International Affairs

Since adopting a policy of "opening to the outside world," China has played an increasingly active role in international affairs. To help strengthen Chinese institutions responsible for research and policy analysis in international relations, the Foundation is supporting a program of international relations studies with the People's Republic. Participating institutions in China are: State Council Research Center on International Studies, CASS, Institute of International Studies, Beijing Institute of International Strategic Studies, Shanghai Institute of International Studies, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, and the departments of international politics at Fudan, Peking, and People's universities. A committee representing the three Chinese departments of international politics coordinates activities in China. On the U.S. side, the program is coordinated by a committee chaired by Professor Robert Scalapino of the University of California, Berkeley. The Institute of International Education in New York provides administrative support. Program activities include advanced training in the United States for Chinese scholars, short courses in China taught by American professors, study tours, conferences and meetings, and library development. The MacArthur, Rockefeller, and Luce foundations, and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, have joined Ford in support of this program.

The Foundation is also supporting scholarly training, research, and exchanges to enhance China's understanding of other parts of the world. These area studies are funded mainly through grants for training or research by individual Chinese researchers and for professional exchanges between geographic area specialists in China and their counterparts in other countries. Chinese area experts have received funds to spend periods of up to two years in the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Nepal, India, Egypt, Nigeria, Senegal, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Argentina, Brazil, the Caribbean, Chile, Peru, Mexico, Venezuela, the United States, and the United Kingdom.