Watch: Wang Huiyao in dialogue with Susan Thornton and Douglas Paal
Building a floor for the China-US relations in 2023: Scenarios and recommendations
We are thrilled to announce that Dr. Henry Wang Huiyao, founder and president of the Center for China and Globalization (CCG), will be hosting another episode of our CCG Global Dialogue Series. This episode will feature two highly esteemed guests, Susan Thornton and Douglas Paal, both former senior diplomats in Asian Affairs.
Join us as we delve into discussions surrounding current events and trends affecting the Asian region, including cross-strait relations, the balloon, and what it holds for US-China relations, with insights from these seasoned experts in the field.
The episode will be broadcasted on all of CCG's Chinese social platforms and on our YouTube channel at
10:30-11:30am, Feb. 10, 2023 (Beijing time)
21:30-22:30pm, Feb. 09, 2023 (Eastern time)
18:30-19:30pm, Feb. 09, 2023 (Pacific time)
To access our broadcast, you can scan the QR code or click the link below.
2022 turned out to be an annus horribilis for the relationship between the world’s two largest economies, especially in August when tensions culminated over then House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s controversial visit to Taiwan. Following the meeting between President Joe Biden and President Xi Jinping at the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali last November, the new year of 2023 seems to boast guarded hope at a reprieve in the turbulent relationship. However, the incident of a high-altitude Chinese balloon flying over US airspace just before US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s scheduled visit to China and the US shooting it down complicated an attempt by Washington and Beijing to build new guardrails around the bilateral competition.
2023 is a critical year for the bilateral relations with a new US congress inaugurated in January and the Chinese “two sessions” due to install a new administration soon in March. The Russia-Ukraine war is entering its second year of face-off and Beijing’s relationship with Moscow will have far-reaching implications for US-China relations. Amid tensions and uncertainties, Taiwan can be the biggest flashpoint in 2023. Republican House speaker Kevin McCarthy may well trigger another Taiwan crisis should he decide to follow in his predecessor’s footsteps. A miscalculation on either side could simply ratchet up tensions that can make war feel more realistic across the strait.
This program features two leading experts on US-China relations - Susan A. Thornton and Douglas Paal at an inflection point, tapping into their extensive knowledge and experience in China, especially in Taiwan, as they both participated in previous administrations’ China policy and Taiwan policy decision-making. This dialogue will be presided over by Dr. WANG Huiyao, founder and president of the Center for China and Globalization (CCG), who has hosted more than 40 episodes of the CCG Global Dialogue series, including more recent ones featuring Larry Summers, Hank Paulson, Richard Haass, Ray Dalio, Niall Ferguson, and others.
The session will cover topics including:
Review and analysis of the trajectory of the bilateral relationship under the Biden administration
Implications of the recent diplomatic tension and recommendations for moving forward
Managing the Taiwan question in 2023: perspectives on risks and solutions
Great powers and global responsibilities: prospects and proposals for US-China cooperation on the world stage
Speakers:
Susan A. Thornton, Senior Fellow, Paul Tsai China Center at Yale University Law School
Susan A. Thornton is a Senior Fellow and research scholar at the Yale University Law School Paul Tsai China Center. She is also the director of the Forum on Asia-Pacific Security at the National Committee on American Foreign Policy and a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. She is a retired senior U.S. diplomat with almost three decades of experience. She was Acting Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the Department of State led East Asia policymaking and served in leadership positions at U.S. embassies in Central Asia, Russia, the Caucasus, and China.
Douglas H. Paal, Nonresident Scholar, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Dr. Douglas H. Paal is a nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He previously served as vice chairman of JPMorgan Chase International and was an unofficial U.S. representative to Taiwan as director of the American Institute in Taiwan. He was on the National Security Council staffs of Presidents Reagan and George H. W. Bush between 1986 and 1993 as director of Asian Affairs and then as senior director and special assistant to the president. Paal held positions in the policy planning staff at the State Department, as a senior analyst for the CIA, and at U.S. embassies in Singapore and Beijing.
WANG Huiyao, President of the Center for China and Globalization (CCG)
Dr. Henry Huiyao Wang is Founder and President of the Center for China and Globalization (CCG). He is a Counselor to the China State Council and a Vice Chairman of China Association for International Economic Cooperation (CAIEC) under the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM). He is also Vice Chairman of China Public Relations Association. He is a Professor and Dean of the Institute of Development at Southwestern University of Finance and Economics in China and a member of Advisory Committee for Global Competence Development of Tsinghua University. He is a Steering Committee Member of Paris Peace Forum. He is the editor of Springer-Nature China and Globalization Series. He has published over 100 books in English and Chinese along with hundreds of journal articles and opinion pieces on global relations, global governance, global migration, China outbound and inbound investment and trade, Chinese Diasporas and Chinese think tanks.