On August 10 in Beijing The Truce Foundation of the USA, a non-profit organization incorporated in California, granted Open Fields Awards to China International Publishing Group (CIPG) and Yale University Press.

The two publishing houses were honored for their 18-year contribution to the Culture and Civilization of China (CCC) project.

Cai Mingzhao (left) and Juan Antonio Samaranch (right)

"They have overcome cultural, business, political, academic, linguistic, and other obstacles in the process of revealing the many pathways of Chinese civilization," the Foundation commented.

CCC is the largest joint project in publishing to date between China and the United States. A series of books, including Ancient Buildings of China, Chinese Sculpture and Chinese Calligraphy have been published under the aegis of the project.

Cai Mingzhao, President of CIPG, Huang Youyi, Deputy President of CIPG, and Richard Levin, President of Yale University attended the ceremony. About 125 participants, including senior leadership of the International Olympic Committee and the US Olympic Committee along with representatives from among the athletes, were present at the event.

The foundation makes awards to institutions and individuals who embody the Olympic spirit. Previous recipients include Kostas Karamanlis, the Prime Minister of Greece, George Papandreou, the former Foreign Minister of Greece, Mitt Romney, the Salt Lake City Games Executive Director and Peter Ueberroth, the US Olympic Committee Chairman.

In 1993, the United Nations General Assembly urged its Member States to observe the Olympic Truce. In 2007, the Assembly adopted a resolution on the Olympic Truce in preparation for the Olympic Games in Beijing.

(China.org.cn by Wu Jin August 11, 2008)