Monday, October 25 – U.S.-China Relations: What’s at Stake?

Fifty years ago, in April 1971, nine ping-pong players from the U.S. traveled to China, paving the way for President Richard Nixon’s trip to Beijing the following year. Today, relations between the U.S. and China are trending downwards with even the description of the relationship shrouded in ambiguity. Is China a “responsible stakeholder”? A “strategic competitor”? Or something else? While both countries seek to assert their influence and protect their national interests, other nations feel the ripple effects on their economies and, in many cases, their security. To discuss these issues, CIR welcomed David Firestein, President & CEO of the George H.W. Bush Foundation for U.S.-China Relations. A retired career U.S. diplomat, Mr. Firestein is one of our country’s foremost China experts. An author of three books on China and numerous articles, he is, according to the Voice of America’s Mandarin Service, one of the world’s best non-native speakers of Mandarin Chinese. Watch the talk here.