Susan Thornton on a Crisis in U.S.-China Relations

A China in the World Podcast

By Paul Haenle & Susan Thornton on April 15, 2019

Over three years into Trump’s presidency, U.S.-China trade and economic issues remain unresolved while security concerns are creeping into the bilateral agenda. Thornton contends that Washington and Beijing should quickly agree on an initial trade agreement that ensures China’s further reform and opening. If the trade war were to morph into a technology war soon after its resolution, it would only cement China’s fears that the United States is trying to undermine and contain it. On North Korea, Thornton urges the Trump administration to make every last effort to continue diplomacy despite the fact that future negotiations will be more difficult due to Kim Jong-un’s apparent unwillingness to give up his nuclear deterrent. Thornton points to Taiwan and the South China Sea as regional security issues that have receded to the background of the bilateral relationship. She advocates for the Trump administration to maintain regular dialogues and working-level discussions to ensure the appropriate crisis management mechanisms are in place in the event of a crisis.

Making China Modern

By Klaus Mühlhahn on April 11, 2019

Harvard University Press: It is tempting to attribute China’s recent ascendance to changes in political leadership and economic policy. Making China Modern teaches otherwise. Moving beyond the standard framework of Cold War competition and national resurgence, Klaus Mühlhahn situates 21st-century China in the nation’s long history of creative adaptation.

In the mid-18th century, when the Qing Empire reached the height of its power, China dominated a third of the world’s population and managed its largest economy. But as the Opium Wars threatened the nation’s sovereignty from without and the Taiping Rebellion ripped apart its social fabric from within, China found itself verging on free fall. A network of family relations, economic interdependence, institutional innovation, and structures of governance allowed citizens to regain their footing in a convulsing world. In China’s drive to reclaim regional centrality, its leaders looked outward as well as inward, at industrial developments and international markets offering new ways to thrive.

Excerpts:

“Reform and Opening: China’s Turning Point,” Los Angeles Review of Books China Channel, February 7, 2019

“Can Environmental Activism Succeed in China?,” Literary Hub, January 28, 2019

Clark Fonda

on April 8, 2019

Clark Fonda is a former U.S. Congressional Chief of Staff and was an original co-author and House-lead of the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (FIRRMA), a bill signed into law that strengthened and modernized the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States and U.S. export controls. He is currently a Senior Fellow at the Prague Security Studies Institute – Washington.

Clark’s successful, multi-year effort on FIRRMA helped redefine and steer U.S. trade and national security policy with China. His collective work on the bill helped garner formal endorsements from the President, multiple Cabinet Secretaries, five current and former Secretaries of Defense, and several private sector stakeholder companies.

Clark has spoken publicly on China policy numerous times, including addressing over 200 foreign Members of Parliament at multiple inter-parliamentary forum dialogues. He has a Bachelor’s in Political Science from the University of Southern California and a Master’s in Irregular Warfare from the U.S. Naval War College. He is currently an evening student at the George Washington University Law School and is scheduled to graduate with a J.D. in May 2019.

Lucrezia Poggetti

on April 8, 2019

Lucrezia Poggetti’s research focuses on EU-China relations, including sub-regional formats like the 16+1 framework, as well as China’s public diplomacy strategies in Europe. Prior to joining MERICS, she gained professional experience at the Delegation of the European Union to China working on Chinese domestic politics. Poggetti holds a Master’s degree in Chinese Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and has spent one year at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou studying Mandarin.

How Should Europe Handle Relations with China?

A ChinaFile Conversation

By Thorsten Benner, Ilaria Carrozza & more on April 8, 2019

When Xi Jinping visited Europe in late March, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker portrayed the future of EU-China relations in mixed terms: “We are strategic partners, and yes, rivals,” he said, “but competition among us is a good thing.” Indeed, EU member states have been at odds about China for a while, and deteriorating U.S.-China relations are complicating matters. The U.S. is pressuring its European allies to limit the market presence of the Chinese technology giant Huawei, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently visiting Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia to raise the alarm. Italy, which in late March became the first G7 member to join China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), may work with the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. Meanwhile, Germany and the UK are forging their own formulas for restrictions and partnerships.

Maria Adele Carrai

on April 8, 2019

Maria Adele Carrai is a sinologist and political scientist with an interest in conceptual history and the history of international law. She is currently a recipient of a three-year Marie Curie Fellowship at KU Leuven and a Fellow at Harvard University Asia Center. Dr. Carrai has published in various peer-reviewed journals. Her first book, Sovereignty in China. A Genealogy of a Concept since 1840 (Cambridge University Press, 2019) provides a historical perspective through which to better understand the path China is taking as a normative actor within the international order. Relying on her previous work, her new research project investigates how China’s rise as a global power is shaping norms and is redefining the international distribution of power. Dr. Carrai completed her Ph.D. in Law at the University of Hong Kong. She was a Research Fellow at Columbia University’s Italian Academy, a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Princeton-Harvard China and the World Program, Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute, and Global Hauser Fellow at the New York University Law School.

Matej Šimalčík

on April 7, 2019

Matej Šimalčík is Executive Director of the Institute of Asian Studies, a think tank based in Slovakia. In his research, he focuses on Chinese foreign and security policy, strategic culture, territorial conflicts, and relations between China and Europe. He is a member of ChinfluenCE, a regional initative aimed at monitoring China’s economic and political influence in Central Europe, where he acts as national coordinator for Slovakia. Matej studied Law at the Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia and International Relations (East Asian Studies) at the University of Groningen in Netherlands. Previously, he was a Legal Counsel to the Slovak branch of Transparency International (2016-2018).