Grant from the Foremost Foundation to the National Committee on United States-China Relations to Support the Annual Foreign Policy Colloquium
The Foremost Foundation, in accordance with its desire to enhance and improve relations between the US and China, gave a grant to fund the 2012 Foreign Policy Colloquium held by the National Committee on United States-China Relations. The National Committee on US-China Relations is a non-partisan, non-profit educational organization established in 1966 by a broad coalition of business leaders, academicians, and religious and civic leaders who desired to open pathways for meaningful dialogue between the United States and China in order to lay a foundation for long-term stable and productive relations. Their vision was that facilitating mutual understanding between the peoples of the United States and China would lead to a warming of relations, and enable educational, cultural, technological and corporate exchange of information between the two countries. The committee’s founders believed that positive relations with China was in the long-term interests of the United States.
The Committee’s Board of Directors and broad membership is made up of the most distinguished political and corporate leaders of the US who share in the founders’ belief that only through face-to-face communications, honest and free exchange of ideas, and public outreach will Sino-American relations be healthy and of mutual benefit to both nations. There are currently 750 American members of the committee and 80 corporations from across America. For Angela Chao and other members of the Foremost Foundation, it was a natural fit between the committee’s directives and the life-long mission of the Chao family to foster understanding and good relations between the two countries.
The committee’s programs focus on: Governance, Public Health, Economics, Education, Politics, Media, Security, Environment, Civil Society, and Transnational Issues. There are strategic security briefings for political leaders, exchange of municipal leaders, in-depth briefings and site visits to Chinese municipalities and NGOs, collaborative partnerships to address sustainability and natural disasters, and student and teacher exchange programs. Through its various focus programs, the committee facilitates a healthy exchange of ideas, technical information, political information, intellectual and human capital, and forms strategic partnerships across many sectors. Educational exchange programs between teachers and students build understanding between the American and Chinese societies, that teachers can bring back to their classrooms and students can bring to their studies and future engagement in the world. Through the committee’s programs in security and politics, policymakers, military leaders and political leaders from the two countries develop strong working relationships to enable constructive approaches to critical issues facing the US and China.
The Foreign Policy Colloquium was initiated in 2003 and is a three-day seminar open to Chinese graduate students from universities throughout the United States. Its purpose is to groom the next generation of US-China foreign policy leaders so they are able to carry the mantle of mutual cooperation and understanding into the foreign policy decisions of the future. The 2012 Colloquium was held at George Washington University and included more than 150 graduate students. Colloquium participants meet with and learn first-hand from government officials, leaders of NGOs, think tanks, corporations and advocacy groups who are involved in shaping America’s foreign policy.
In addition to financial contributions, Angela Chao also sits on the Young Leaders Forum of the National Committee.