100,000 Strong Foundation Seeks to Strengthen U.S.-China Ties

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton with American and Chinese students during her 2010 visit to Beijing.

Washington — Even in a world knit together by technological communication systems, nothing surpasses face-to-face contact, says Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, and those people-to-people ties are what the newly launched 100,000 Strong Foundation hopes to build between China and the United States through student exchanges.

First launched in May 2010 at the behest of President Obama, the goal of what was then known as the 100,000 Strong Initiative is to increase the number of American students studying in China to 100,000 by 2014. The State Department initiative received strong support from the Chinese government, which agreed to provide some scholarships to help American students study in China.

At a special event held at the State Department January 24, Clinton announced that the initiative had become the 100,000 Strong Foundation — a permanent, independent nonprofit organization “focused not only on our goal of 100,000 American students in China by 2014, but on continuing to strengthen the student exchanges for years to come.”

“We focused on student exchanges,” the secretary said at the January 24 event, “because we believe that the future is very clearly in the hands of the young people of both of our countries. And the more we can foster exchanges and understanding, mutual trust, the better off not only the relationship will be, but each of our countries individually.”

Country-to-country conversations have to extend beyond those between diplomats, journalists, and businesspeople, Clinton said. “We want to see Chinese youngsters here, American youngsters in China, and we want to see them breaking down the barriers that exist between any peoples from different cultures and experiences and histories and backgrounds.”

Clinton acknowledged that young people “are communicating with new tools of technology that were not even dreamt of a decade ago,” but she added, “We want to give them a chance to form ‘the real deal’ — getting to know each other, getting to understand each other” via in-person contact.

Chinese Ambassador to the United States Zhang Yesui called the 100,000 Strong Foundation a “smart investment in the future.”

“We really believe people-to-people exchange is one of the main pillars of U.S.-China relationships,” the ambassador said at the event. He noted that most of the 10,000 scholarships to be offered by China to American students have been awarded so far.

“When the young generation has opportunities to know their counterparts well, we will have a better future,” Zhang said. Improved mutual trust is necessary for building a solid foundation in the bilateral relations of both countries, he said.

Kurt Campbell, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, noted that strong support from China made the 100,000 Strong Foundation possible. He also said there is a “deep recognition that most American students only go to a few cities in China” and that the effort is now to help expand the experience of American students by sending more to visit areas in China that have fewer contacts with Americans.

According to figures provided by the State Department, 14,596 U.S. students were studying in China during the 2010–2011 academic year. Chinese student enrollment in U.S. schools numbered nearly 158,000 that year.

Seed money for the 100,000 Strong Foundation was provided by the Ford Foundation. Chinese corporate donors include the Bank of China and GlamourPin, a Web-based commerce platform for Chinese consumers, which pledged to support the 100,000 Strong Foundation by providing a royalty of 1 percent of all sales, according to a State Department website.

For more information, see the website for the 100,000 Strong Foundation and the State Department website for the 100,000 Strong Initiative.