Former US diplomat Sarah Beran to oversee US-China relations group

Career US diplomat Sarah Beran has been named the next president of the National Committee on US-China Relations, the organization announced on Monday, following a series of recent high-level interactions between the world's two largest economies.

Beran will join the National Committee in October and succeed Stephen Orlins, the organization's longtime president, on Nov 10, according to a statement by its board of directors.

"I am honored to take on the leadership of an organization that has been at the center of the most consequential moments in the bilateral relationship for six decades," Beran said in the statement.

Beran has served in the US Foreign Service for 23 years, most recently as deputy chief of mission at the US Embassy in Beijing.

The National Committee said Beran brings extensive experience in US-China relations and bilateral negotiations, as well as a commitment to maintaining communication channels between the two countries.

In a keynote address at the Jimmy Carter Forum on US-China Relations in January, whose theme focused on women in US-China relations, Beran highlighted the role of women diplomats, scholars and policy experts in shaping bilateral ties.

She also recalled that her own engagement with China began with "sports diplomacy", when she traveled to the Pearl River Delta with a high school soccer team. She said the experience later led her to study Chinese, spend time in Beijing and eventually enter government service as a diplomat focused on China.

Beran said one lesson from recent years of US-China diplomacy was to "protect some level of exchange between the Chinese and American people", calling it "the real ballast in the long-term relationship".

Beran's selection came after a national search process led by a six-member search committee chaired by Charlene Barshefsky, chair of the board and former US trade representative. The organization said Beran was chosen from a pool of more than 150 experts considered during the search.

Barshefsky said Beran is "the right leader" to carry forward the organization's work and deepen communication at all levels of the US-China relationship.

Beran previously held several China and Asia focused roles at the US State Department, including assignments related to Indo-Pacific affairs, APEC, and Chinese and Mongolian affairs. Her overseas postings have included Beijing, Islamabad, Jerusalem and Quito, and she speaks Mandarin and Spanish, according to the organization.

Established in 1966, the National Committee on US-China Relations is a New York-based nonprofit organization focused on the bilateral relationship. Its programs include policy discussions, public education, delegation visits, professional exchanges and initiatives aimed at bringing together Americans and Chinese from different sectors.

minluzhang@chinadailyusa.com