Bringing People Together in Divided Times
Forty-five years after normalization, relations between the world’s two largest economies have declined to a state that is fragile, uncertain, and concerning. This should be a time for celebration. Instead, the trust and goodwill that characterized the events of January 1979, when U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping captured the public’s imagination, have now been replaced by fear and suspicion.
Trust, exchange, and understanding are the cornerstones of our work at the China-United States Exchange Foundation, a non-profit founded by Mr. Tung Chee-hwa, our Chairman Emeritus and First Chief Executive of Hong Kong. Now in its 15th anniversary year, CUSEF continues to bring people together in divided times, including at our landmark annual meeting, the Hong Kong Forum on U.S.-China Relations.
This year, in addition to experts and leaders from the two countries, we have expanded our outreach to include speakers from Europe, greater Asia, and beyond, to more accurately reflect the global stakeholders in a bilateral relationship of truly global consequences. José Ramos-Horta, President of Timor-Leste and Nobel Peace Prize laureate; Shyam Saran, who served as India’s Foreign Secretary
......