National Committee on U.S.-China Relations

James Millward (Georgetown University), author most recently of The Silk Road: A Very Short Introduction, discusses with National Committee Senior Director for Education Margot Landman the background of the Silk Road, what (other than silk) traveled along it, and its contemporary role and uses in China and Central Asia. For those interested in further reading, Professor Millward recommends: Peter...

Zhu Feng, director of China Center for Collaborative Studies of the South China Sea at Nanjing University, discusses maritime issues involving China, including China's island construction in the South China Sea, Chinese engagement in international boundary dispute mechanisms, and the effect of China's relative size as a factor in maritime discussions. Zhu Feng, who is also a senior researcher at t...

China's growing economic and political influence has raised concerns among some in the United States that China's regained status as a major power represents a strategic threat to U.S. leadership in Asia and beyond. In The China Challenge: Shaping the Choices of a Rising Power, Thomas Christensen seeks to counter this zero-sum narrative by offering a new paradigm in which the real challenge for th...

China's policies towards the countries of the Middle East and the forces that drive their regional relations are explored by Dr. Pan Guang, vice chairman and professor of political science and history at the Shanghai Center for International Studies of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences in this program hosted by Jan Berris, vice president of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. Dr....

Jeremy Goldkorn, founder of Danwei research firm and co-host of the Sinica podcast discusses developments in China's internet and social media culture, the founding of Danwei and his long-time interest in China in an interview with National Committee Program Officer Maura Cunningham on December 14, 2015 in New York City. The National Committee on U.S.-China Relations is the leading nonprofit nonpa...

Simon Winchester discusses his new book, In PACIFIC: Silicon Chips and Surfboards, Coral Reefs and Atom Bombs, Brutal Dictators, Fading Empires, and the Coming Collision of the World's Superpowers. Politicians and scholars alike have dubbed the twenty-first century The Pacific Century to reflect the profound shift in global power toward the Asia-Pacific. Even though it is the largest body of water...

Michael Meyer, author of In Manchuria: A Village Called Wasteland and the Transformation of Rural China discussed the genesis of his new book, the village called Wasteland (set in the beautiful landscape of Jilin Province), his research process and life in the village in an interview with National Committee Program Officer Maura Elizabeth Cunningham on April 2, 2015. As the author of the acclaimed...

Despite worrying signs of intensifying rivalry between Washington and Beijing, few observers have offered paths away from disaster. In Meeting China Halfway: How to Defuse the Emerging US-China Rivalry, author Lyle J. Goldstein focuses on American and Chinese perceptions of where their interests clash and proposes ways to ease bilateral tensions through compromise. In a conversation with NCUSCR Pr...

Former World Bank Chief Economist Justin Yifu Lin recently joined NCUSCR's Track II Economic Dialogue in New York with prominent U.S. economists. The program included a public forecast on China's economy in 2013 by China's foremost economists at the NYSE (video at http://www.ncuscr.org/programs/forecast-chinas-economy). This short podcast brings Justin Lin's concise analysis of China's economy in...

Confucianism, with its emphasis on virtue and social harmony, served as the foundation of Chinese civilization for over two thousand years. The teachings of the famous Chinese sage had an impact on every aspect of Chinese life and social structure and ultimately spread and flourished throughout East Asia. Confucianism's prominence in Chinese culture was shattered during the twentieth century as re...

When President Richard M. Nixon met with Chairman Mao Zedong in Beijing in February 1972, at his side was a young U.S. diplomat serving as his principal interpreter: Chas W. Freeman, Jr. had started studying Mandarin (and Taiwan's dialect, Minnan) in Taiwan three years earlier; and he spent much of his long diplomatic career specializing in China, including Taiwan. In Interesting Times, Ambassador...

China's transition to a market economy has propelled its remarkable economic growth since the late 1970s. In his book Markets Over Mao: The Rise of Private Business in China Nicholas R. Lardy, one of the world's foremost experts on the Chinese economy, traces the increasing role of market forces and refutes the widely advanced argument that Chinese economic progress rests on the government's contr...

Former National Security Council Asia expert Ambassador Jeffrey Bader and former U.S. ambassador to China J. Stapleton Roy discuss the Sunnylands Summit and offer perspectives on where the U.S.-China relationship will go from here in a National Committee on U.S.-China Relations conference call on June 13, 2013, moderated by National Committee President Stephen Orlins. Ambassador Roy is the directo...

Despite its impressive size and population, economic vitality, and drive to upgrade its military capabilities, China remains a vulnerable nation surrounded by powerful rivals and potential foes. In China's Search for Security, authors Andrew J. Nathan and Andrew Scobell argue that the key to understanding China's foreign policy is to grasp these geostrategic challenges, which persist even as the c...

Ambassador Jeffrey Bader, John Whitehead Senior Fellow in International Diplomacy, John L. Thornton China Center, The Brookings Institution, and former National Security Council senior director for East Asian affairs, delivered the keynote address at the 2013 Barnett-Oksenberg Lecture on Sino-American Relations to an audience in Shanghai. Now in its eighth year, this annual forum affords its guest...

In The Silk Road: A Very Short Introduction, James Millward explores the historical background against which the silk road flourished, discusses the significance of old-world intercultural exchange, and puts the silk road into the context of world history. Professor Millward discussed the historical significance and contemporary uses of the silk road.

China is undergoing the largest migration in human history: Since the mid-1980s, roughly 300 million people have moved from China's countryside into its cities; between now and 2025, its expected that another 300 million Chinese will make their ways in. Without appropriate urban planning, design, and construction focused on sustainable development, the consequences of this massive urbanization cou...

Lee Kuan Yew, the first Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore, is known around the world as an innovative leader and respected scholar of global strategy. Lee has been a mentor to every Chinese leader from Deng Xiaoping to Xi Jinping, and a counselor to every U.S. president from Richard Nixon to Barack Obama. In their new book, Graham Allison and Robert Blackwill distill the essence of Lee K...

The Fourth Plenum of the 18th Party Congress in October 2014 focused on the rule of law. On November 3, the National Committee convened a discussion with Carl Minzner, professor at the Fordham University School of Law. In an on-the-record teleconference moderated by NCUSCR President Steve Orlins, the two reflected on the Fourth Plenum and its implications for the development of China's legal syste...

In The China Fallacy: How the U.S. Can Benefit from China's Rise and Avoid Another Cold War, Donald Gross challenges attempts to contain China and warns against protectionism. Instead, he calls for achieving a stable peace with China and negotiating free trade agreements that will bring greater American prosperity consistent with principles for good Sino-American relations advanced by presidents f...

Economist Stephen Roach discusses his new book Unbalanced: U.S.-China Economic Codependency with President of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations Stephen Orlins on February 13, 2014 in New York. Dr. Roach highlights the conflicts at the center of current economic tensions and the potential for greater cooperation. Dr. Roach is a senior fellow at Yale University's Jackson Institute for G...

Author Andrew Mertha discusses his latest book Brothers in Arms: Chinese Aid to the Khmer Rouge, 1975-1979 with the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations on April 29, 2014. This podcast contains audio of a public program and presentation; to view video and slides, please visit http://www.ncuscr.org/programs/brothers-in-arms When the Khmer Rouge came to power in Cambodia in 1975, they inherite...

The rapid development of China's wind-power sector has created a world-class industry with the promise to make low-carbon technology more affordable and available both in China and around the world. Author Joanna Lewis, assistant professor of science, technology and international affairs at Georgetown University, discusses the findings of her book, Green Innovation in China: China's Wind Power Ind...

Kevin Rudd MP, former Australian Prime Minister and architect of Australia's regional policies discusses China's new leaders, evolving issues in the Asia-Pacific region and their relevance to the U.S.-China relationship at a program hosted by the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations and moderated by National Committee President Stephen Orlins in New York on December 18, 2012.  A fluent Mand...

Dr. Richard Bush, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and director of its Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies, discusses his new book Uncharted Strait: The Future of China-Taiwan Relations, including the history, new developments and prospects for the Taiwan Strait on March 18, 2013 in New York. Dr. Bush, who has served as the Chairman and Managing Director of the American Institute i...