BEIJING, May 17 -- As more and more Chinese
Americans enter American mainstream society, the Committee of 100 will play a
more constructive role in furthering the US-China relations, said John S. Chen,
the committee's new chairman, on Thursday.
The Committee of 100 is a group of prominent
Americans of Chinese origin.
It was founded in 1990 and now has a number of more
than 150 members.
Chen, chairman, CEO and President of Sybase, Inc.,
was elected chairman earlier this month.
Chen said some committee members have entered the US
administration, like Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and Secretary of Energy
Steven Zhu.
SOUNDBITE: John S. Chen, chairman of Committee of 100
"As the US relationship with China develops, there will be time because of
background, history, ideology, philosophy, needs, they will be friend for a
while and they will have some hard times going through. And we want to make sure
there is a communication platform of understanding each other. Our model has
always been, let's see, seeking common ground and respect differences. So we
know there are differences that need we to respect, we need to find common
background between US and Chinese, not only government to government, but also
people to people."
According to Chen, another key mission of the
committee is to change to the old image of Chinese Americans in America.
Many Chinese have worked hard and contributed a lot
to American social development. But they don't get enough approval from
mainstream media, said Chen.
As their economic conditions and education improve,
their enthusiasm for taking part in politics and willingness to integrate
themselves with mainstream society have improved too.
SOUNDBITE: John S. Chen, Committee of 100 chairman
"Raising knowledge and understanding is what we could do to change our image.
It's gonna take a little bit of time. President Obama has done a great thing,
he's really done a great thing. He has a very high-profile job and has appointed
Chinese American to do it. That recognized the fact that 'hey, these Chinese
Americans not only mind their own business but also want to support society."
Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from New
York
(Source: XHTV)
