawyers to discuss legal procedures and other matters. Prior to that posting Mr. Cheng served in the U.S. Attorney's
Office for the
Central District of California and served as acting chief of criminal division and chief of the criminal appeals section. Since returning to the
United States, he worked on the prosecution team in the
Bank of China case in which three
Bank managers conspired to steal $482 million and launder a portion of those funds in the United States. He's returned to the U.S. Attorney's Office and is now specializing in cyber and intellectual property crimes. Mr. Cheng earned his undergraduate degree at
Yale University and his law degree at
Columbia University.
- published: 30 May 2014
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