Advertise on podcast: NCUSCR Events

The global electric vehicle (EV) industry has experienced enormous growth in recent years. The United States and China recognize that EVs are key to a carbon neutral future, yet a complex network of supply chains, differing government regulations, and disparate consumer acceptance pose challenges to this great opportunity. How will the United States and China scale up the infrastructure needed for EVs? Where can they cooperate in setting international EV standards? How can they work together to address key cybersecurity and battery technology concerns? The National Committee held a virtual program on June 7, 2022 with John Paul MacDuffie and Ilaria Mazzocco, moderated by Scott Kennedy, wherein they discussed the implications of a growing global EV market on U.S.-China relations.

The National Committee held its annual members program on May 24, 2022 featuring four National Committee directors, Paul Haenle, Ben Harburg, Elizabeth Knup, and Nancy Yao, who considered the past, present, and future of the bilateral relationship from the perspectives of business, think tanks, foundations, and cultural institutions.

After more than two decades of hostility, Ping Pong Diplomacy began a shift in the U.S.-China relationship towards exchange and engagement. In 1972, engagement was far from inevitable and, just as in 2022, anything but easy, with detractors on both sides. The National Committee hosted a virtual program on  April 18, 2022 with Pete Millwood and Jing Tsu as they reflected on the 50th anniversary of the Chinese ping pong team’s historic visit to the United States and its continued relevance to the U.S.-China relationship today, in a conversation moderated by Keisha Brown.

Beethoven in Beijing, a feature-length documentary, spotlights the explosive growth of classical music in China since the 1973 tour of the Philadelphia Orchestra, the first American orchestra to perform in the People’s Republic. At the invitation of U.S. President Richard Nixon and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai, the orchestra used music to help dismantle 25 years of isolation between the two countries. Today, China is energizing the world of classical music with legions of young musicians, glittering new concert halls, and a lineup of superstar performers and composers.  The National Committee hosted a virtual program on April 7 with Chen Jie, Jennifer Lin, Sheila Melvin, and Booker Rowe as they discussed their experiences in musical exchange to date and prospects for the future.

In the context of EU-Russia tensions and attention on security within Europe, what is the possibility of future trans-Atlantic cooperation on China and in the broader Indo-Pacific region? In an interview conducted on April 13, 2022, Ivana Karásková, a China and international relations scholar in Prague, discusses recent developments in EU-China relations and implications for the Sino-American bilateral relationship in a conversation with Matt Ferchen.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Shanghai Communiqué, the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, the National Committee on United States-China Relations, and the Committee of 100 welcomed members to attend a half-day forum held on February 24, 2022. Prominent representatives of the diplomatic, business, and academic communities will examine how people-to-people relations, economic cooperation, and diplomatic interactions have influenced the Sino-American relationship and how bi-lateral relations might evolve in the coming 50 years.

With a strict zero-Covid policy and surge in export growth, China’s economy grew an impressive eight percent in 2021, yet uncertainty looms on the horizon. Nomura and Goldman Sachs both anticipate that China’s annual GDP growth will fall to 4.3 percent in 2022; some estimates are even lower. Both the promise of continued export growth and the threat of surging inflation raise critical questions in a very important political year for China. What are some potential obstacles Beijing could face with an economic slowdown? How will tariffs, trade imbalances, and geopolitics affect China’s economic prospects? The National Committee, in partnership with Peking University’s National School of Development (NSD), held a virtual program on March 2, 2022 with Dr. Hu Yifan and Dr. Huang Yiping to provide a forecast of China’s economy in the coming year.

Following years of trade frictions that have cost American jobs and lowered U.S. GDP, calls have increased for the Biden administration and Congress to strengthen the U.S. government's strategies and tools that address the "China challenge" and ensure ongoing American global leadership. U.S. Representative Rick Larsen (D-WA), co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional U.S.-China Working Group, has endeavored to answer this call, with an updated China White Paper offering a blueprint to enhance U.S. competitiveness vis-à-vis China and the world. The paper includes proposals for Congress and the Administration to recognize areas of bilateral conflict and competition, implement both offensive and defensive measures to compete with China, identify areas where bilateral cooperation serves both nations' interests, and take measures to strengthen American global competitiveness. The National Committee held a virtual program on February 9, 2022 with Rep. Larsen to discuss his framework with NCUSCR President Steve Orlins and answer audience questions.

U.S.-China competition continues to re-shape the way the global economy is governed. After a significant overhaul of foreign investment screening regimes in the United States (e.g., FIRRMA) and globally, there is now legislation circulating the halls of Congress that would initiate additional screening for U.S. outbound investment to China and other countries of concern. Such legislation faces opposition from some industry groups, yet there appears to be support on the Hill and in the White House for tools that would increase control over U.S. critical supply chains and technology transfer. On January 26, the National Committee hosted a virtual program with Rhodium partner and lead author of the latest U.S.-China Investment Project report Thilo Hanemann, along with Giovanna Cinelli, Nargiza Salidjanova, and Eric Zheng, each with deep experience in investment law, Congress, and U.S.-China business, respectively. The panelists contextualized the genesis of D.C.’s greater scrutiny on U.S. outbound investment and explored far-reaching implications of potential outbound investment restrictions.

How did the poor, isolated People’s Republic of China become the factory to the world? Shelley Rigger argues that the origins lie in Taiwan. In her new book, The Tiger Leading the Dragon, she describes the evolution of Taiwan’s influence from the period when Deng Xiaoping lifted Mao’s prohibitions on business in the late 1970s, allowing investors from Taiwan to collaborate with local officials in the PRC to transform mainland China into a manufacturing powerhouse. In the late 1980s, Taiwanese business owners lowered production costs by moving across the Strait, as China sought external investment to fuel its industrial rise. The book also explores Taiwan’s contributions to Chinese consumer behavior, philanthropy, religion, popular culture, and law. The National Committee on U.S.-China Relations held an event on October 26, 2021 with Shelley Rigger to discuss her new book.

CNN host and best-selling author Fareed Zakaria was the featured speaker for CHINA Town Hall 2021, a national conversation on how the U.S.-China relationship affects our cities, towns, and communities. From supply chains to national security, new technologies to climate change, the future of both countries will be determined by their relations with one another and the global community. On October 19, 2021, the National Committee held a nationwide virtual event, including Q&A with one of America's leading foreign policy commentators. He examined the challenges and opportunities for both countries as they confront the most critical issues of the 21st century.

In recent years, the U.S.-China relationship has deteriorated rapidly. Engaging China: Fifty Years of Sino-American Relations brings together leading China specialists to reflect on relations between the two countries over the last half-century and consider what might lie ahead. The contributors – academics, nongovernmental organization leaders, and former diplomats and government officials – analyze the relationship from a wide range of perspectives: political, diplomatic, economic, social, cultural, commercial, educational, medical, and military. They explore not only the accomplishments and successes of engagement but also the mistakes and misunderstandings, acknowledging the distrust and frictions that surround the relationship today. On September 29, 2021 the National Committee held a virtual program with several contributors to and the editor of the volume, Mary Brown Bullock, David M. Lampton, and Anne F. Thurston, and they discussed 50 years of Sino-U.S. relations with moderator Tashi Rabgey.