Committee of 100 honors leaders who advanced U.S.-China relations

New York, N.Y. (May 31, 2018) — Earlier this month, the Committee of 100 — the nation’s premier organization focused on U.S.-China relations and Chinese American advancement — honored and awarded four individuals for their Leadership and Lifetime Achievements in Advancing U.S.-China Relations.

This year, C100 honored Chen Tianqiao and C100 members Ken Xie and Ambassador Linda Tsao Yang with the “2018 Leadership Award for Advancing U.S.-China Relations,” and Dr. David M. Lampton with a “Lifetime Achievement Award for Advancing U.S.-China Relations” in Silicon Valley.

Chen, Xie, and Ambassador Yang were honored at the C100 Awards Gala Dinner which took place at the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara on May 5. Chen Tianqiao, Founder of Shanda Group and the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute, and Ken Xie, C100 member and Founder, Chair, and CEO of Fortinet, were recognized individually for their Lifetime Achievement as Tech Entrepreneurs.

C100 Conference Co-Chair Ken Fong honored Chen Tianqiao as not just the first tech entrepreneur billionaire in China but someone whose philanthropic contributions to an American research institution [CalTech] has helped to “forge a better understanding and collaboration between the U.S and China.”

Dr. Yang Bin, vice president and provost of Tsinghua University, flew from Beijing to attend the C100 Conference on behalf of Tsinghua University and personally present C100 Conference Co-Chair and Tsinghua alumnus Ken Xie with the leadership award. Dr. Yang remarked “Ken Xie, as a lifetime tech entrepreneur, not only created two multi-billion companies, NetScreen and Fortinent, he also created a role model for the next generation of Tsinghua’s young students.”

Ambassador Linda Tsao Yang is a longtime C100 member and Chair Emerita of the Asian Corporation Governance Association. Ambassador Yang was recognized at the Awards Gala Dinner as the Honorary Conference Co-Chair and for her lifetime achievements in Diplomatic Service and her contributions to furthering U.S.-China relations. Among her many firsts, Ambassador Yang was the first woman appointed by the U.S. Government to the board of a multilateral financial institution and was the U.S. Executive Director and Ambassador to the Board of the Asian Development Bank from 1993 to 1999. Ambassador Yang received a standing ovation and said, “To be honored by my peers, this is the greatest honor I could ever dream of. Thank you all.”

In addition to the three gala dinner honorees, C100 surprised Dr. David M. Lampton earlier in the day with a Lifetime Achievement Award for Advancing U.S.-China Relations. Dr. Lampton has been a close friend and member of C100’s Advisory Council since 2007. He is Hyman Professor and Director of China Studies at the prestigious Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and announced he will be retiring this summer.

“We congratulate all our distinguished honorees, who despite their already remarkable achievements, continue to work tirelessly for the betterment of U.S.-China relations and the advancement of Chinese Americans, and thereby serve as exemplary role models for younger generations,” said C100 President Frank H. Wu.

On May 5-6, 2018, the Committee of 100 held its 2018 Annual Conference at the heart of America’s technology epicenter in Silicon Valley. The theme of the 2018 Annual Conference was “Silicon Valley: Bridge Between the U.S. and China.” Conference Co-Chairs included Chi-Foon Chan, Ken Fong, Buck Gee, Philip Ma, Ken Xie, and honorary co-chair Linda Tsao Yang.

Over 500 business, government, academic, technology, entertainment, and media representatives attended the two-day conference to discuss strengthening the bilateral relationship between the U.S. and China through economics and foreign policy, tech entrepreneurism, artificial intelligence, and the Belt and Road Initiative. Experts also discussed the ongoing tensions surrounding a potential trade war between the U.S. and China.

Speakers included JIN Liqun, Inaugural President and Chair of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank; Former U.S. Ambassadors to China Max S. Baucus and Gary Locke; Former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense and Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Chas Freeman; Dr. Fei-Fei Li, Chief Scientist at Google Cloud AI/ML and Director of Stanford University’s AI Lab; and U.S. Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA), among others.

Conference keynote speakers all highlighted the importance of continued U.S.-China cooperation in avoiding a trade war. Ambassador Chas Freeman noted that at this inflection point in the U.S.-China relationship, “The United States and China are each too globalized and dynamic to contain, too big and influential to ignore, and too successful and entangled with each other to divorce without bankrupting ourselves and all associated with us.”

Gary Locke, U.S. Ambassador to China from 2011-14, echoed these sentiments. “While the United States and China have significant areas of disagreement, the areas of agreement and cooperation far outnumber the areas of disagreement. So it’s imperative that the two countries continue to work together and engage constructively to tackle not only these disputes but also to tackle some of the worlds greatest challenges,” Locke said.

JIN Liqun, Inaugural President and Chair of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, who delivered the morning keynote speech at the C100 Summit on May 5th also advocated for cooperation. “I hope [for future generations] the United States and China will remain friendly and cooperative. This is not simply my personal aspiration; I think this is also the aspiration of so many people in our countries. And indeed, the rest of the world would like to see that the U.S. and China would have a very good cooperative relationship,” JIN said.