[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 124 (Thursday, September 17, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S10531]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          U.S.-ASIA INSTITUTE

 Mr. INOUYE. Mr. President, the U.S.-Asia Institute, a non-
profit organization, recently completed its 40th Congressional Staff 
Delegation to China and Hong Kong in cooperation with the Chinese 
People's Institute of Foreign Affairs (CPIFA). I am pleased to bring 
this milestone to the attention of the Senate.
  The Institute's commitment to promoting friendship and understanding 
between countries in Asia and the U.S. government goes back almost 20 
years. Founded in 1979 by Esther Kee, Norman Lau Kee, and Joji 
Konoshima, the U.S.-Asia Institute has been steadily working to achieve 
its goal through international conferences, seminars, student exchange 
programs, and Congressional staff trips to Asia.
  Among its numerous activities in support of cultural understanding, 
the U.S.-Asia Institute's Congressional staff trip program to China and 
Hong Kong is unrivaled. Since its inception in 1985, the China program 
has hosted more than 320 Congressional staff members in numerous places 
throughout China--from Heihe in the North on the Russian border to 
Hainan in the South; from the dynamic coastal cities of Shanghai and 
Guangzhou to the remote city of Urumqi, an oasis on the ancient Silk 
Road; and to the capital, Beijing. Over 150 Congressional offices have 
benefited from the intense, hectic, fact finding programs that provide 
Congressional staff members a unique opportunity to observe this 
dynamic nation first-hand and to further their understanding of complex 
Sino-U.S. relations. This program has survived the sometimes tumultuous 
relationship between the two countries thanks to the steadfast 
commitment of the U.S.-Asia Institute and the CPIFA to promote dialog 
on issues of mutual interest to our two great nations.
  I congratulate the U.S.-Asia Institute and CPIFA for their remarkable 
achievements and hope their longstanding partnership will continue into 
the 21st century.

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