Meet the Young Asian Diplomats

July 3, 2024

By Julian Rhoads

(Photo: The Asia Foundation)

Seminars at Georgetown University, a tour of the White House, and a trip to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame were some of the highlights for 11 mid-career diplomats in this year’s Young Asian Diplomats program. The program offers a select group of young foreign service officers from Asia and the Pacific an opportunity to study U.S. foreign and domestic policy and to forge relationships of enduring benefit as they pursue their careers.

This year’s cohort, the program’s fourth, hailed from Cambodia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam. We invited two of them, Ms. Rajmi Manatunga of Sri Lanka and Mr. Jan Mikhail G. Solitario of the Philippines, to share their reflections with us. They spoke of the United States, their fellow Asian diplomats, and the skills that their generation will need to manage the challenges of a rapidly changing region and broader world.

Highlights of the two-week program included master classes on negotiation and diplomatic communication, discussion and analysis of U.S. relations with Asia and the Pacific, and coursework with the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University. The delegation received in-depth briefings on current geopolitical issues and security challenges from former U.S. ambassadors, government officials, and scholars.

In Ohio, the delegation discussed civil liberties with the American Civil Liberties Union, and the mechanics of democracy with political party officials and organizers. In San Francisco, they met with California Treasurer Fiona Ma, the lieutenant governor’s international affairs advisor Evan Reade, and the Office of the Mayor of San Francisco, and they attended a reception with the local diplomatic community.

A stop in Cleveland included meetings with political party representatives and a visit to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. (Photo: The Asia Foundation)

The program also introduced the fellows to the broad panorama of ordinary American life. They toured the White House, visited the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, and strolled among the giant redwood trees of Northern California, where United Nations delegates gathered nearly 80 years ago as they considered the UN Charter and global peace.

The two-week study tour explored perspectives from across the United States, while the fellows in turn shared views and experience from their own countries. The program offered a unique opportunity for participants to form relationships with foreign service peers that will endure for years to come.

The 2024 Young Asian Diplomats. Ms. Rajmi Manatunga of Sri Lanka is seated, right front, in the coral blouse, and Mr. Mikhail Solitario of the Philippines is second from right standing behind her. (Photo: The Asia Foundation)

The Young Asian Diplomats program is made possible by generous support from the Henry Luce Foundation and partnerships with foreign ministries across Asia and the Pacific Islands. This year’s Young Diplomats included Mr. Chheun Sokla, Cambodia; Mr. Ryneal Singh, Fiji; Ms. Roshni Thomson, India; Ms. Ayu Caesar Tiara, Indonesia; Mr. Thanthiva Akkharath, Laos; Ms. Buyanjargal Badamsuren, Mongolia; Ms. Pratigya Rai, Nepal; Ms. Berlina Gawi, Papua New Guinea; Mr. Jan Mikhail G. Solitario, the Philippines; Ms. Rajmi Manatunga, Sri Lanka; and Ms. Bui Ngoc Khanh Huyen, Vietnam.

Julian Rhoads is assistant director of The Asia Foundation’s Leadership and Exchange Programs (LeadEx). He can be reached at [email protected]. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author, not those of The Asia Foundation.

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