21st Century China Center

Much is hanging on the balance for American democracy today. Check out this latest #ChinaThroughlines episode with Jeff Wasserstrom in conversation with Paul Pickowicz about Hong Kong's movement for democracy on the brink. https://youtu.be/jXfkN5GnDNI

Our friends at the University Library System at Pitt and The Henry Luce Foundation produced this vital documentary of Chinese Cultural Revolution memories of those who experienced it, and featuring scholars including Prof. Paul Pickowicz. Watch the trailer below and RSVP for the premier screening on November 12 here https://calendar.pitt.edu/event/therevolutiontheyremember

Poverty alleviation has always been a core policy goal of the Chinese government. How far have China's anti-poverty policies gone? Will China achieve its goals ...by the end of 2020 as announced? This week's article features School of Global Policy and Strategy student Alex Schiller’s perspective on evaluating the progress of China's anti-poverty policies. Read the article to learn more about potential systemic factors other than absolute poverty that need to be considered. https://chinafocus.ucsd.edu//rushing-to-make-the-claim-ha/

This Friday: new documentary screening and discussion on 2019 Hong Kong protest movement

Don't miss our webinar this Wednesday evening with India's former ambassador to U.S. and China, Nirupama Rao, for this important conversation with Prof. Susan Shirk. RSVP: https://ucsd.zoom.us/web/register/WN_d8C5uH96Q1afghfqV5bC4g Amb. Rao will address whether the recent India-China crisis at the Himalayan border signals the end of India's strategic autonomy at a challenging time for the Indian economy amid a pandemic.

Pacific Arts Movement's San Diego Asian Film Festival starts today! Don't miss the opening film "76 Days" - a rare and unflinching look at the pivotal lockdown period in Wuhan. #Covid19 #SDAFF

Subscribe and read the latest China 360 newsletter, featuring commentary on post-pandemic economic recovery, webcast on "Green Authoritarianism" and research on political views of Chinese international students.

WATCH: Judith Shapiro and Yifei Li discuss their new book: "China Goes Green," explaining state's use of authoritarian power through environmental campaigns past and present.

Thank you to everyone who made Day 3 of Finding Success in an Age of Crisis: China Institute's Executive Summit such a meaningful learning experience for all in...volved! The final day of our Summit focused on "Achieving Global Success - While Being Chinese" and from the many quotes we share below, there was much to say about how best to do so. It is important to engage, and the engagement we had had a positive outcome- it was putting Americans in good paying jobs. A strong relationship with China was a significant contributor to the [6,000 jobs created in Michigan as a result of Chinese investment in Michigan]. From an economic front, you need to engage: these are the two biggest economies in the world. So let’s work together! -Rick Snyder, former Governor of Michigan I think the best way to solve the competitive problems where we have issues is to show ‘coop-etition.’ You look at where the problems are and where the opportunities are. The more you understand someone the more likely you are to be able to solve the tougher issues. -Rick Snyder We can clearly work together: [COVID] is an issue we have to work together on. Many of our [CGCC-Chicago] members looked to find masks for donation in Midwest states. We brought more than a million pieces in from China. We wanted to support the frontliners. When you are part of a community, that is your job. We were proud to show this opportunity to work together. -Pin NI, President, Wanxiang Corporation America 60 percent of Chinese companies still investing in the US still feel positive about the relationship. 94% of these companies confirmed that their investment plans in the US will not change. Many say they will increase investment in the United States. This is what I call gravity: it brings people together. As long as the market is still good for both sidesI would hope this will keep going. -Pin NI Global Localization: You have to be global but you have to be localized in the market, which is the United States. The cost is not a big differentiating factor anymore. -Pin NI Sinophobia is nothing new. Back in 1882, the Exclusion Act was introducedthis went on for 60 years. We want to make sure that this doesn’t happen again. Fast forward to now, I believe we have a confluence of factors: We have a President who is racist, we have China who is ascendant, we have an electionand now we have the Pandemic. It is a perfect storm. What are we going to do about this? -Anla Cheng, Founder and CEO, SupChina The US used to wall off certain technologies. If you were an American and wanted to export them, you had to get an export license. This was a small part of the overall economy so the [US and China] economies were quite open. But now, this about 5G, it will cover social media, financial markets, manufacturing, retail, it will permeate the whole economy. And if you are in charge of national security, and a foreign country, can control that [communication network] you have to be concerned that this creates an enormous vulnerability. How do you wall off the Internet from trade and investment? Some say let’s decouple and have separate systems. All you have to do is create uncertainty, and then companies have to diversify risk and supply chains and marketing. So we have to build tall walls around small spaces. There is no real process between the US and China to have those conversations. -Tim Stratford, Managing Partner, Covington & Burling LLP (Beijing) China is not without resources, whether it is strategic or commercialit is a dangerous game to play to force the world to choose between the US and China. China still has money and still has markets. You cannot keep the money away from the technology- in past years the money has come to the technology, to the United States. The money coming from China to technology has dropped by 80-85 percent. Which means that the investment is going to Chinese companies. The only group this is not going to be good for is the United States. -Thomas Shoesmith, Partner, King & Wood Mallesons The old model of ‘engagement’ has really run its courseand if engagement has run its course, what would a post-engagement form of engagement look like? -Orville Schell, Arthur Ross Director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations, Asia Society Both the US and China are not managing our domestic affairs, our foreign affairs, or our bilateral relationship well. Having a relationship with China is more important now than ever before. We cannot have a major military engagement with China. -Stapleton Roy, Former U.S. Ambassador to China In the past when we had a dispute with China, we worked together. We did it with H1N1, and even back to SARS in 2003, but now in the face of this terrible threat, the governments weren’t able to even manage any coordination of efforts. If this was a test of US-China relations, we failed very badly. It is global threats like public health and climate change and nuclear non-proliferation [that are real issues]." -Susan Shirk, Chair of the 21st Century China Center, UCSD "The debates in China as to the best way to govern China and get along with the United States is a lot more contested than people realize. China is not a monolith. There is a lot of subrosa debate, that cannot be said openly, but a lot of people are not very happy at the elite levels about the way Xi Jinping is governing China. So the future is still a work in progress." -Susan Shirk "We need to be outspoken and tough in our policies, we need to create a kind of off-ramp and reassure Chinese decision-makers that if they are willing to make compromisesthen we are prepared to negotiate and stabilizethis very important relationship. -Susan Shirk

How are workers and firms adapting to automation anxiety and the future of work? Join China Research Workshop this Friday with Princeton Postdoc Nicole Wu to learn about the evidence from surveys among companies and employees in China's manufacturing sector. Details & RSVP: https://ucsd.zoom.us/web/register/WN_e3DZOX06TE6eabT-D-PPiQ

Join us this Wednesday for a discussion with Yale historian Odd Arne Westad on the legacies of China's reform era, and the impact on U.S.-China relations today. Co-hosted by Chinese Studies at UCSD - RSVP via Zoom: https://ucsd.zoom.us/web/register/WN_uBJfosXnRs6RBM29FSDGZg

Oct. 20 @ 4PM PT

Join us for the next virtual research workshop this Friday at 12pm: "A Theory of Power Structure and Political Stability: China vs. Europe Revisited," presented by Yang Xie, Assistant Professor of Economics, UC Riverside

Don't miss Mike Chinoy, who spoke at our Center last year on the 30th anniversary of June 4th, in this series on Hong Kong in global perspectives with our friends at Global China Center, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology https://www.eventbrite.com/e/protest-repression-and-justice