Elizabeth Vélez and I accompanied a Plowshares traveling seminar of 23 persons to Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing and Nanjing following the week in Indonesia. The seminar was sponsored in collaboration with Columbia Theological Seminary and Hartford Seminary. The group met with many of our partners in China who provided an overview of critical issues in Chinese–American relations, with the Church in China providing a window onto Chinese society. With China as one of the primary foci of Plowshares work over the next three years, the seminar provided an opportunity to introduce participants to the Chinese reality as well as to continue to build relationships with Chinese colleagues.  While in China I was able to meet with several key partners and confirm the next steps for mutual programs

In Beijing, we worked on future partnerships including a dialogue with the American Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.  The focus would be on dialogue between Chinese and American policy makers on critical issues of “misunderstanding and mistrust.”  These include the trade deficit, Taiwan, and perspectives on human rights. I was asked by the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs (SAFEA) to provide training in conflict transformation and leadership skills for middle and upper level government officials from a variety of ministries, from Foreign Affairs to Planning.  This invitation emerged from Chinese participants in courses I have led at the Sanford School for Public Policy at Duke University over the last two years.  A similar educational request came from the Religious Studies Institute of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences to provide workshops in conflict transformation for representatives of the religious community and for social workers who are facing an increasing number of social conflicts that require a more creative and proactive approaches.  We will keep you posted on the progress of these invitations.

During this time we also confirmed the second round of training in conflict transformation and mediation with the Jiangsu Academy of Social Sciences based in Nanjing. This training, currently projected for November 2006, will be provided for government officials, those already involved in mediation work, and representatives of non-profit organizations in Jiangsu Province, which is the most economically developed province in China.  This project is also supported by our partners at Civic Exchange in Hong Kong and contributes to our joint collaboration on the development of “core competencies” for leaders in Asian societies in transition.

Plowshares’ work in China with partners in Hong Kong, Nanjing, Beijing and Shanghai focus on the development of critical leadership skills in areas of public dialogue, expanding worldviews, and constructive intervention in conflicts in societies in transition.  Plowshares is pleased to have an opportunity to continue building partnerships in what many describe as the principal nation in the “Asia Century.”