China Institute celebrates 100 years of bridging ties

The China Institute of America marked its centennial with a gala in New York on Thursday, bringing together prominent families, business leaders, international artists and academics with long-standing ties to US-China exchanges.

Founded in 1926, the institute is the oldest nonprofit organization in the United States focused on cultural and educational exchanges between China and the US.

Over the past century, it has supported a range of exchange programs and cultural initiatives, including sponsoring Mei Lanfang's 1930 North American tour and Broadway performances in New York, and helping secure scholarship aid for Chinese students studying in the US in 1938.

The institute now hosts public discussions on US-China education, art, innovation and business exchanges, organizes exhibitions of Chinese art, and offers Chinese language and cultural programs.

This year's gala honored individuals and families recognized for their contributions to US-China relations and cross-cultural exchanges, including the Nixon family, Bush family and Rockefeller family; former Hong Kong chief executive Tung Chee-hwa; entrepreneurs and philanthropists Ming Hsieh and Eva Hsieh; and professors Li Kai and Cui Yi.

"This centennial is not only a celebration of 100 years of history — it is a declaration of our commitment to the next 100," said Yue-Sai Kan, cochair of the institute. "We are honored to gather tonight with extraordinary individuals and families who have given so much to the cause of understanding between our two nations."

Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng attended the gala. He said both the Chinese and US people have upheld the mission of bridging cultures despite the ups and downs in bilateral relations.

"These efforts added a profound and moving chapter to the friendship between our two peoples, a friendship tested through blood and fire," Xie said.

Under the new vision of building a constructive China-US relationship of strategic stability, the two countries are once again at a "historic crossroads" and need greater efforts to expand common ground, move forward together and strengthen people-to-people exchanges, he said.

Peter Walker, a board trustee of the institute, a senior partner emeritus at McKinsey & Company, and a longtime China observer who has visited China more than 90 times, told China Daily why he has remained committed to the organization.

"We focus on the soft cultural things — education, arts, culinary exchange, travel, fashion, sports, the places where people connect," he said.

Walker emphasized youth exchanges as "a top priority".

"We have a whole effort around the next generation of people who we want to get involved," he said.

More than 50,000 young people from the US have visited China under China's "50,000 in Five Years" initiative, achieving the target two and a half years ahead of schedule.

Continuing the legacy

The next generations of families involved in US-China exchanges also highlighted a long-term commitment to continuing the legacy.

Christopher Nixon Cox, representing the Nixon family, said people from the two countries are able to bridge their differences.

"Tonight, our two countries face tensions, new questions, new uncertainty," he said in a speech. "The work of bridge-building has never been finished, and in some seasons it feels harder than ever."

Steven Rockefeller Jr, representing the Rockefeller family, told China Daily that the family's engagement in US-China relations reflects a longstanding tradition of supporting cross-cultural understanding and exchanges.

"There's so much opportunity for everyone to contribute in their own way," he said. "It's a vast landscape with such spectacular history, and so much art, culture and literature. Whatever you're interested in, there's so much to share."