Committee of 100 (United States)

Committee of 100
百人会
Formation1990 (1990)
Type501(c)(3) organization
13-3627542
Headquarters28 West 44th Street, Suite 1014, New York, NY 10036
Websitewww.committee100.org Edit this at Wikidata
Committee of 100
Traditional Chinese百人會
Simplified Chinese百人会
Literal meaninghundred-person association
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinBǎi rén huì
Gwoyeu RomatzyhBae ren huey
Wade–GilesPai3 jen2 hui4
Tongyong PinyinBǎi rén huèi
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationBai3 ren2 hwei4
JyutpingBaak3 jan4 wui4
Southern Min
Hokkien POJPah-lâng-hōe

The Committee of 100 is a 501(c)(3) organization of prominent Chinese Americans in business, government, academia and the arts whose stated aim is "to encourage constructive relations between the peoples of the United States and Greater China."[1] It was founded in 1990 by I. M. Pei.[2]

Its current chair is Gary Locke, former U.S. Ambassador to China, the 36th Secretary of Commerce, and former Governor of Washington State (1997–2005).[3]

History

The Committee of 100 was established in 1990 following the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, led to international condemnation of China's actions and a deterioration in U.S.-China relations.[4] Upon hearing about the massacre, Founder I.M. Pei wrote an opinion piece for The New York Times titled "China Won't Ever Be the Same", in which he expressed his "a desire to do something for [his] land of birth and heritage", referring to China.[5] With the encouragement of Henry Kissinger, Pei, along with other notable Asian American figures such as cellist Yo-Yo Ma and physicist Chien Shiung Wu, founded the committee in order to address relations between the people of the United States and China.[6]

The organization focuses on issues of importance to the Chinese American community and China-United States relations.[7]: 337–338  The committee additionally aims to serve as cultural ambassadors and to foster the exchange of ideas and various perspectives among its membership with those in the community and government.[8] Committee delegations have been invited to give briefings to top officials at the White House and Zhongnanhai.[2] More recently, the organization has been involved in highlighting the discrimination and racial profiling faced by the Asian American population, most notably during the COVID-19 pandemic and the China Initiative.[9][10]

The committee has been described as avoiding criticism of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its policies.[11] A 2018 report by the Hoover Institution and a 2020 Newsweek report noted that committee members have been targets of the CCP's United Front Work Department pressure and influence operations.[12][13] In 2024, the committee was one of several organizations that opposed the reauthorization of the United States House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party.[14]

Past chairs for the Committee of 100 have included Henry S. Tang, John S. Chen, Frank H. Wu, and H. Roger Wang.[15] In 2024, the organization reported revenue of US$3.3 million.[16]

Advocacy

Wen Ho Lee case

When Taiwanese-born nuclear physicist Wen Ho Lee was arrested and held in solitary confinement due to allegedly revealing nuclear secrets to China, the Committee of 100, along with other Asian American organizations raised national awareness about Lee's alleged denial of due process and discrimination based on race.[17][18] The Committee of 100 was part of the Coalition Against Racial and Ethnic Scapegoating, which wrote an amicus curiae brief to support Lee's argument of being persecuted based on race.[19] Scholars note that the Committee of 100 played a central role in highlighting the racial profiling experienced by Wen Ho Lee, although the organization did not initially explicitly support Lee's innocence.[20]

China Initiative

The Committee of 100 criticized the Department of Justice's China Initiative, which was launched in 2018 to counter foregin economic espionage. The Committee presented research arguing that the initiative disproportionately targeted Chinese researchers and condemned the racial profiling occurring due to the initiative.[21] In February 2022, the Committee formally issued a statement calling on the Department of Justice to end the China Initiative.[22] Later that month, the DOJ announced that they would re-examine the initiative, and later ended it.[23] In February 2024, the FBI addressed the Committee of 100, issusing a statement of apology for the negative impact of the China Initiative on the Asian American community.[24]

Research on discrimination

The Committee of 100 has published various studies examining the discrimination and racial profiling experienced by Asian Americans. Topics vary from discussing racial disparities in the Economic Espionage Act prosecutions to the surge in anti-Chinese racism experienced by Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic, co-authored with Columbia University researchers.[25][26]

See also

  • US-China Business Council

References

  1. ^ Didi Kirsten Tatlow (March 21, 2013). "As Hacking Continues, Concerns Grow That Chinese-Americans May Suffer". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 8, 2015. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  2. ^ a b Qidong Zhang (April 25, 2014). "C-100 strengthens US-China relations". China Daily. Archived from the original on May 27, 2019. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
  3. ^ Hua, Xia (January 17, 2021). "Gary Locke elected to Chair Committee of 100". Xinhua News Agency. Archived from the original on September 3, 2023. Retrieved September 3, 2023.
  4. ^ "About us". Committee of 100. Retrieved March 29, 2026.
  5. ^ Pei, I. M. (June 22, 1989). "Opinion | China Won't Ever Be the Same". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 29, 2026.
  6. ^ "基辛格博士榮膺百人會首屆貝聿銘獎" [Dr. Kissinger Receives the Committee of 100’s Inaugural I.M. Pei Award]. Sing Tao (in Chinese). April 26, 2022. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  7. ^ Lampton, David M. (2024). Living U.S.-China Relations: From Cold War to Cold War. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-5381-8725-8.
  8. ^ Freedman, Amy L. (2000). Political Participation and Ethnic Minorities: Chinese Overseas in Malaysia, Indonesia, and the United States. Psychology Press. p. 134. ISBN 9781135960551. Archived from the original on August 24, 2020. Retrieved April 18, 2017.
  9. ^ Contreras, Russell (May 1, 2023). "Survey: Nearly 75% of Chinese Americans report discrimination in past year". Axios. Retrieved March 29, 2026.
  10. ^ "Axed China Initiative's racial profiling legacy haunts scientists in US". South China Morning Post. July 21, 2023. Retrieved March 29, 2026.
  11. ^ Simon, Mark (May 1, 2019). "How the 'Committee of 100' is doing Beijing's bidding in the US". Hong Kong Free Press. Archived from the original on May 1, 2019. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
  12. ^ Diamond, Larry, ed. (November 29, 2018). "China's Influence & American Interests: Promoting Constructive Vigilance" (PDF). Hoover Institution. p. 226. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 16, 2019. Retrieved June 24, 2019.
  13. ^ Tatlow, Didi Kirsten (October 26, 2020). "Exclusive: 600 U.S. Groups Linked to Chinese Communist Party Influence Effort with Ambition Beyond Election". Newsweek. Archived from the original on November 21, 2020. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  14. ^ "Letter: In Opposition of the Reauthorization of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party". Asian Americans Advancing Justice. December 10, 2024. Archived from the original on December 13, 2024. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  15. ^ "Committee of 100 | Organization | C-SPAN.org". www.c-span.org. Retrieved March 29, 2026.
  16. ^ "Committee of 100 Inc - Nonprofit Explorer". ProPublica. May 9, 2013. Retrieved March 29, 2026.
  17. ^ Liu, Lowen (September 12, 2016). "Just the Wrong Amount of American". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved March 30, 2026.
  18. ^ Lawler, Andrew (September 15, 2000). "Relief, Rebukes Follow Agreement on Lee". Science. 289 (5486): 1851–1853. doi:10.1126/science.289.5486.1851. ISSN 0036-8075.
  19. ^ "Civil Rights Groups Support Dr. Wen Ho Lee Legal Defense; Seek Information on Anti-Asian Bias in Scientist's Prosecution". American Civil Liberties Union. Retrieved March 30, 2026.
  20. ^ "Oct 09, 2012 | Ethnicity and Security: The Wen Ho Lee Case – Science & Justice Research Center". scijust.ucsc.edu. Retrieved March 30, 2026.
  21. ^ "Two surveys document harmful impact of China Initiative on researchers". www.science.org. Retrieved March 30, 2026.
  22. ^ "Committee of 100 Calls for an End to the China Initiative". Committee of 100. Retrieved March 30, 2026.
  23. ^ Lucas, Ryan (February 23, 2022). "The Justice Department is ending its controversial China Initiative". NPR. Retrieved March 30, 2026.
  24. ^ "FBI 'did not intend negative impact' of prosecuting China-linked scientists". South China Morning Post. April 20, 2024. Retrieved March 30, 2026.
  25. ^ "Survey: 3 out of 4 Chinese-Americans Experience Racism | Columbia Magazine". magazine.columbia.edu. Retrieved March 30, 2026.
  26. ^ "Prosecuting Chinese "Spies": An Empirical Analysis of the Economic Espionage Act | Cardozo Law Review". cardozolawreview.com. Retrieved March 30, 2026.
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