2nd China-America Student Conference (2022)

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The 2nd China-America Student Conference

The China-America Student Conference (ChASC) is an academic and cultural interchange program that brings together an equal number of students representing the United States of America and China for off-the-record discussions on the future of the bilateral relationship. The program is student-run and student-led, allowing for full and frank conversations to occur between emerging young leaders from both countries. Over the course of this intensive and immersive exercise in people-to-people diplomacy, participants form powerful friendships that will go on to serve as bridges across the Pacific for generations to come. ChASC aims to instill in participants a lifelong dedication to the pursuit of peace, openness, and regional stability. 

The Executive Committee members (ECs), student leaders who were elected by their peers from the first ChASC to plan and facilitate the second annual conference, selected the two-part theme “和而不同： Differences are not intended to separate, to alienate. We are different precisely in order to realize our need of one another.” The theme respectively quotes the Analects of Confucius and South African anti-apartheid and human rights activist Desmond Tutu. Combined with the 2022 logo design, which featured the Chinese and American flags as interlocking puzzle pieces, the theme symbolized individual existence—as nations and global citizens—as a part of a whole. From July 29th to August 9th, 2022 (US Eastern time), eight online participants and four in person participants gathered together on Zoom and in San Francisco and Berkeley, California for 13 days, taking part in programs that brought the delegates together and opened doors to a new and in-depth realm of academic and cultural perspectives on US-China relations and the importance of diplomacy.

With the rapidly changing environment created by the COVID-19 Pandemic and interest from the delegates in an online option, the 2nd ChASC Executive Committee members (ECs) planned a hybrid experience with both in person and virtual formats. The in person attendees joined their virtual counterparts each evening after in person programming. Two Executive Committee members joined two delegates for the two-week conference in person in San Francisco and Berkeley, CA while the remaining delegates and Executive Committee members participated in virtual programming. To accommodate delegates in various time zones, most conference days consisted of morning and afternoon in-person activities with online sessions held on Zoom for three to six hours each evening. The full ChASC 2 handbook with information about speakers and activities is available here.

In-person programming mainly centered around cultural exchange activities and delegate bonding. Much of the time was spent exploring culturally significant sites and locations in the Bay Area, as well as visiting educational exhibits that could lead to a deeper understanding of bilateral relations on a person-to-person level, such as the Asian Art Museum,Asian Cultural Center, Chinatown, and the Chinese Historical Society. Delegates visited the Guo Pei: Couture Fantasy exhibition at the Legion of Honor Museum in San Francisco, either in-person or through virtual tours. The exhibition celebrates Guo Pei through the display of over 80 works from her Beijing and Paris runway collections in the last two decades, and holds unprecedented success as the most highly attended fashion exhibition at the Legion of Honor since 2011. ChASC also included “The Action Program,” where ChASC delegates visited Alemany Farm, the largest agricultural site in San Francisco, where they learned about where their food comes from and helped out working on the farm.

Virtual programming included professional panel and lecture events held by experts from various academic fields. Most days included pre- or post-speaker discussions where delegates and Executive Committee members shared their perspectives on the day’s programming. While all speakers were exceptional, one highlight of the virtual programming was a Keynote by Matthew Chitwood who shared stories from his fifteen years in China, focusing on two years spent on a reporting fellowship with the Institute of Current World Affairs in Bangdong, a remote village of 350 tea farmers in Yunnan. From this talk, delegates gleaned crucial insight into the specific nuances and anthropological factors that fuel economics, politics, and rural development in China. Other speakers included Zijie Liu Louis on Multilateralism across the China and US Regions, Takeshi Daimon-Sato on the Trajectory of the Abe Doctrine and its Legacy, Richard Ren on Connecting Chinese-American Communities through the All America Chinese Youth Federation, and Peter Chan on Being an International Bridge: The Case of Helen Foster Snow.

Each year, the Executive Committee selects Roundtable (RT) themes which inform the topics of guest lectures and discussions. These topics are then referenced in a final research project created by each group or individual that is presented at the end of the conference. The topics chosen for the 2nd ChASC were: 

• Finance, economics, and fiscal reform
• Minorities and the legal system, the mixed-race Chinese experience, BLM, and AAPI hate
• Media, documentary-making, the LGBTQIA+ experience, and community
• Tech policy, privacy, journalism, and human rights
• Healthcare, wellness, COVID-19, and Chinese medicine
• Chinese history from Qing Dynasty to Present
• American and Chinese diplomacy
• Religion and faith in China and America
• Tech incubation, business, and corporate strategy in China and America

Throughout the conference, delegates worked together on research projects covering these themes and then shared them with each other at the end of the conference at the Final Forum. The projects serve as deliverables at the end of the conference synthesizing the programming delegates engaged with throughout the duration of the conference and allowing them to go deeper into key issues from their RT topic. 

Over the course of the conference, the ChASC participants attended academic and cultural programming, dove into key topics facing bilateral relations, conducted peer-reviewed research, and learned about each other’s countries on a people-to-people level. The hybrid format of ChASC 2 provided flexibility so that a variety of speakers from different locations could join the conference and present on a variety of topics. For the delegates, the opportunity to examine various contemporary socio-political issues through the lens of the US-China relationship, engage with distinguished speakers, and participate in cultural field trips while working toward the overarching goal of building trust and fostering international peace during their lifetimes was invaluable to their growth as the next generation of US-China leaders. By the end of this intensive program, the participants gained confidence, insights, and experiences that leave them prepared to join the ranks of the motivated problem-solvers and policy visionaries dedicated to realizing a bright future for the U.S.-China relationship in an increasingly globalized and interconnected society.

The 2nd China-America Student Conference Delegation