PBEC: International Secretariat: News: Foreign Press Center

PACIFIC BASIN ECONOMIC COUNCIL
MAIN PAGE | INTERNATIONAL SECRETARIAT | NEWS | FOREIGN PRESS CENTER

The Foreign Press Center, part of the U.S. Department of State, in cooperation with the East-West Center, recently lead a press tour to Oahu, entitled "Hawaii: Bridge Between the U.S. and the Asia-Pacific Region." Mr. Stephen Olson, Acting President of PBEC met with seven international journalists during their visit to Honolulu to discuss some of the most pressing issues facing the region.

Among the topics discussed were the resulting economic implications of China's ascension into the WTO and the opportunities and challenges, anti-corruption initiatives in the Asia-Pacific region (including PBEC's involvement with the ADB/OECD Anti-corruption Initiative), the anti-globalization movement, as well as a survey of PBEC economies.

The mission of the Foreign Press Center is to provide foreign-based journalists with a variety of resources to help them accurately report on culture, society, and politics to support U.S. policies and priorities. By providing access to authoritative information sources, such as PBEC officials, the FPC seeks to promote depth, accuracy, and balance in reporting from the U.S.

The tour was arranged in cooperation with the East-West Center (link), which has a long history of collaboration with PBEC. The US Congress established the center in 1960 to encourage better understanding and relations between the nations of the Asia-Pacific region and the US. In addition to visiting the East-West Center and PBEC, the journalists also visited the Center for Strategic and International Studies- Pacific Forum and the Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies.

The journalists that participated in the visit were:

Ignaz Staub, Tages Anzeiger (Switzerland); Ping Liu, China Times (Chinese Taipei); Tsung-chih Chang, United Daily News (Chinese Taipei); Mike O'Sullivan, Voice of America (US); Gianna Pontecorboli, Sviluppo Quotidianni (Italy); Nike Cai-chih Chang, Broadcasting Corporation of China (Chinese Taipei); and Betty Lin, World Journal (Chinese Taipei).