About The Burlingamers
Our Mission Is To
Build and sustain a mutually beneficial relationship between East and West.
Who Are We
A group of rising leaders who have cross border insights and are passionate about building a better future between East and West.
What We Do?
We meet regularly where our members present their original works, which could be a startup idea, an investment pitch, a social enterprise, an art piece, a film or a book. On select occasions, we also host influential leaders in business, government and non-profit as guest speakers. Our discussion format draws inspirations from Oxford's Inklings.
Our Inspiration
Anson Burlingame (1820 – 1870)
was an American lawyer, Republican/American Party legislator, diplomat, and abolitionist. Appointed by Abraham Lincoln, Burlingame served as the U.S. minister to China (1862-1867) and then as China’s envoy to the U.S., which resulted in the 1868 landmark Burlingame Treaty.
Burlingame worked for a cooperative policy rather than the imperialistic policies of his European peers which had been used during the First and Second Opium Wars and developed relations with the Chinese imperial court.
The success of this diplomacy was not lost on Qing dynasty court officials. In 1867, when he was set to retire from the U.S. government, the Chinese government appointed Burlingame to head a Chinese diplomatic mission to the United States and the principal European nations.
In July, 1868 the mission concluded in Washington, D.C. with the Burlingame Treaty. The treaty provided that Chinese subjects in the United States should enjoy the same rights as citizens of the most favored nation. Burlingame worked successfully to include a clause permitting Chinese to become citizens, which was barred by American law. This treaty was the first equal treaty between China and a western power after the Opium War.
Don't we need more Burlingames today?
Burlingame, California; Burlingame, Kansas; and Anson, Wisconsin are all named after Anson Burlingame. The ranch which Burlingame purchased in San Mateo on the San Francisco Bay retained his name.
Read more about Burlingame here.
(Picture from Wikipedia)