How new C100 chief plans to help Chinese-Americans strike the middle ground with China

Paul Cheung was recently named president of the Committee of 100, a non-profit organisation of influential Chinese-Americans that promotes bilateral exchanges between China and the United States on all fronts.

In this Open Questions interview, Cheung talks about the role of C100 in addressing anti-Asian hate in the US and bridging the gap between the two biggest economic powers in their ever-growing rivalry. For other interviews in the Open Questions series, click here.

What’s your strategy as president of the Committee of 100 (C100) to keep a neutral US-China connection during this period of heightened tension?

China and the US need, require, an intermediary. At the Committee of 100’s founding, that made a lot of sense, but fast-forward to today, both China and the US don’t need an intermediary, per se, in terms of government.

Where we fit in is providing context and nuance. The US-China relationship has an enormous impact on Chinese-Americans, as well as on Chinese who have dealings with Americans and families in America. Putting aside business, human-to-human relations are something no one talks about in terms of impact.

This is an interesting time for us, and our role is to really highlight these narratives and help both countries understand that. The problem is, the relationship between the US and China is no longer just government to government. Its impact on citizens and the world is great. People in Europe, in Africa and Latin America, a lot of them don’t know what to do.

  

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