 Notable members of the National Steering Committee included Koji Ariyoshi, a veteran of the World War II Dixie Mission to Yenan and founder of the Hawaii-China Friendship Association, and New York activists Helen V. Rosen and Esther Gollobin.The Koji Ariyoshi Award, established after his death in 1976, is the organization's highest honor.In the years after Nixon's opening to China and before full diplomatic relations were established under President Jimmy Carter, it became the main way that ordinary Americans could visit the People's Republic of China, through its extensive tour program.