US-China Mutual Trust Committee

Case Studies That Build Mutual Trust

Introduction

Numerous past practices built on collaboration and trust have proven to be mutually beneficial. For example, Collaboration among international scientists and politicians was highlighted by shared leadership in drafting the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Although the United States chose to exit this accord in 2020 and again in 2026, nearly 200 member parties continue to operate within this overarching global framework.

Former President Obama’s eleven encounters with President Xi led to an increase in student and tourism exchanges, mutual trust, and actions to support trade. In the private sector, Ecolab reported very positive outcomes from their participation in the 2010 Shanghai Expo. The University of Minnesota’s China Center, which came into being by hosting student exchanges with China, then expanded into hosting business delegations from all across China.

More recent years have witnessed positive developments and exciting projects including:

UMN OLLI Course 2026

Based on the positive reception of their 2024 presentation, Rob Scarlett and Larry Walker offered this inspiring view of US-China collaboration on some of the most important issues facing our world today:

UMN OLLI Course 2024

Larry Walker and Rob Scarlett, members of our US-China Mutual Trust Committee, offered a course at the UMN LifeLong Learning that described Socialism with Chinese Characteristics. Here is information Rob presented…

UMN Opera Theatre Premieres Chamber Version of Dream of the Red Chamber 2024

Grand and sumptuous as the San Francisco Opera’s world premiere production of Dream of the Red Chamber was, a sobering reality soon became apparent to the Chinese Heritage Foundation that this was a production that would be beyond the reach of most mid-seized opera companies or universities/music conservatories everywhere…

The Monkey King

Encouraged and moved by the success of Dream of the Red Chamber, for their 2025-26 season the San Francisco Opera created another new opera based on another famous and beloved Chinese novel, Journey to the West: The Monkey King (猴王悟空). Again, the Chinese Heritage Foundation of Minnesota underwrote the commissioning fees for both composer Huang Ruo and librettist David Henry Hwang.

A Passage to China

In 2008, the Chinese Heritage Foundation (CHF) of MN, developed the idea of a festival, titled A Passage to China, to consist of interactive booths at which attendees would be introduced to different aspects of Chinese culture, ranging from paper folding to Chinese calligraphy to mask making. Anchoring these booths would be the more than fifty Chinese cultural organizations in the Twin Cities. In order to draw an audience that would not normally attend specific Chinese events, CHF would take this event to them at a space already familiar to them and one that they frequently visit: a shopping mall. This would achieve the Foundation’s mission to promote mutual understanding between the Chinese community and the Twin Cities community at large.