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As China presides over the G-20 for the first time, the country has the significant opportunity to impact a system of global governance under increasing stress. At the same time, while enduring the costs and realizing the benefits of its leadership role, China can address critical issues including innovation, global security, infrastructure development, and climate change. Even as China recently has made its own forays into regional institution-building with the launch of the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank and the “One Belt, One Road” initiative, its G-20 presidency presents a new platform from which the country can advance its own agenda as part of a broader global agenda. As the first and second largest economies in the world, the United States and China can benefit enormously by understanding each other’s perspective.

Think tanks like the Brookings-Tsinghua Center have been playing an important role in this bilateral and multilateral exchange of views. On March 22, in celebration of the 10th anniversaries of the Brookings-Tsinghua Center and the John L. Thornton China Center at Brookings, Tsinghua University hosted a conference to examine how China can realize the 2016 G-20 theme of “an innovative, invigorated, interconnected, and inclusive world economy.” The event began with introductory keynote remarks on the substantive advancements China and the United States have made in think tank development and people-to-people diplomacy, followed by an additional set of keynote remarks and panel discussions presenting Chinese and American perspectives on the G-20 agenda and the state of global governance.

Event Materials

• Chinas G20 Presidency Transcript

      

 

 

On February 4, the Brookings Institution convened a panel of scholars from the United States and China to discuss touchpoints in the critical relationship between the two countries. Panelists from both sides noted improvements in bilateral communication and emphasized that the United States and China continue to have ample cause to work together. But the discussion also underscored the complexity of certain regional issues and the associated risk that prolonged stalemate could give way to disillusionment.

Leading the Chinese delegation was Ambassador Su Ge, president of the China Institute of International Studies (CIIS), one of China’s oldest and most respected think tanks. Asked by Brookings John L. Thornton China Center Director Cheng Li, who moderated the discussion, to explain how he came up with the title for the event—“Regional Cooperation and Competition: China and the U.S. in the Asia Pacific”—Ambassador Su indicated that he aimed to capture the dual nature of the U.S.-China relationship. Teng Jianqun, director of the Department of American Studies at CIIS, similarly observed that “cooperation and competition in the Asia-Pacific region between China and the United States has been intensifying.”

The panelists agreed that cooperation stands to benefit both sides. “Broadly speaking, the United States and China do agree that we should cooperate where we can,” said Brookings Senior Fellow Kenneth Lieberthal. Ambassador Su posited that, without the countries’ joint efforts, “it’s hard to expect a solution” to the world’s most pressing issues.

Despite that optimistic backdrop, the discussion betrayed a disconnect over details. Lieberthal faulted, in part, ambiguous policy positions in both governments, such as China’s unwillingness to define the nine-dash line in the South China Sea and inconsistent statements from U.S. policymakers about the scope of U.S. interests in the region.

Ambassador Su challenged the notion that U.S.-China diplomacy has lacked concrete results, calling the recent agreement on cybersecurity “a bright spot of cooperation.” Su also cited the stasis over the Diaoyu Islands—which Japan calls the Senkaku Islands and claims as its own—as evidence that China and other major powers could reach stable compromises on complex issues.

But consensus has eluded the United States and China when it comes to dealing with North Korea. Ambassador Su stated that, given China’s proximity to the rogue nation, leaders in Beijing take North Korea’s repeated provocations extremely seriously. He described how tremors shook Chinese schools near the North Korean border during the most-recent nuclear test, with cracks forming on playgrounds. But Su argued that cutting off essential supplies like oil and grain to North Korea would harm the country’s civilians without inducing any change in Pyongyang’s behavior. Instead, he called for “tough sanctions” that leave room for North Korea to negotiate without being backed into a corner.

Brookings Senior Fellow Jonathan Pollack questioned the logic of China’s tough stance on the South China Sea given its risk-averse approach to the “clear and present danger of a nuclear armed state” on its border. “This discussion highlights that both countries continue to talk past each other,” he said. As a way out of the impasse, Pollack called for recognizing the primacy of certain issues—and certain voices—and for candid dialogue that works to bridge differences between the United States and China, rather than sweeping those differences under the rug.

Cheng Li concluded the event by recalling a statement by Ronald Reagan—“So long as books are kept open, then minds can never be closed”—which he adapted and applied to U.S.-China relations: “I think as long as the doors are open, exchanges are open, our relationship could not be that bad.”

For the entire exchange between the panelists, download the transcript.

Downloads

• Transcript

Audio

• Regional cooperation and competition:China and the U.S. in the Asia Pacific

      

 

 

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In recent years, China has emerged as the second largest economy and a trading powerhouse. Its recent attempts to exert greater leadership in international economic governance through the establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, participation in the BRICs bank, the launch of the “One Belt, One Road” development strategy, and its leading role in a budding trade grouping in East Asia, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, have gathered a lot of attention. What does this flurry of activity tell us about China’s aims and intentions? Is China a revisionist power intent on building an alternative economic order, or is it behaving as a responsible stakeholder, willing to shoulder the burden of providing public goods commensurate to its growing economic stature? What are the implications of China’s new role and initiatives for other leading economies?

On September 30, the Center for East Asia Policy Studies at Brookings and NHK co-hosted a panel of distinguished experts for a discussion on the future of China’s economy, its growing role in international economic governance, and how the United States and Japan should respond to China’s leadership bid.

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Audio

• International economic governance and China's rise: How should the United States and Japan respond?

Transcript

• Uncorrected Transcript (.pdf)

Event Materials

• 20150930_china_economic_governance_transcript

      

 

 

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With the state visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping approaching, headlines in the United States about China have been dominated by concerns about China’s economic expansion and stock market volatility, cyberespionage, reclamation activities in the South China Sea, and—most critically—China’s reemergence as a global power. However, this prevalent narrative tends to mask the important history of both the enduring issues and profound changes in the bilateral relationship—a history that can help provide the context for actions taken by both countries today and prevent misunderstandings and policy mistakes that could shake the world community.

On September 21, the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution hosted a panel discussion that helped illuminate the historical context of the U.S.-China relationship. Three leading China historians presented accounts of U.S.-China relations during different periods in history, shedding valuable light on how historical perspective can help guide relations in a challenging time and in the long-term.

 Follow @BrookingsChina to join the conversation.

Audio

• U.S.-China relations in historical context

Transcript

• Transcript (.pdf)

Event Materials

• 20150921_us_china_history_transcript

      

 

 

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The rise of think tanks has drawn great attention in China, particularly among the Chinese leadership. In April 2013, President Xi Jinping made the development of think tanks a national strategic priority when he called for the construction of “new think tanks with Chinese characteristics.” Earlier this year, the CCP Central Committee drew a road map for think tank development when it issued its “Opinions on Strengthening the Construction of New Types of Think Tanks with Chinese Characteristics.” As China’s think tank fever has warmed progressively, domestic discussion has focused on drawing from the experience of successful think tanks abroad to not only improve the quality of government policy making, but also to increase the momentum for deepening comprehensive reform.

On April 21, the Brookings-Tsinghua Center hosted experts from both Chinese and overseas think tanks to discuss the next steps on China's path to developing world-class think tanks. The event featured a discussion between Martin Indyk, Executive Vice President at the Brookings Institution, and LI Yang, Vice President at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). Three additional panels followed addressing China’s think tank construction and international cooperation. The summit invited leading Chinese scholars to engage with Brookings scholars and other foreign experts on these issues.

Transcript

• Chinese Event Transcript (.pdf)

Event Materials

• Agenda and Biography final
• uschina think tank summit transcript edited

      

 

 

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On January 21, Brookings in partnership with the United States Studies Center at the University of Sydney and their Alliance 21 project hosted a day-long conference entitled, “Looking Ahead: Next Steps for the Deepening Australia-U.S. Alliance in the Asia-Pacific.” The conference featured keynote speeches by Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop and U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Christine Wormuth.

With few equals in the world today, the Australia-U.S. partnership stands out for its broad base of shared interests, increasingly global in scope. However, challenges lie ahead for this special relationship. In the first Alliance 21 conference of 2015, government, business, military and think tank leaders from Australia and the United States will discuss the depth and breadth of the Australia-U.S. partnership and explore how best to leverage its strengths to meet future challenges and opportunities in the dynamic Asia-Pacific region.

The full-day conference featured expert panels on the Asia-Pacific strategic environment, trade and investment opportunities, and defense ties.

Join the conversation on Twitter using #AusUS

Video

• The United States and Australia in Emerging Asia
• Address by the Honorable Julie Bishop MP
• Address by the Honorable Christine Wormuth
• Remarks by Wesley Bush

Audio

• Looking Ahead: Next Steps for the Deepening Australia-U.S. Alliance in the Asia-Pacific - Part 1
• Looking Ahead: Next Steps for the Deepening Australia-U.S. Alliance in the Asia-Pacific - Part 2

Event Materials

• 20150121_australia_us_asia_ transcript

      

 

 

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While countless factors have contributed to China’s dramatic economic transformation, the groundbreaking economic reforms instituted by Premier Zhu Rongji from 1998 to 2003 were critical in setting the stage for China to become one of the world’s dominant economic powers. From combatting corruption and inefficient state-owned enterprises at home to engineering China’s ascension to the World Trade Organization, Zhu left behind a legacy on which successive administrations have sought to build. What similarities, differences or parallels can be drawn between Zhu’s time and today? And what lessons can China’s current leaders learn from Zhu’s reforms?

On January 9, the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution launched the second English volume of Zhu Rongji: On The Record (Brookings Press, 2015), which covers the critical period during which Zhu served as premier between 1998-2003. In addition to highlighting Zhu’s legacy, this event also featured public panel discussions outlining the past, present and future of Chinese economic reform and its impact domestically and internationally.

Audio

• Chinese Economic Reform: Past, Present and Future - Part 1
• Chinese Economic Reform: Past, Present and Future - Part 2

Transcript

• Transcript (.pdf)

Event Materials

• 20150109_china_economic_reform_transcript

      

 

 

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The broad Japan-U.S. alliance is one of the most important partnerships for each country. Among a variety of tasks, the fundamental strategic purpose of the alliance in the coming decades will be to manage the revival of China as a great power. It is in both Washington’s and Tokyo’s interest that China’s revival occurs in ways that contribute to the stability of the international system rather than disrupt it. Understanding the character and trajectory of a reviving China is key to positive engagement and China’s international participation. Yet even this is no small task, and is made more complicated by a pluralism of views within both the United States and Japan on how to view China and how to approach it.

On December 19, the Center for East Asia Policy Studies hosted a seminar examining American and Japanese interpretations of China. In two sessions, leading China specialists from the United States and Japan presented views of China’s economic policy and trajectory, and its political system, priorities, and resources for dealing with policy challenges. Panel moderators and participants sought to analyze the policy implications of gaps in interpretation.

Video

• Xi Jinping’s Political Lineage
• Changing Social Values in China
• The Chinese Communist Party’s Evolving Civil Feedback Mechanisms
• China State-owned Enterprise Reform
• China’s Reemergence as a Great Power: Comparing American and Japanese Perspectives

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• China’s Reemergence as a Great Power: Comparing American and Japanese Perspectives

Transcript

• Transcript (.pdf)

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• Transcript
• Presentation by Tomoo Marukawa
• Presentation by Tomoki Kamo revised
• Presentation by Akio Takahara

      

 

 

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Though Northeast Asia is prosperous and stable relative to hotspots around the world, it faces its share of policy challenges, including potential over-the-horizon threats such as local instability, territorial contests and economic competition. Regional powers including the United States, China and the Republic of Korea – with tremendous political and economic clout – share many of these problems and have roles to play in addressing them.

On December 16, the Center for East Asia Policy Studies at Brookings, the Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies, and Peking University’s School of International Studies hosted a conference continuing deliberations undertaken in Seoul in April 2014. In three sessions, experts from Korea, China, and the United States identified emerging challenges to the international order, analyzed the web of relationships between the Korean Peninsula and major powers and charted paths for the region’s economic future. The conference placed particular emphasis on the opportunities for enhanced cooperation on regional peace, prosperity and security among all three states. The Honorable Daniel Russel, U.S. assistant secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific affairs, made an opening keynote address.

Watch video from the event on C-SPAN.org:

Keynote Address by Daniel R. Russel »
Panel 1: Emerging Challenges to the International Order and to U.S.-China Relations »
Panel 2: Korea and the Major Powers »
Panel 3: The Regional Economic Future »

Audio

• Shared Challenges and Cooperation for Korea, China and the U.S.

Event Materials

• Daniel Russel keynote address
• Panel 1 Emerging Challenges to the International Order and USChina Relations
• Panel 2 Korea and the Major Powers
• Panel 3 The Regional Economic Future

      

 

 

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On December 9th, the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution hosted a book event marking the publication of Cyber Policy in China (John Wiley & Sons) by Greg Austin.

The book provides the first comprehensive analysis of the challenges confronting China in its effort to develop as an information-based economy. Will China’s leaders be capable of the very difficult choices needed to ensure a successful cyber future? Can they move beyond long-dominant industrial policies and the desire to retain national sovereignty in economic development? The volume explores the realities of the information age that are forcing the pace of technological and institutional change within China. The success or failure of the policy choices facing China will depend on China’s ability to adapt to the norms and realities of the information age.

Following introductory remarks by the author, two leading specialists provided commentaries, followed by a discussion among the panelists and questions from the audience.

Audio

• Cyber Policy in China

Transcript

• Uncorrected Transcript (.pdf)

Event Materials

• 20141209_cyber_china_transcript

      

 

 

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This November, after focusing on foreign policy concerns around the globe and congressional midterm elections at home, President Barack Obama will travel to Beijing to attend the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in hopes of preserving and enhancing one of his key foreign policy achievements—the rebalance to Asia. Obama’s trip to China will be his first since 2009, and in those intervening five years the bilateral relationship has become increasingly complicated, with tensions spanning a wide range of issues from maritime disputes to cybersecurity to the pace of China’s economic reforms. While both countries agree that a “New Type of Great Power Relations" is needed, it is still not clear what such a relationship entails. President Obama’s trip to China will offer a critical opportunity to shape the U.S.-China relationship and seize on the cooperative spirit of the APEC meeting to strengthen the rebalance to Asia.

On Novemver 5, the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution hosted a full-day conference with two keynote addresses and four panels about the economic, environmental, political, and security implications of President Obama’s trip to China for the 2014 APEC summit and his interactions with President Xi Jinping.

Video

• Introductory Remarks and Morning Keynote
• The State of China’s Economy and Free Trade in the Asia-Pacific
• U.S.-China Cooperation on Climate Change and the Environment
• Obama in China: Afternoon Keynote Address
• The Domestic Issues and Politics Influencing Obama-Xi Relations
• The Evolving Security Climate in Asia

Audio

• Obama in China: Preserving the Rebalance

Transcript

• Uncorrected Transcript (.pdf)

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• 20141105_obama_china_transcript
• 20141105_Donilon_Brookings_Keynote_Prepared_for_Delivery

     

 

 

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The U.S.-led international order faces three simultaneous challenges—a rising power in East Asia, a declining but aggressive power in Eastern Europe and the unraveling of regional order in the Middle East. Left unchecked, events in Ukraine, the East China Sea and Iraq and Syria have the potential to seriously undermine an international system that has helped to guarantee peace and stability since the end of World War II.

On October 2, the Project on International Order and Strategy and the Center for 21st Century Security and Intelligence at Brookings co-hosted an event on these growing threats and the policies or strategy the United States needs to meet these challenges. The event brought together scholars from across the Brookings Foreign Policy Program with a range of regional and functional expertise.

The first panel focused on the range of threats the international order faces and whether (and how) the United States should prioritize these challenges and threats. The second panel asked whether the United States needs new regional strategies or a new grand strategy, how the United States can deter and rollback acts of revisionism and how the campaign against the Islamic State can fit into a broader Middle East strategy. Both panels sought to address the question of whether or not the United States can ultimately restore the international order to good health.

Join the conversation on Twitter using #InternationalOrder

Audio

• The International Order Under Siege

Transcript

• Uncorrected Transcript (.pdf)

Event Materials

• 20141002_international_order_transcript

     

 

 

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During his first two months in office, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi focused on building relations with India’s neighbors. Over the next month, India’s foreign policy attention will pivot to the Asia-Pacific. Prime Minister Modi has just returned from Japan and is expected to visit Australia later this year. Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj has asserted that India must not just “look east,” but also "act east.” She has traveled to Myanmar, Singapore and Vietnam, where the Indian president also has a planned visit. Recent official visits to India have included the Chinese and Singaporean foreign ministers, and will soon include the Australian prime minister and the Chinese president. In addition, Prime Minister Modi will travel to the United States for bilateral meetings with U.S. President Barack Obama later this month.

On September 9, The India Project at Brookings hosted an event on India’s “Act East” policy to discuss these developments, the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead, as well as the implications for Indian policy broadly. The first panel focused on India-China relations, outlining their strategic and economic interactions in the context of Chinese president Xi Jinping’s visit to India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The second panel examined India's relations with Japan, South Korea and a number of Southeast Asian countries. Panelists also explored how the U.S. rebalance to this region might interact with India’s approach to it.

Join the conversation on Twitter using #ModiAsia

Video

• India's Asia-Pacific Policy: From "Look East" to "Act East"

Audio

• India's Asia-Pacific Policy: From "Look East" to "Act East

Transcript

• Uncorrected transcript (.pdf)

Event Materials

• 20140909_india_east_asia_transcript

     

 

 

China’s rise presents the United States with a series of difficult challenges, including disputes in the South China Sea. If and when it is peaceful, the U.S. should welcome it. Management of major global issues or areas of tension, such as nonproliferation, rivalry in the western Pacific, terrorism, the Iranian and North Korean nuclear program, frictions across the Taiwan Strait, climate change and energy security, will be immeasurably more difficult if U.S.-China relations become basically hostile. But if and when China’s rise takes a coercive turn, the U.S. needs to push back. In the coming years, China’s rise is likely to present many specific cases that require U.S. judgment on how to react. The maritime territorial disputes in the South China Sea currently highlight this challenge.

In a Brookings Foreign Policy Brief, Jeffrey Bader, Kenneth Lieberthal and Michael McDevitt discuss the significance of the South China Sea disputes and make recommendations for U.S. principles and practice. They argue that the U.S. must clearly define what are its interests in the area, namely protecting civilian and military freedom of navigation, preventing coercive resolution of disputes, preserving the international rules established by the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) determining claims to maritime rights and maintaining good relations with all of the six claimants to South China Sea land features. They also contend that the U.S. needs to understand what is not in its interest, namely taking a position on who has superior rights to any particular land feature, choosing sides rather than defending principles, treating the South China Sea as a venue for strategic rivalry with China or staking U.S. credibility on matters where the U.S. has no intention of, or interest in, acting decisively.

Pursuant to these interests, the authors propose a series of recommendations for the U.S. government, including:

• U.S. ratification of UNCLOS,
• Basing diplomacy on international law, including encouraging clarification by China and Taiwan of “nine-dash line” that is consistent with UNCLOS,
• Support for expeditious agreement on a Code of Conduct between ASEAN countries and China,
• Encourage all claimants to avoid new military construction in disputed land features,
• Partial relaxation of the U.S. arms embargo against Vietnam,
• Adopt a favorable attitude toward joint development of energy resources in disputed waters and encourage acceptance of traditional fishing rights for claimants until Exclusive Economic Zones enjoying international recognition can be negotiated, and
• Lowering the volume of U.S. government rhetoric over unilateral actions in the South China Sea that produce minor alterations in the status quo.

     

 

 

In the Brookings Foreign Policy Brief, “Keeping the South China Sea in Perspective,” Jeffrey Bader, Kenneth Lieberthal and Michael McDevitt outline steps the United States can take to pursue U.S. interests in the South China Sea and mitigate current disputes. Read the overview below and download the full brief for detailed analysis and a complete list of recommendations.

The United States seeks to promote Asia-Pacific economic interdependence and dynamism and to mitigate security tensions in the region. Unfortunately, maritime territorial disputes in the East China Sea and the South China Sea increasingly threaten these dual objectives of U.S.-Asia policy. This policy brief focuses on the South China Sea set of issues.

Complex Rivalries and Claims in the South China Sea

The South China Sea disputes pit China against five other claimants—the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan, many of which have maritime territorial claims that also overlap with each other—and involve a potent mix of:

• Highly emotional territorial claims in a region of rising nationalism.
• Risks of accidental conflict that could escalate.
• Conflicting claims to potentially rich resources.
• Risks to freedom of navigation in exclusive economic zones (EEZs).
• Disputes over the interpretation and applicability of international law, notably the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

U.S. Principles and Interests

At the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum meeting in Hanoi in July 2010, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton laid out the principles guiding the U.S. government’s policy toward the South China Sea. A positive U.S. role in the South China Sea is possible building on the principles that Secretary Clinton enunciated in 2010, but only if the implementing diplomatic strategy is forward-looking, comprehensive, disciplined and sound.

Recommendations for a Diplomatic Strategy

The United States should:

• Reiterate its insistence on freedom of navigation and overflight, including in EEZs, for military as well as civilian ships and planes, and act accordingly if challenged.
• Focus its diplomatic strategy on persuading the ASEAN countries and China to:

◦ Adhere to UNCLOS criteria to delineate all South China Sea maritime rights as determined by the relevant land features; and
◦ Negotiate a Code of Conduct that codifies agreed rules, procedures and regulations.

• Ratify the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea.
• Call on Beijing to clarify its position on the “nine dash line” consistent with the relevant provisions of UNCLOS. Press Taiwan to provide a similar clarification.
• Be very disciplined in defining the key interests that it would, if necessary, use force to back up.
• Call out all countries, not only China, when they take actions or make threats that violate the spirit of the Declaration of Conduct in the South China Sea.
• Overall, lower the temperature of official public commentary.

Downloads

• Keeping the South China Sea in Perspective