Washington State China Relations Council
WSCRC Member Spencer Cohen, along with recent WSCRC webinar panelist Badri Narayanan. G., recently penned an editorial in the South China Morning Post. Titled New alliances, not tariffs, are key to US trade strategy on China, the op-ed calls for the U.S. to take a multi-lateral approach to solving trade problems with China. The authors argues that by building alliances and consensus among like-minded nations, the U.S. can rebuild and strengthen the rules of the road for China to observe.
J. Norwell Coquillard, Executive Director of the WSCRC, was recently quoted in an article by Northwest Asian Weekly entitled, “Biden and China: Guarded Optimism from Local Chinese Leaders.” Coquillard comments that the U.S. and the Biden Administration should work with our allies to “push China to play by established rules”. Ben Zhang, Founder and CEO of Greater Pacific Industries, also a member of the WSCRC, expressed similar hopes. With China’s increasing economic and military power, multilateralism is important for a mutually beneficial U.S.-China relationship and for U.S. companies doing business with China.
This year presented the Washington State China Relations Council (WSCRC) with distinct challenges. Covid-19 and probably the darkest period in the U.S.-China relationship since the opening of diplomatic relations in 1979 meant that we could not continue business as usual. With the onset of the pandemic, we had to pivot quickly to adapt to the new environment and to find ways to continue to honor our 41-year legacy and carry out our mission. Pandemic induced changes did however, provided us opportunities to work closely with many of our members and to forge new partnerships as we adapted to the world of Zoom. Although we were unable to meet with delegations from China or travel to China, we strived to maintain relationships on both sides of the Pacific.
In 2020, we hosted and partnered in 40 programs–webinars, and delegations–among which all the programs held since mid-March (35) were virtual due to the outbreak of the coronavirus. These high impact programs helped our community gain new insight into key U.S.-China related issues, as well as best practices and lessons learned from fighting Covid-19 from both China and our members. We also established a sister organization, the Washington State China Relations Fund (WSCRF), to support the Council’s educational and cultural programs, and to provide support to the local Chinese community and local governments.
This year in review provides a summary of our work carried out in 2020, along with membership and leadership updates.
Click here to read the full report.
The Washington State China Relations Council welcomed ten new members in 2020, several who are highlighted below. 2020 created a number of new challenges for our organization and we are particularly fortunate to receive support from our members, old and new, to carry on our 41-year legacy and important work.
Visit Seattle is a priva
te, nonprofit marketing organization serving as Seattle and King County’s official destination marketing organization (DMO) for more than 50 years. Through their efforts, they work to enhance the employment opportunities and economic prosperity of the region.
Inspur is a leading data center and cloud computing solutions provider. Through engineering and innovation, Inspur aspires to deliver robust, performance-optimized, purpose-built solutions to address emerging technology arenas and challenges.
Himalaya Capital is an investment management company founded in 1997. The company embraces the value investment principles of Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffett, and Charles Munger, and primarily focuses on investment opportunities in Asia and North America, both in publicly traded securities and privately held companies. They aim to achieve superior returns by investing in companies with substantial “economic moat” and great growth potential for the long term.
Banner Bank is a Washington-charted commercial bank headquartered in Walla Walla, Washington. For over 130 years, the bank has been proud to serve the West with comprehensive financial services with core values that never go out of style: listen, learn, and help people and businesses reach their goals. Today—at over 200 locations across Oregon, Washington, California, and Idaho—Banner Bank delivers a high level of individual service as a community bank, while also offering competitive products some might expect to find only at a nationwide financial institution. Banner Bank is a member of the FDIC.
Michele is a Global Real Estate Advisor of Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty in Seattle. Michele represents clients with downtown luxury condos, East Side estates, valuable land investments and commercial properties. Trilingual in both Cantonese and Mandarin, utilizes her knowledge of the Seattle real estate market to get her clients the best deal while understanding the emotional and financial demands of any transaction, evidenced with multi-million dollars in closed sales. Michele enjoys traveling and cooking with her husband, Bryan Brzeg and long walks with their micro poodle, Truffle.
Daniel has worked as a tax advisor and accountant since 2011. He focuses on international tax and tax planning for cross-border activity. Daniel lives in the Seattle area, and in his spare time enjoys taking his two children on bike rides.
Ruidong is currently a product manager at the local tech startup Wyze Labs, working on a new home monitoring experience that leverages modern IoT and cloud capabilities. Before studying at the University of Washington, he served at design consultancies and a successful startup in China on various tech products, from music streaming service to car infotainment systems.
Jeanne first went to China in 1980, spending a year teaching English in Shenyang. Before founding an import distribution business which she ran for 20 years, she was China Trade Specialist and Trade Director with the State of Washington. Jeanne is currently a principal in Two Rivers Manufacturing, an importer and distributor of motorcycle accessories.
In his new book The Myth of Chinese Capitalism, Dexter Tiff Roberts describes how surging income inequality, an unfair social welfare system, and rising social tensions block China’s continued economic rise with implications for companies and countries around the world. He discusses how China is struggling to leave behind its “Factory to the World” growth model, and include its hundreds of millions of left-behind migrant workers into a more innovative, consumption-driven economy. He also talks about how these internal challenges will likely lead to an even more troubled relationship between China, the U.S., and the world.
Book talk recording can be viewed here.