CHINA SPECIALIST HARRY HARDING JOINS ASIA SOCIETY AS A VISITING FELLOW

New York, March 2, 2007 – The Asia Society announced today that Harry Harding, one of America's leading China specialists, has joined the newly established Asia Society Center on U.S.-China Relations as a Visiting Fellow. Inaugurated in January, the Center on U.S.-China Relations was established with a generous gift from Honorary Life Trustee Arthur Ross.

"There are few people with as much experience, insight and respect in the field of Sino-US affairs as Professor Harry Harding," said Orville Schell, the Arthur Ross Director of the Center. "We are enormously enthusiastic about what he will be able to contribute to the Center’s important work."

Harding’s areas of special interest and expertise include Chinese domestic politics, Chinese foreign policy, U.S.-China relations and intra-Asian relations. Harding is the author of numerous articles and books, including: The India-China Relationship: What the United States Needs to Know (co-edited with Francine Frankel; a publication of Asia Society and the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Studies; 2004) and A Fragile Relationship: The United States and China Since 1972 (1992).

Dr. Harding served as Dean of George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs from 1995 to 2005, and is now University Professor of International Affairs there. In 2005, he took leave from the university to serve as first as Director of Research and Analysis and now Counselor, at the Eurasia Group, a political risk research and consulting firm headquartered in New York. He was a Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy Studies Program at The Brookings Institution (1983-84) and served on the faculties of Stanford University (1971-83) and Swarthmore College (1970-71). Harding received his B.A. in public and international affairs from Princeton, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from Stanford.

As a Visiting Fellow at Asia Society, he will split his time between the Society’s offices in New York and Washington, D.C.

About Asia Society and its Center on U.S.-China Relations

The Asia Society Center on U.S.-China Relations was established to meet the growing need for a deeper understanding of and public dialogue strengthening U.S.-China relations. The Center will conduct original research and educate the American and international public on U.S.-China-related issues, commenting on and distributing timely information on current events and key topics. It will also engage key Chinese and American leaders in critical dialogue. It will be based in New York and work closely with Asia Society Centers around the world.

Asia Society is the leading global organization working to strengthen relationships and promote understanding among the people, leaders, and institutions of Asia and the United States. We seek to enhance dialogue, encourage creative expression, and generate new ideas across the fields of policy, business, education, arts, and culture.

Founded in 1956 by John D. Rockefeller 3rd, Asia Society is a nonpartisan, nonprofit educational institution with offices in Hong Kong, Houston, Los Angeles, Manila, Melbourne, Mumbai, New York, San Francisco, Shanghai, and Washington, D.C.

Contact: Deanna Lee or Elaine Merguerian at (212) 327-9313

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