H.E. Joseph Biden
The White House
Washington, D.C.
The United States of America

H.E. President Xi Jinping
Zhongnanhai
Beijing
The People’s Republic of China

Dear President Biden and President Xi:

We are writing to encourage the leadership of both the United States and China to work together diligently to repair and stabilize the state of affairs between our two countries. We call for more robust dialogue now to alleviate the heightened temperature and better manage our many differences.

The U.S. and China stand at a pivotal moment in global history. As the world’s two largest economies, with the two most expansive strategic footprints, our bilateral relationship is the most important one in the world. Together, we share the great responsibility of preserving global peace and stability. Not only can we jointly maintain and promote peace, but our combined efforts can also achieve great strides in some of humanity’s most pressing challenges, from poverty mitigation and world hunger to climate change and human health. Pursuing a path to conflict is untenable and would likely lead to one of humankind’s most unfortunate chapters.

Our two countries have a long history of cooperation and common understanding. For the past fifty years, we have developed a dynamic trading partnership with hundreds of billions of dollars invested in each other’s economies. The recent, alarming deterioration in bilateral relations jeopardizes that rich, shared history. It is in the national interest of both countries to reestablish a constructive dialogue based on mutual respect and a genuine desire to heal the relationship with courage and wisdom.

The world is watching. The stakes could not be higher. We must move forward together with great urgency and purpose.

Sincerely,

Maurice R. Greenberg
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer,
C.V. Starr & Co., Inc.

Craig Allen
Ambassador (retired)

Max Baucus
Former U.S. Ambassador to China
Former U.S. Senator from Montana
Co-Founder, Max Baucus Institute,
University of Montana

William S. Cohen
Former U.S. Secretary of Defense
Former U.S. Senator from Maine

Cardinal Timothy Dolan
Archbishop of New York

William E. Ford III
Chairman & CEO,
General Atlantic, LP

Paul J. Fribourg
Chairman & CEO,
Continental Grain Company

Dr. John Hamre
President & CEO,
Langone Chair in American
Leadership, Center for Strategic
& International Studies

Carla Hills
Chair & CEO,
Hills & Company
Former U.S. Trade Representative

Robert D. Hormats
Former U.S. Under Secretary
of State for Economic Growth,
Energy and the Environment

Mickey Kantor
Former U.S. Secretary of Commerce
Former U.S. Trade Representative

Ken Langone
Chairman of the Board of Trustees,
NYU Langone Health
Co-Founder,
The Home Depot, Inc.

Noel V. Lateef
President & CEO,
Foreign Policy Association

Joe Lieberman
Former U.S. Senator from Connecticut
Former Democratic Candidate for
Vice President of the United States

Gary Locke
Former U.S. Ambassador to China
Former U.S. Secretary of Commerce
Former Governor of Washington State

Stephen A. Orlins
President,
National Committee
on U.S.-China Relations

George Pataki
53rd Governor of New York
Senior Counsel,
Norton Rose Fulbright

Dr. Adam Posen
President,
Peterson Institute for
International Economics

J. Stapleton Roy
Former U.S. Ambassador to China

Daniel Russel
Former U.S. Assistant Secretary of
State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
Vice President for International
Security and Diplomacy at the Asia
Society Policy Institute

Rabbi Arthur Schneier
President & Founder,
Appeal of Conscience Foundation
Senior Rabbi, Park East Synagogue

Jeffrey R. Shafer
Chairman of the Board of Trustees,
National Committee on American
Foreign Policy

Frances Townsend
Former Counterterrorism and
Homeland Security Advisor
to President George W. Bush

https://www.ncuscr.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Starr_WSJ_LetterToBidenXi-FinalVersion.pdf