Statement on the Center on U.S.-China Relations’ Commitment to Open Exchange of Ideas

We do not yet know all of the details about what occurred, but over the past 24 hours we have been dismayed to read news stories reporting that the Asia Society in Hong Kong barred democracy activist Joshua Wong from speaking at an event to launch a book about Hong Kong to which he had contributed. We hosted an excellent discussion with Mr. Wong in New York this spring, and we look forward to inviting him back. Whatever we may learn about what happened, we want to reiterate the principles by which the Center on U.S.-China Relations operates. Throughout our 10-year history we have always been, and we remain firmly committed to, an open exchange of ideas of all kinds. Our commitment to open and free expression is essential to all of our work. As our founding mission statement pledges, we seek mutual understanding between the U.S. and China by “undertaking projects and events which explore areas of common interest and divergent views.” We intend to continue to uphold these principles in our research, reports, and public programming, and in the editing of ChinaFile and our other publications.

—The Center on U.S.-China Relations, July 6, 2017