National Committee on U.S.-China Relations

During President Obama’s second term in office, the United States and China reached several agreements aimed at curbing each country’s greenhouse emissions, a major factor in climate change. Following years of stalemate, the partnership between the world’s two largest economies and emitters paved way for the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement. However, much of this progress remains in question followin...

The events of the Arab Spring in 2011 demonstrated the potential effect that social media can have when used as a catalyst for social change. In the wake of the uprisings, rumors spread across the Chinese internet of a so-called ‘Jasmine Revolution’ aimed at overthrowing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), prompting a swift government crackdown across both the physical and digital worlds. Since the...

In this interview, Professor Rongbin Han discusses his new book, Contesting Cyberspace in China, with Senior Director for Education Programs Margot Landman. He talks about his experiences a university student in China at the dawn of the Internet, the Internet's relation to democracy as well as illiberal discourse, and the role of the "50-Cent Army" on Chinese social media.

Some of the central arguments of the 2016 presidential campaign emphasized growing American fear and distrust of globalization. Then-candidates Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump energized large portions of the electorate against existing free trade agreements, particularly the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and the trade relationship between the United States and China was held up for particular attack....

In this interview, Benjamin Shobert discusses his new book Blaming China: It Might Feel Good but it Won't Fix America's Economy with National Committee President Stephen Orlins. He talks about the changes in the U.S. political atmosphere that inspired him to write the book, and where he sees the bilateral relationship heading. Benjamin Shobert is senior associate for international health at NBR, w...

Since the gruesome terrorist attack in the Kunming train station in 2014 carried out by members of a Xinjiang separatist group, and a spate of attacks in Xinjiang since the Urumqi clashes in 2009, the Chinese authorities have grown increasingly concerned about domestic and international Islamist terrorism. The number of arrests in Xinjiang has skyrocketed recently, accounting for 13% of the total...

In this conversation, Professors Benjamin Liebman and Rory Truex, both fellows in the National Committee's Public Intellectuals Program, discuss the findings of Truex's recent study, co-authored with Professor Sheena Greitens, on American China scholars' repressive experiences in China.

In a recent Washington Post editorial, western China scholars were taken to task for engaging in self-censorship: When it comes to China, Americans are victims of an insidious kind of censorship that stunts the debate they hear and read about in nearly invisible ways… The upshot [of fear of visa denials, concern that university administrators will be upset, and worry that Chinese colleagues will b...

In this interview, Pieter Bottelier discusses his new book Economic Policy Making in China (1949-2016): The Role of Economists with National Committee President Steve Orlins. Bottelier talks about the history behind China's current economic policy and where he thinks it's headed. 

With a GDP now rivaling that of the United States, a thriving middle class, and a large global economic network fueled by policies like the Belt and Road Initiative, it is difficult to overstate the extent to which the Chinese economy has changed since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. Since 1978, ideological shifts have allowed for the expansive economic reforms and liberali...

In the 1990s, as the dotcom era began to unfold, artificial intelligence (AI) expert and developer Kai-Fu Lee was busy at Apple streamlining many of the company’s early R&D projects. Those initial days, or the era of development, as Dr. Lee has since come describe it, were dominated by American technological innovation. Corporations like Apple and Microsoft paved the way for Silicon...

In this interview, Dr. Ji Li discusses his new book The Clash of Capitalisms? Chinese Companies in the United States with National Committee President Stephen Orlins. Professor Li talks about his research methodologies and findings on Chinese companies' compliance with U.S. regulatory institutions.   Dr. Ji Li is professor of law at Rutgers University and a member of the associ...

With a trade war brewing between Washington and Beijing, mounting public scrutiny, and repeated warnings by U.S. officials that Chinese investment in certain industries constitutes a national security threat, Chinese investment and commercial activity in the United States face many challenges, which cast doubt on the trajectory of Chinese outward direct investment in the United States. As these is...

In the waning days of the Qing Dynasty, China, beset by political dysfunction and domestic tumult, struggled to defend against the imperialist intentions of Western powers. Following years of tensions, war between China and Great Britain eventually broke out, the result of which would propel China into the chaos of the so-called “Century of Humiliation.” In a new book, Imperial Twilight: The Opium...

In this interview, author Stephen R. Platt discusses his new book Imperial Twilight: The Opium War and the End of China's Last Golden Age with Senior Director for Education Programs Margot Landman, describing his process behind writing the book and the historical context that led to the war.

Hong Kong is a vibrant financial and trade center, but it must confront a variety of issues ranging from skyrocketing real estate prices to questions about its status under the “One Country, Two Systems” framework. Kurt W. Tong, Consul General of the U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong and Macau, discussed many of the pressing issues Hong Kong facing Hong Kong, and implications for U.S.-Hong Kong and U.S....

In this interview with National Committee President Stephen Orlins, Foreign Affairs Executive Editor Daniel Kurtz-Phelan discusses his new book, The China Mission: George Marshall's Unfinished War. He talks about George Marshall's efforts to make peace between the Nationalists and Communists in China after World War II, the fascinating figures at the center of the story, and if Marshall's mission...

Hailed as the “architect of victory” over the Axis Powers in the Second World War by Winston Churchill, and widely credited with devising the program to spur European recovery and limit Soviet expansion at the start of the Cold War, George Marshall’s impact on geopolitics was enormous, shaping U.S. foreign policy even today. Often missed, however, is another challenge he was asked to take on: to b...

In this interview with Senior Director for Education Programs Margot Landman, IIE's Peggy Blumenthal and Professor David Zweig discuss their research into the impact Chinese students have on American universities and their prospects upon returning to China. Peggy Blumenthal, Senior Counselor to the President, Institute of International Education (IIE). After 20 years of service at the Institute of...

According to the most recent Open Doors Report, published by the Institute of International Education (IIE) in late 2017, China remains the number one sending country of international students to the United States. Approximately 350,000 Chinese currently attend American colleges and universities at the undergraduate and graduate levels. There are also growing numbers of Chinese students at America...

Washington D.C. had never seen anything quite like it: in January, 1919, three foreign diplomats, with no known enemies, assassinated in the city's Kalorama neighborhood. Without any leads or clear motive, the police were baffled until they zeroed in on a suspect, Ziang Sung Wan, a Chinese student living in New York. He was held incommunicado without formal arrest for more than a week until he was...

In this interview with Senior Director for Educational Programs Margot Landman, Denise Ho, author of Curating Revolution: Politics on Display in Mao's China, discusses the "participatory propaganda" of exhibitions during the Cultural Revolution. 

Revolutionary activity in Mao’s China was a public affair: through mass meetings, trials, and self-criticism, China’s communist leaders made class struggle a public, participatory experience. The mass line, however, extended far beyond Red Guard units parading through Beijing. In a new book, Curating Revolution: Politics on Display in Mao’s China, Yale University professor and China historian Deni...

In 2014, China announced the creation of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), an ambitious multilateral project aimed at fostering economic development throughout Asia. The AIIB, to be led by China, raised concerns for policymakers in Washington: would AIIB undermine the existing global financial infrastructure and lead to a lowering of standards? Yet, in a dramatic setback for the Uni...

In conversation with NCUSCR President Stephen Orlins, former AIIB General Counsel Natalie Lichtenstein discusses the process behind drafting the bank's charter. Natalie Lichtenstein is a U.S. lawyer who has specialized in legal issues at international financial institutions, and legal development in China, since the 1970s. She was the inaugural general counsel of the Asian Infrastructure Investmen...