Asia Society Awards Dinner Honors Shared Future Between Asia and America

By Michelle Phipps-Evans

The early June meetings between U.S. President Barack Obama and President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China became the main topic of conversation for many speakers during Asia Society’s Washington Awards Dinner on June 12.

The Asia Society is the leading educational organization dedicated to promoting mutual understanding and strengthening partnerships among peoples, leaders and institutions of Asia and the United States in a global context.

“When Americans and Asians come together, it [creates a synergy] to better solve problems,” said dinner chair, James E. Rogers, president and chief executive of Duke Energy. “Since 1956, Asia Society came up with this collaborative between America and Asia so we can work together to achieve more.” The sentiment reverberated throughout the night at the Four Seasons Hotel.

Ambassador Cui Tiankai of the People’s Republic of China accepted the Diplomatic Achievement Award on behalf of Zhang Yesui, the Executive Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, People’s Republic of China. He addressed President Obama and President Xi Jinping’s meeting during his acceptance speech.

“It was truly an historic meeting between our two leaders,” said Ambassador Cui, 61, who attended the meetings between June 7 and 8 at the Annenberg Retreat at Sunnylands in Rancho Mirage, Calif. “The two presidents spent over eight hours together and discussed a wide range of topics—domestic and foreign policies, difficulties faced, bilateral relations and regional and global issues. They didn’t shy away from the hard issues.”

To the ambassador, the most significant outcome was that the two countries—the largest developed country and the largest developing country—decided to “work together to build a new model between the two….against the backdrop of a rapidly changing international landscape.”

“We can’t afford to repeat old path,” Ambassador Cui added. “We need a new one of mutual respect and win-win cooperation.”

President Obama’s National Security Advisor Tom Donilon who was also at the meeting in California, received a Policy Achievement Award during the Asia Society dinner. Donilon described the Sunnylands meetings as “positive and constructive, wide-ranging and quite successful in achieving the goals…we set forth.”

“The future of Asia and the future of America are clearly linked,” said Donilon at the awards dinner. “America’s success in the 21st century is clearly tied to Asia’s success. It’s obvious that a robust and sustainable economic system is good for both countries.”

The final award, the Global Business Leadership Award, was given to Arne M. Sorenson, the president and chief executive of Marriott International, a Bethesda, Md.-based company that experienced dramatic growth in Asia with 159 new hotels under development there.

The Asia Society also welcomed and introduced its seventh president and chief executive, Josette Sheeran, who was previously the vice chair of the World Economic Forum.

“I am very honored to be selected to lead the premier institution connecting Asia to the world and the world to Asia,” said Sheeran upon her appointment May 21. “It will be a great privilege to play a central role in the explosion of exchanges between east and the west—in diplomacy, arts and culture, and in education.” In 2011, Forbes named her the world’s 30th most powerful woman.

Asia Society also announced that it will launch the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI), an independent, nonpartisan, global institute that will focus on tackling the critical political and economic issues facing Asia and the U.S in the 21st century, with an emphasis on the intersection of policy and business. It will be unveiled during the Asia Society New York awards dinner in October 2013.