First High-Level Chinese Religious Delegation to U.S. First row, from left: Elisabeth Schneier, RabbiYedidya Azrahian of the Sephardi Society of Manhattan, Bishop Fu Tieshan, President of the Chinese Patriotic Association and Deputy Head of the Chinese Catholic Bishops' College, Rabbi Schneier, Dr. Han Wenzao, President of the China Christian Council. Top row, from left: Mr. Sheng Hui, Vice President of Buddhist Association of China, Min Zhiting, President of the Taoist Association of China, Chen Guangyuan, President of the Islamic Association of China, Ye Xiaowen, Director General of the Chinese State Administration for Religious Affairs, Mr. Jia Muyang, Vice President, Buddhist Association of China, Ms.Cao Shengjie, Vice President of China Christian Council.

American Religious Leaders Delegation to China in 1998 From left: Dr. Don Argue, former President of the National Association of Evangelicals, Rabbi Arthur Schneier, President Jiang Zemin, Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, Archbishop of Washington (then Archbishop of Newark, N.J.).

• Sponsored the first inter-faith delegation to the People's Republic of China in 1981 and established exchange programs with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing. Since then, Appeal of Conscience Foundation delegations have met with government and religious leaders from the Buddhist, Catholic, Moslem, Protestant and Taoist communities in Beijing and Shanghai to strengthen mutual understanding and cooperation.
• The first group of high-ranking Chinese religious leaders came to Washington and New York and participated in an ACF Roundtable with American religious leaders in Washington. Rabbi Schneier welcomed the delegation, "as a reciprocal gesture for the Three U.S. Religious Leaders Delegation in 1998 and hope that they will have the opportunity to learn more about the American people, their religious institutions and their interests and concerns." (August 2000)
• Rabbi Schneier, newly-appointed Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick and Dr. Don Argue were selected by President Clinton and invited by President Jiang Zemin to travel to China for three-weeks as the Delegation of U.S. Religious Leaders to examine the life of religious communities in China. (1998)

Learn more about ACF's Global Reach