The Heritage Foundation's Asian Studies Center

The Asian Studies Center is a research center focused on Asia at The Heritage Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based research center. It was established in 1983.

The Asian Studies Center hosts the B.C. Lee Lecture, which features a lecture on an Asia-related topic by diplomats, experts, or journalists. The center also engages with Asian-Pacific media in Washington, D.C., through its Washington Roundtable for the Asia Pacific Press (WRAPP) program.

In 2009, the center published Key Asian Indicators: A 2009 Book of Charts, which provided a snapshot Asian countries.

In September 2022, Jeff M. Smith was appointed as center's director, succeeding Walter Lohman.

B.C. Lee Lecture
The B.C. Lee Lecture focuses on U.S. Relations with the Asia-Pacific region. They are funded by an endowment from Samsung in honor of the late B.C. Lee, the corporation's founder.

Washington Roundtable for the Asia-Pacific Press
The Washington Roundtable for the Asia-Pacific Press (WRAPP) is the largest organization of Asian media in the United States. It is currently affiliated with The Heritage Foundation's Asian Studies Center. WRAPP's purpose is to provide Asian journalists greater access to "Inside the Beltway" policy makers.

Since its inception in 1994, WRAPP has sponsored monthly news briefings tailored to the needs of Asian journalists. Roundtable sessions have included Rep. Benjamin Gilman (R-NY), Chairman of the House International Relations Committee, Rep. Doug Bereuter (R-NB), Chairman of the House Asia-Pacific Subcommittee, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Kurt M. Campbell, and David Broder, columnist for The Washington Post.

WRAPP membership includes nearly all Washington correspondents from China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and other countries in the region. Also among the Roundtable's 400 members are U.S.-based print and broadcast media and international wire services and news agencies whose Washington bureaus cover Asia-Pacific diplomacy, trade, and security.