Yawei Liu,
China Program, the Carter Center, representing Chinese Historians in the United States (CHUS)

Five scholarly organizations of China studies based in the United States have formed an alliance, United Societies of China Studies (USCS). The five participating organizations are: Association of Chinese Political Studies (ACPS); Association of Chinese Professors in Social Sciences (ACPSS); Chinese Communication Association (CCA); Chinese Historians in the United States (CHUS); and Global Forum of Chinese Political Scientists (GFCPS).

In addition, five scholarly institutions have joined the alliance as affiliated institutions: the Center for Asian Studies, American University; the Center for International Strategic Studies, Peking University, China Program, the Carter Center; the Center for Asian Democracy, University of Louisville, and the School of International Studies, Renmin University of China.

This is the first time in history that a large number of Western based scholarly organizations of China studies with different disciplinary focuses form an alliance. The majority of the members of these organizations have backgrounds in communications, history, political science and sociology. The organization principles of USCS resemble that of the United Nations in the sense that while they collaborate with each other in scholarly activities, the participating organizations enjoy sovereignty, equal rights and equal privileges.

The mission of USCS is primarily that of promoting academic information sharing, consultation, and possible coordinated projects of China studies among the member organizations in the United States as well as in the rest of the world, especially in the “Greater China” area.

The preliminary meeting to form the alliance was held in Louisville, Kentucky, the United States, on March 31, 2006. At the meeting, the first draft of the Agreement was drastically revised. The document was then circulated among these organizations for discussions. Now, the Agreement has been agreed upon by these organizations and institutions, the representatives of the five organizations have been selected, USCS has been registered as a non-profit organization in Kentucky, and the USCS Council has been formed.