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Sanya Retired Military Officials Initiative
The Foundation is sponsoring the “Sanya Initiative”, which brings together four retired senior military officials from the U.S. and five counterparts from China for a series of informal meetings in Sanya, Hainan province, China, to foster deeper understanding of issues on defense and security between the two countries and to build stronger relations between the participants. The meeting was held on February 21, commemorating the anniversary of former U.S. president Richard Nixon's historic trip to China in 1972 to meet with Chairman Mao Zedong.
The retired senior military officials of the United States Army and the retired senior military officials of the People’s Liberation Army benefited from valuable insights generated by group discussions and other interactive activities between the two groups. Due to the success of the program, the American retired military officials plan to host a second meeting of the group in Miami in November.
Peking University, Shanghai Institute for International Studies (SIIS) Exchange Programs
To promote a stronger link and deeper understanding of the academic worlds in China and the U.S., Peking University and the Shanghai Institute for International Studies (SIIS) have launched exchange programs, sponsored by the Foundation, for Chinese and U.S. scholars to visit the other side of the Pacific.
Scholars from the University of Oklahoma and Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) made a fruitful visit to Peking University last year. After the visit, these scholars published papers on a range of topics including China’s port development to its relations with emerging markets around the world.
Following the success of the 2007 visit, Peking University has put in place plans for another exchange program in 2008. According to the plan, more U.S. scholars will be invited to visit Beijing for three months and Chinese researchers will visit the U.S. for six months.
Under the Foundation-sponsored program, the SIIS also hosted visits by U.S. scholars from Princeton University and a delegation from Texas A&M University last year.
Meanwhile, the SIIS is also hosting an annual exchange program that brings Chinese and U.S. scholars to each other’s country. U.S. scholars from the University of Virginia, University of Missouri, Rhodes College and a delegation from Texas A&M University have visited the SIIS from February to July 2008. Later this year, two SIIS resident scholars will be sent to the CSIS in Washington D.C. for three months.
Primary Source Study Tours
In recent years, interest among Americans in the study of China and the Chinese language has been on the rise. As part of its efforts to facilitate greater exchange in these areas, the Foundation is sponsoring selected exchange programs undertaken by Primary Source, a U.S.-based non-profit organization. These programs include the visit of American educators to China and training workshops for American school teachers to encourage the adoption of a China-related curriculum in American primary and secondary school classrooms.
The first of a series of CUSEF-sponsored study tours was completed in April. The tour included visits to Beijing and Xi’an and provided a forum for dialogue on the subject of education development through conferences with Chinese educators. This tour provided 18 U.S. educators with an opportunity to experience China first-hand through visits to local schools and interaction with Chinese children, home-stays with Chinese families, and visits to major historical and cultural sites.
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