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William Zheng

Sarah Beran, a former deputy chief of mission at the US embassy in Beijing, is set to succeed Stephen Orlins as president of the National Committee on United States-China Relations (NCUSCR), the South China Morning Post has learned.
Speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to comment publicly, the sources said Orlins, 76, president of the NCUSCR since 2005, would retire and play an advisory role after the transition.
The NCUSCR’s leadership has been notified of the leadership succession, which will happen in the next few weeks, according to a source.
“Sarah is a seasoned China hand,” a second source said.
“Her experience at the highest levels of [US] diplomacy and direct experience managing critical bilateral negotiations, crisis scenarios and regulatory frameworks make her a very suitable successor to Stephen.”
The NCUSCR has yet to respond to the SCMP’s emailed inquiries.


Founded in 1966, the NCUSCR is a prominent “track-two” non-profit organisation dedicated to Sino-US relations. It famously co-sponsored the historic “ping-pong diplomacy” Chinese table-tennis team tour of the United States in 1972.
Because Washington and Beijing had not yet established official diplomatic relations at the time, the State Department had to rely entirely on private resources for the tour.
The NCUSCR stepped in to fill the gap, securing the necessary funding and managing the tour’s complex logistics.
The New York-based group continued to expand its role in academic, educational, security, governance, civil society, economic and media exchanges.
On November 15, 2023, the NCUSCR and the US-China Business Council hosted a banquet of American business executives and others welcoming Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) leaders’ meeting in San Francisco.
Beran, a member of the NCUSCR, joined the consultancy firm Macro Advisory Partners in 2025, following a 23-year career in the US foreign service. She most recently served as charge d’affaires and deputy chief of mission at the US embassy in Beijing from January to March last year.
The career diplomat was the senior director for mainland China and Taiwan affairs at the White House National Security Council from 2022 to 2024 during the Joe Biden administration.
As the principal adviser to the president and national security adviser on China, Beran led inter-agency policy coordination on the expansion of technology export controls, investment screening, trade policy, counternarcotics, Russia sanctions and Taiwan contingency planning.
She also served as former US secretary of state Antony Blinken’s deputy executive secretary for the Indo-Pacific region, as well as led the office responsible for US engagement in Apec.
In addition, Beran served as former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo’s director of the Office of Chinese and Mongolian Affairs.
Her overseas postings for State brought her to Beijing, Islamabad, Jerusalem and Quito, and she speaks Chinese, Arabic and Spanish. Beran is also a member of the Asia Society’s task force on US-China policy.
As for Orlins, he spent most of his career in business before taking the NCUSCR’s top job.
Previously, he was the managing director of the private equity firm Carlyle Asia and the chairman of the board of Taiwan Broadband Communications, one of Taiwan’s largest cable-television and high-speed internet providers.
Before that, Orlins was a senior adviser to AEA Investors Inc., a New York-based leveraged buyout firm, where he was responsible for its business activities throughout Asia.


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Sarah Beran, a former deputy chief of mission at US embassy in Beijing, will succeed non-profit group’s long-time president, Stephen Orlins


Sarah Beran, a former deputy chief of mission at US embassy in Beijing, will succeed non-profit group’s long-time president, Stephen Orlins.


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.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Sarah Beran, a former deputy chief of mission at US embassy in Beijing, will succeed non-profit group’s long-time president, Stephen Orlins

Sarah Beran, a former deputy chief of mission at US embassy in Beijing, will succeed non-profit group’s long-time president, Stephen Orlins