The All-China Journalists Association, the Better Hong Kong Foundation and the East-West Center jointly launched the 1st China-United States Journalists Exchange in 2010 to increase and deepen public understanding of the two countries and their relationship. The program offers opportunities for six to seven Chinese journalists to travel to the United States and six to seven U.S. journalists to travel to China.
The Chinese participants visit Washington D.C. and one to two other cities in the U.S. while the American journalists will visit Beijing, another mainland China city and Hong Kong. Following these study tours, all Chinese and American journalists meet for a 2-day dialogue to share their travel experiences and observations and to exchange opinions on how media coverage of each country can be improved.
Theme: China's 12th Five-Year Plan – What Does It Mean to Americans
The 2nd China-United States Journalists Exchange Program took place from September 13 – 29, 2011. Seven American journalists visited Ningbo, Beijing and Hong Kong in China and seven Chinese visited San Francisco, New York City and Washington, DC in the United States.
During their visit to San Francisco, the Chinese explored energy and technology issues. They visited Tesla Motors, Inc. and Better Place to learn about EVs (electrical vehicles) and the infrastructure to optimize energy access and use for EVs; and SolFocus Inc., a leading concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) technology developer and manufacturer, to learn more about solar energy solutions that deliver clean, low-cost and renewable energy. The visit to Google and meeting with faculty and graduate students of the Department of Communication at Stanford University provided them opportunities for dialogue on new media issues. They were also fascinated by their visit to the Chinese Historical Society of America Museum to learn about the interesting history of the Chinese in America. The Chinese experienced America’s cultural diversity during their free day in New York City. In Washington, DC, they met with researchers from the Pew Research Center and the Heritage Foundation to learn how Americans view China and the economic challenges both the US and China face. They also visited the Department of State, Pentagon, US Congressional China Caucus and US Capitol to help them better understand the complex US-China relationship as well as US politics and history. Meetings at NPR and the Washington Post allowed them to discuss and compare media issues in the two countries.
In China, the Americans explored how China’s 12th Five-Year Plan is impacting China’s economic and social development; helping meet its ambition to become a “moderately wealthy” nation; and improving the standard of living for the vast majority of its citizens over the next five years. They were surprised and impressed by Ningbo’s wealth, technology, rapid pace of development and massive infrastructure and construction projects, including a new port city. Their visits included museums and art galleries, a wine distributor at the Ningbo Free Trade Zone, the Ningbo Municipal Development & Reform Commission, the Ningbo Taiji Environmental Protection Equipment Co., an organic farm and restaurant, and a land modification project. In Beijing, they met with the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Commerce and with academics to enhance their understanding on US-China relations. They also visited Sina.com, which offers a microblogging service called Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter. A major topic of discussion was Sina’s censorship of microblogs that questioned the cause of a high-speed train accident last year. In Hong Kong, the Americans met with business leaders at the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing and the American Chamber of Commerce; and government officials including C.Y. Leung, governor of the Executive Council and candidate for Hong Kong’s next chief executive. Journalists attended a daylong dialogue at the Chinese University of Hong Kong that included discussions on media issues with Hong Kong journalists, students and faculty as well as presentations on Hong Kong-China relations.
For the first time the post-study tour dialogue between the US and Chinese Exchange participants was held in Beijing instead of the East-West Center. The daylong dialogue, hosted by the All-China Journalists Association, provided journalists an opportunity to share their travel experiences and the new perspectives they had gained on China and the US; to further discuss the China-US relationship and clear up remaining questions and concerns they had; to share media challenges faced in their countries; and to brainstorm on ways to improve coverage of China-US issues. Overall, both US and Chinese participants commented in their evaluations that the Exchange was very valuable and had enhanced their ability to provide thoughtful coverage and analysis on issues of concern to the US and China.
The 2011 China-United States Journalists Exchange Participants:
American Fellows:
- Mr. Rob BALLENGER, Swing Editor/Producer, National Public Radio, Washington, DCMs.
- Ms. Patrice HILL, Chief Economic Correspondent, Washington Times, Washington, DC
- Mr. Joe SCHATZ, Senior Writer, Congressional Quarterly, Washington, DC
- Mr. Kopin TAN, Senior Editor, Barron’s Magazine, New York, New York
- Mr. David WHITING, Page One Columnist, The Orange County Register, Santa Ana, California
- Mrs. Roya WOLVERSON, Senior Writer, Time Magazine, New York, New York
- Ms. Holly YEAGER, Middle East and Asia Editor, The Washington Post, Washington, DC
Chinese Fellows:
- Mr. CAO Huanrong, Senior Reporter/Director, News Coordination Department, People’s Daily, Beijing
- Mr. CHEN Zhonghua, Reporter, Dazhong Daily, Jinan City, Shandong Province
- Ms. WANG Haiyong, Anchor, Qinghai Radio, Xining City, Qinghai Province
- Mr. XU Changan, Reporter/Chief, Tibet Bureau, China News Service, Beijing
- Mr. YU Jiayou, Reporter, Zhejiang Daily Press Group, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province
- Mr. ZENG Qi, Editor/Deputy Director, Chinese Language Department, www.china.com.cn, Beijing
- Ms. ZHENG Xuejun, Edior/Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Wenzhou Evening, Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province
For more information, please contact:
Marilyn Li
Program Coordinator, East-West Seminars
East-West Center
1601 East-West Road
Honolulu, HI 96848, USA
Phone: 808-944-7682; Fax: 808-944-7600
Email: journalismfellowship@EastWestCenter.org