Greg Gilligan, Chairman of AmCham China, shared a message with members on vaccinations for foreign nationals in China.
With featured stories on Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and more, the theme running throughout the upcoming edition of the AmCham China Quarterly magazine (which will be out next week) is all things related to vaccinations, a topic that will continue to be central to many of you throughout 2021.
From the launch of our informational Vaccine and Travel Portal on our website, to the regular standing calls we have held to update our members on the latest developments, we have worked hard to advocate to both sides a vaccine policy that supports the loosening of travel restrictions for our membership.
This month, we have arranged for free vaccinations for all foreign nationals in our Beijing community by holding a number of AmCham China Vaccinations Days at United Family Healthcare locations in the capital and will also look to roll this out in other locations as we support our Chapters around the country.
Behind all of this lies a backdrop of significant tensions in the US-China relationship, some of which are clearly here for the foreseeable future. We need to accept and work within this reality, while we continue to advocate for commerce as the foundation of what hopefully is a better, broader US-China relationship.
It is no longer realistic to simply call for there to be no decoupling. We recognize that decoupling is going to happen either to us or with us, and we realize that being an engaged participant in this inevitable process is the best course of action, as we aim to keep the boundaries of decoupling as appropriately narrow as possible.
As such, we need our membership – with the chairs of all our Forums and Committees leading the way – to dig deep within their respective sectors, and to come up with concrete plans and suggestions that we can take to both governments in our efforts to minimize the effects of decoupling. Unless we are specific and actionable in our recommendations, we won’t have the influence we need or get the results we desire.
As I write this, China and the US are marking the 50th anniversary of the legendary Ping Pong Diplomacy event, which led to President Nixon’s visit to China a year later, and, eventually, to the normalization of relations between our two countries. None of our member companies would be here in China today if not for that magic moment of bilateral diplomacy 50 years ago. Prior to 1971, the US-China relationship did not even exist to all intents and purposes, proving that, for all the obstacles we face today, we have endured worse times in our shared history.
We will continue to work hard on behalf of our member companies, advocating to both governments on the issues of greatest importance. Our focus remains not just on the issues of today, but on laying the foundations for the next 100 years.
Click the video below to see the Chairman’s remarks on the 50th anniversary of Ping Pong Diplomacy: