National Committee on U.S.-China Relations

In recent years China has been appealing to scholars who went overseas to study and remained abroad to return to China. Among its “reverse migration” policies is the Thousand Talents Plan, initiated in 2008 to encourage “strategic scientists or leading talents who can make breakthroughs in key technologies or can enhance China’s high-tech industries and emerging disciplines” to accept positions at...

In an interview with NCUSCR President Stephen Orlins, Dr. David Zweig shares his research on China's "brain drain," Beijing's 1000 Talents Plan, and Washington's response to that program. On January 27, 2020, the National Committee hosted a public program with Dr. David Zweig to discuss China’s "reverse migration" efforts, presenting the Thousand Talents Plan as a case study. Event video and David...

The United States and China have historically maintained an organic relationship of exchange in the tech world: sharing financial capital, professional talent, and innovative R&D. At the same time, individual companies competed for dominance in each other's and global markets. Yet as cases like Huawei have shown, in recent years Washington has decided to increasingly restrict and monitor the tech...

Leading American and Chinese economists answer one question: name one way the the U.S.-China trade war has affected the American economy and global trade over the past two years. Despite the signing of a phase-one deal on January 15, until all tariffs are lifted, many of these adverse impacts will continue. Learn more about what the National Committee is doing to promote constructive engagement be...

Mark Frazier, author of "The Power of Place: Contentious Politics in Twentieth-Century Shanghai and Bombay," talks to NCUSCR Vice President Jan Berris about his new book and the two cities that form its comparative poles. Mr. Frazier discusses the history of contentious politics in Shanghai and Mumbai, both of which were national economic, cultural, and political hubs of their respective countries...

What do patterns of political contention look like? Over the course of the twentieth century, protests and social movements in Shanghai and Bombay changed with the commodification of urban land. In his new book, "The Power of Place: Contentious Politics in Twentieth-Century Shanghai and Bombay," Mark Frazier examines changes in political geographies and patterns of popular protest in the two citie...

Demonstrations that started peacefully in Hong Kong more than six months ago have grown increasingly confrontational. On December 10, Professor Jeffrey Wasserstrom of the University of California, Irvine, called in from Hong Kong to deliver his thoughts and observations from the ground to a National Committee teleconference. A long time analyst of protest in pre-1949 China and different parts of t...

What can food teach us about history, immigration, and international relations? For Lucas Sin, chef and culinary director of Junzi Kitchen, food is a window into a larger world, one where Chinese and American culture and history collide, mix, and transform. From four-thousand-year-old noodles to Nixon’s 1972 “chopstick diplomacy,” from the creation of the original Americanized Chinese food to the...

In this podcast interview with NCUSCR President Stephen Orlins, Jude D. Blanchette discusses his new book, "China’s New Red Guards: The Return of Radicalism and the Rebirth of Mao Zedong." Mr. Blanchette shares his inspiration for choosing a topic not focused on in Western literature, and relates his personal experiences conducting research in China. Mr. Blanchette surveys the potential for a resu...

In his recent book, "China’s New Red Guards: The Return of Radicalism and the Rebirth of Mao Zedong," Jude D. Blanchette argues that China’s growing authoritarianism draws directly from the Mao era. Under President Xi Jinping, state control over the economy is increasing, civil society is shrinking, and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is expanding its reach in new ways. As Mr. Blanchette describ...

Admiral Philip Davidson provides an assessment of the U.S.-China relationship, highlighting the complexities, comparing the contradictions, and describing the conundrums facing the United States at a time during which it seems clearer than ever that security and economics are inextricably linked as bilateral competition grows. In this interview, conducted by National Committee President Stephen Or...

Entrepreneurs, students, local politicians, and others in California and China are forging connections across a wide array of fields. Who are these people? What do their activities mean for the bilateral relationship and the world in the 21st century? Journalist Matt Sheehan tells the stories of some of the individuals tying our two countries together in his new book, "The Transpacific Experiment:...

In this episode of the National Committee's PROFILES podcast series, Vice President Jan Berris interviews Dr. Ezra Vogel, Henry Ford II Professor Emeritus of Social Sciences at Harvard University. In a wide-ranging conversation about his extraordinary career of more than half a century, Dr. Vogel recounts his research and travels in Japan, Hong Kong, and, after 1979, mainland China. While sharing...

Professor Ezra F. Vogel begins his new book on China and Japan in the sixth century when the Japanese adopted basic elements of Chinese civilization. Throughout the ensuing centuries, China generally took the leading role. Tables turned by the end of the 19th century, when Japan’s modernization efforts surpassed those of China, leading to Japanese victory in the 1895 Sino-Japanese war. Despite rec...

When the world’s two largest economies become mired in trade conflict, there are bound to be global consequences. As analysts predict increasing risk for a global economic downturn, VanEck’s Chief Emerging Markets Economist Natalia Gurushina looks at what the trade war might mean for other countries, and explains how these consequences could have unforeseen repercussions for both the United States...

The role government should play in the free market has always been a contentious issue, even more so when international trade jeopardizes national security. As the standoff between the United States and China continues, disagreements over what constitutes mutually acceptable trade practices are becoming more entrenched, with both governments accusing the other of interference and overreach. Watch...

Advocating for the LGBTQ community takes different forms in the United States and China, with domestic politics and cultural norms influencing how organizations raise awareness and provide services in each country. One of the leading LGBTQ rights organizations in the United States is the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), whose director of global, Jay Gilliam, participated in the National Committee’s Pr...

The U.S.-China relationship is clearly undergoing a transformation: after 40 years of normalized diplomatic relations, the status quo no longer seems acceptable to either side. One of the largest shifts has been the emergence of strategic issues as a greater factor in bilateral interactions. Dr. Evan S. Medeiros of Georgetown University explains this ‘securitization’ of the relationship, how it af...

In this episode of the National Committee’s PROFILES series, Program Officer Rosie Levine talks to Jesse Appell, a Beijing-based comedian. He describes his Fulbright research on the Chinese comedy style xiangsheng, explains the differences between the American and Chinese comedy landscapes, and predicts what the future of Chinese comedy looks like. Jesse Appell, also known as 艾杰西, is a Fulbrigh...

Since the beginning of China’s reform era in 1978, the country’s urban population has grown by 40%, with 813 million people now living in its cities. That number is predicted to reach one billion by 2030, continuing the unprecedented migration from rural to urban areas. Dr. Weiping Wu of Columbia University provides insight into the complicated process of China’s urbanization, from its hukou regis...

In the 1970s, President Richard Nixon’s national security advisor, Dr. Henry Kissinger, steered U.S. foreign policy through challenging times, reshaping the country’s policies on China, Vietnam, the Soviet Union, and the Middle East. Working by his side throughout was Ambassador Winston Lord, then special assistant to the national security advisor and director of the State Department’s policy plan...

In this podcast interview with NCUSCR President Stephen Orlins, Ambassador Winston Lord discusses his new book Kissinger on Kissinger: Reflections on Diplomacy, Grand Strategy, and Leadership. Ambassador Lord talks about what it was like to work with Dr. Kissinger, his memories of Nixon's visit to China, and what lessons from his and Dr. Kissinger's experiences can be applied to today's competitiv...

In his keynote speech at the U.S. Foreign Policy Colloquium on May 30, 2019, Ambassador Thomas Pickering explains the shift towards multi-polarity in the current world order and highlights seven key issues, from growth and development to weapons of mass destruction, confronting U.S. foreign policy. He discusses how some of these issues can be potential areas for collaboration between the U.S. and...

In the decades following World War II, global geopolitics were dominated by two superpowers: the United States and the U.S.S.R. The Cold War era was defined by estrangement and the threat posed by a nuclear arms race between the two countries. Today, there is growing consensus that the United States is entering into a new kind of cold war with another communist superpower: China. As the U.S.-China...

Susan A. Thornton delivered the 2019 Barnett-Oksenberg Lecture on Sino-American Relations in Shanghai on Wednesday, May 15. Now in its twelfth year, this annual lecture affords the opportunity for a frank and forthright discussion of current and potential issues between the two countries; it is the first and only ongoing lecture series on U.S.-China relations that takes place on the Mainland. Susa...