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DAVID J. FIRESTEIN: NOTHING TO SEE HERE FOLKS: U.S. – CHINA RELATIONS IN 2023
DAVID J. FIRESTEIN, Inaugural President and CEO of the Bush Foundation for U.S. China Relations and Founding Member of the Foundation’s Board of Directors.
Thursday, June 29, 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm MDT
Hotel Santa Fe, 1501 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe
5:30 pm Social (Appetizers with cash bar)
6:00 pm Talk
$25 Members / $35.00 Non-Members
On June 29, David Firestein, president and CEO of the George HW Bush Foundation for U.S. – China Relations, brings to us a different perspective. While not minimizing the rise in tension and potential flashpoints, he draws on his considerable experience as a diplomat and scholar to suggest ways that the two countries can reestablish trust, recognizing that there are and probably always will be areas such as Taiwan, human rights, etc. where our positions are irreconcilable.
Firestein believes that China and the U.S. should reopen the consulates in Houston and Chengdu, reexamine the punishing tariffs that are negatively impacting both countries and work together on issues such as climate change.
A career U.S. diplomat from 1992 to 2010, David J. Firestein is an expert in China, Russia, public diplomacy and U.S. politics. He served at the U.S. embassies in Beijing (5 years) and Moscow (4 years). Firestein speaks near native-level Chinese and fluent Russian and has interpreted for senior U.S. officials in both languages.
Firestein is the author or co-author of three books on China, including two China-published bestsellers: Pacific Reflections: Essays on Chinese and American Society and Culture (1997); and Here and There: 81 Conversations about China and America (2004). In 1995-1996, Firestein wrote a column for the Beijing Youth Daily; he was the first foreigner ever to have a column in a PRC newspaper. From 2000 to 2002, Firestein wrote over 40 articles, mostly on U.S. politics and society, for Russian newspapers and magazines. In all, he has published some 130 articles in Chinese and Russian publications, including the Global Times, the China Youth Daily, the Legal Times, Noviye Izvestiya and other major periodicals. In the United States, Firestein’s recent commentary has appeared in the Dallas Morning News and the Austin American-Statesman.