Description

Recommendation of a grant of $100,000 to the Asia Society for the Working Group on China
The Working Group on China, established in 2021, is a group of approximately 30 scholars, policy analysts, journalists, and representatives from NGOs. Similar in spirit to the China Funders Group, it has served as a forum for sharing information and ideas, and for building a support network in the midst of increased tensions in U.S.-China relations and restrictions on exchange. To date, its activity has been informal, comprised of periodic, virtual discussions. The Working Group seeks support for a more formalized agenda of discussions over the next year, to address the question of how U.S.-China competition is affecting the production of high-quality research, reporting and analysis on China. We see value in the cross-sectoral approach to information sharing and problem solving. The grant would support in-person meetings in New York (hosted at Pocantico) and in Washington, DC (hosted by the Wilson Center), with recommendations for how to respond to challenges as one deliverable. The grant would be coordinated through Asia Society’s Center for China Analysis, with additional leadership from China experts at the University of Pennsylvania and the Wilson Center. Platforms for promulgation include a podcast by project co-organizer Neysun Mahboubi (Penn) and ChinaFile (co-organizer Susie Jakes is editor-in-chief). This project would complement other Luce-supported efforts such as the Luce/ACLS Program in China Studies and CSIS conferences on US-China scholarly exchange.