The Berger Memorial Fellowship was created to honor the life and legacy of the late Honorable Sandy Berger, National Security Advisor to President Bill Clinton, who was committed to balancing competition with collaboration between the United States and China, even when obstacles seemed insurmountable. Two students from Peking University’s School of International Studies (SIS) are awarded the Berger Fellowship each year after a competitive process to support research on a topic related to international relations.
USCET’s partnership with PKU also provides a platform for fellowship recipients to share their research with USCET’s international network. This year’s award ceremony featured remarks from Ambassador Julia Chang Bloch, PKU leadership, Amy Celico, Executive Director at Schwarzman Scholars, and Susan Berger, wife of her late husband Samuel R. Berger. Afterwards, the newly recognized fellows presented their research for feedback.
2025 Berger Fellow Li Zijian, an undergraduate student at Peking University studying International Organizations and International Public Policy, hopes to pursue research on U.S.-China relations and their implications for the institutions and normative frameworks of global governance. He earned multiple distinctions, including the Second Prize Scholarship from Peking University and the Baosteel Scholarship for Outstanding Students from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan. Li also has extensive practical experience as an intern at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Tsinghua University, and the World Economic Forum, as well as a research assistant at PKU. Driven by his commitment to become an international public servant, he continues to foster a nuanced and grounded understanding of U.S.-China relations.
2025 Berger Fellow Xiong Zhuohuan is a Master’s student at Peking University and in the CAMPUS ASIA Dual Degree Program at the University of Tokyo, studying International Relations. He is researching U.S. music festivals as platforms for political messaging and engagement. Xiong received numerous honors, including the Future Scholarship from the School of International Relations at PKU. His experience in the field includes internships at the PKU Institute of International and Strategic Studies and the D&C think tank. He also served as a language volunteer for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and as a delegate to the 2023 China-ASEAN Youth Summit. Xiong’s undergraduate thesis was awarded a university-level prize, and his other writings have been published on platforms such as The Paper.
Read interviews with some of our previous Sandy Berger Memorial Fellows here.