By: Andrew Knox and Wei Caorui
Edited By: Ari Fahimi
On Saturday October 19, the Hopkins-Nanjing Center hosted a panel on U.S.-China relations to accompany SAIS Dean annual visit. The event also included alumni reunion, student thesis presentations, and a career panel event. Co-Directors Li Xiaorong and Adam Webb opened the event by welcoming back alumni and were followed by a brief introductory speech by Dean Steinberg. SAIS China scholars Prof. Jessica Chen Weiss and Prof. Jeremy Wallace also participated in the events following the panel.
Yang Rui, a former presenter at CGTN, the foreign-oriented English-language channel of China’s state-run China Global Television Network (CCTV), highlighted three topics he believes are key to understanding the problems China and the U.S. currently face: First, he noted the countries’ technological competition. He stated that while the U.S. has long been the leader in the tech industry, China is quickly closing the gap with its own innovations. Yang then praised China’s well-organized supply chain and efficient e-commerce industry, which he said improve daily life in China in addition to their macroeconomic benefits. He emphasized the infrastructure’s role in streamlining consumer access to goods and services. Finally, Yang pointed to challenges brought by China’s decreasing population trend and aging population, noting the struggles of those born under the one-child policy and now bearing the dual burden of caring for their aging parents while raising their own children. Conversely, he also mentioned its stimulating effect on sectors such as life insurance, healthcare, and social welfare. He further highlighted employment challenges, particularly in the private sector, where companies struggle to raise funds.
David M. Lampton, Professor Emeritus of China Studies at SAIS DC and former director of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, opened by calling the Hopkins-Nanjing Center an example of “what our relationship needs to be.” He used this overture to introduce the first of three points of emphasis: that when we consider US-China relations we should not solely focus on the dimension of intergovernmental interactions, but also that of “people-to-people” contact. Second, he argued that when discussing the hostility of US-China relations, we should remember the great progress the relationship has made, from virtually no exchange between the two countries, to hundreds of thousands of Chinese students studying in America and 11,000 American students in China before the pandemic (note that the number is now around 800). Lampton finally highlighted what he viewed as three major problems in the way of good U.S.-China relations: the arms race, protectionist trade policies, and nationalism.
Acting as panel moderator, Co-Director Webb asked to what extent they believed government influence hampers cross-cultural exchange. In his response, Yang emphasized the media’s role in worsening relations, pointing out that the American people knew Trump was hawkish toward China when they elected him. He briefly switched to English to blame the media for “piece of shit” Western misperceptions of China’s danger, when China in fact wants to “live and let live,” and regardless lacks the military capabilities to compete with the U.S. Lampton responded that China’s alliances with North Korea and Russia are legitimate causes for Western concern about China’s rise, and that both states reinforce mutual distrust by spying on foreign citizens within their own borders. State behavior, rather than media hype, is to blame.
During the Q&A section, an HNC alum and current professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University asked whether the White House was prepared for “” with China over Taiwan. Both panelists disputed the question’s premise and agreed that the situation was not likely to change soon. Yang expressed confidence that Taiwan can “neither return nor separate” from China and argued that disputes related to the South China Sea have more potential both for danger and for progress. Lampton generally agreed but added that he was concerned that the recent increased U.S. rhetorical and policy support for Taiwan unnecessarily increased the risk of conflict.
Featuring U.S.-China dialogue in a semi-public setting free from self-censorship, the panel was itself an instance of the HNC working to build the “society-to-society” connections Lampton called for in his opening statement. The panelists’ ability to find common ground reflects Dean Steinberg’s statement on the value of the HNC, as said in his opening speech: “It’s good to have a little distance between Beijing and Washington to have these discussions.”