China in the World

The Trump administration has taken a more confrontational approach to bilateral relations with China, implementing tariffs on nearly half of all Chinese exports to the United States and treating Beijing as a strategic competitor across many aspects of the relationship. In this podcast, Paul Haenle spoke with Abigail Grace, a research associate in the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, on the changing dynamics of U.S. relations with China, and the U.S. Free and Open Indo-Pacific strategy.

In this episode of the China in the World podcast, Paul Haenle joined Kaiser Kuo, editor-at-large of SupChina, to discuss next steps for DPRK diplomacy and tensions between the United States and China over trade, Taiwan, and the Belt and Road Initiative.Haenle shared his experience working as White House representative to the Six-party talks in the Bush administration. He said China’s relations with North Korea reached a historic low in 2017 due to the leadership's frustration with Pyongyang's provocative nuclear and missile tests, leading to Beijing's increased willingness to join the international maximum pressure campaign. Haenle argued the Singapore summit reduced U.S. leverage with North Korea and produced a vague statement which failed to advance denuclearization. On the U.S.-China trade dispute, Haenle urged the Trump administration to work closely with U.S. allies who share concerns about China's industrial policies, market access restrictions, and intellectual property rights violations. He expressed concern over the lack of a comprehensive U.S. strategy toward China, especially with regard to cross-Strait relations and the Belt and Road Initiative.

The release of the Trump Administration’s Nuclear Posture Review earlier this year emphasized the growing threat of nuclear competition in the Asia-Pacific, specifically with reference to Russia, North Korea, and China. In this podcast, Tong Zhao sat down with David Santoro, Director and Senior Fellow of Nuclear Policy Programs at the Pacific Forum, to explore pressing nuclear issues in the region and their implications for the U.S.-China relationship.

China has taken significant steps to implement national strategies and encourage investment aimed at surpassing the U.S. in high-tech fields like artificial intelligence. In this podcast, Paul Haenle sat down with Elsa Kania, Adjunct Fellow at the Center for a New American Security and Carnegie-Tsinghua Young Ambassador, to discuss the growing competition in the development of technology and innovation on the U.S.-China relationship and the consequences for future cooperation in these fields.

Trade tensions between the U.S. and China continue to escalate, accentuating disagreements on economic policy and fueling competition over emerging technologies. In this podcast, Paul Haenle sat down with Chen Dingding, professortch of International Relations at Jinan University, to discuss Chinese reactions to the ongoing trade dispute and bilateral competition surrounding strategic technologies like artificial intelligence.

China’s “Made in China 2025” policy to upgrade its industry plays a central role in the ongoing U.S.-China trade tensions. Paul Haenle sat down with Paul Triolo, practice head of Geo-technology at the Eurasia Group, to discuss how the initiative impacts and challenges the U.S. and global economies, and how best to formulate policies in response.

On June 12th President Donald Trump and Kim Jung-un will sit down for a historic summit at Sentosa Island in Singapore. The summit follows a year of rapid change on the Korean peninsula as North Korea accelerated the development of its nuclear weapons program. Just days before the summit, Paul Haenle sat down with Ambassador Chris Hill, the Chief Negotiator for the Six Party Talks during the Bush Administration, to analyze the objectives of the United States, North Korea, China, South Korea, and other regional players heading into the summit, providing insights on the potential successes and pitfalls of the meeting.

Ambassador William J. Burns served for over three decades at the highest levels of the U.S. government shaping U.S. foreign policy through significant international moments. Now, as president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Ambassador Burns spoke with Paul Haenle about future of U.S. diplomacy, the rise of China, and the Trump-Kim summit in Singapore.

Following a year marked by mounting tensions between China and India, President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi met in Wuhan for an informal summit in April to reset the relationship. On the heels of their meeting, Paul Haenle sat down with C. Raja Mohan, director of Carnegie India, to discuss the implications for the future of China-India relations.

Kim Jong-un became the first North Korean leader to step foot in South Korea at the Panmunjom Summit in April 2018, setting the stage for President Trump’s meeting with Kim in June. Just days after the summit, Paul Haenle spoke with Dr. Tong Zhao, a fellow in the Nuclear Policy Program based at the Carnegie–Tsinghua Center for Global Policy, on the significance of the Kim-Moon meeting and its implications for China and the United States.

The rise of populism in Europe and United States has had a pronounced impact on domestic politics and foreign policy, as seen in Brexit and the election of Donald Trump. In this podcast, Paul Haenle sat down with Thomas Carothers, Senior Vice President for Studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, to discuss the rise of populist and anti-establishment movements and their implications for China.

Vladimir Putin was elected to his fourth term as president of Russia on March 18, 2018. His continued leadership has important implications for the international community, including China. On this episode of the China in the World Podcast, Paul Haenle sat down with Alexander Gabuev, senior fellow and the chair of the Russia in the Asia-Pacific Program at the Carnegie Moscow Center, to discuss the state of Russia-China relations, including issues like the Belt and Road Initiative and North Korea.

The rise of China and the election of Donald Trump have had major implications for Europe’s strategic outlook. European nations increasingly need to balance both the benign opportunities and malign consequences of increased Chinese investment and influence in the region. They must also take into account new frictions in the transatlantic relationship. In this podcast, Paul Haenle sat down with Erik Brattberg, director of the Europe Program and a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, to discuss similarities and differences in European and American engagement with China as well as shifting perceptions of China in Europe.

Changes in regional politics around the North Korea issue, including growing speculation about a preemptive U.S. strike on North Korea and a warming in North-South relations ahead of the PyeongChang Olympics have generated new debates in China on its North Korea policy. In part two of this two-part podcast, Paul Haenle sat down with Jia Qingguo, Dean of the School of International Studies at Peking University, to discuss the possibility of a preemptive military strike on North Korea, the stability of the North Korean regime, and the dangers of North Korea’s weapons program for international nuclear proliferation.

Changes in regional politics around the North Korea issue, including growing speculation about a preemptive U.S. strike on North Korea and a warming in North-South relations ahead of the PyeongChang Olympics have generated new debates in China on its North Korea policy. In part one of this two-part podcast, Paul Haenle sat down with Jia Qingguo, Dean of the School of International Studies at Peking University, to discuss recent shifts in regional geopolitics, debates around Chinese leverage over North Korea, and developments that could lead to greater U.S.-China cooperation to resolve the issue.

In 2013 on the first episode of the China in the World Podcast, Paul Haenle spoke with Stephen Hadley, former national security advisor to President George W. Bush, about the potential for a “new type of great power relations” between the United States and China. Four years later, on the 100th episode of the podcast, Hadley joined Haenle again to discuss how U.S. foreign policy has adapted to new realities in the bilateral relationship amidst a shifting global order.

As the chief commercial advocate for US businesses in the policymaking process, the Commerce department plays a crucial role in the U.S.-China trade and economic relationship. In the 99th episode of the China of the World Podcast, Paul Haenle spoke with former U.S. Secretary of Commerce and founder and Chairman of PSP Capital, Penny Pritzker, to discuss the role of the Commerce Department in U.S. foreign relations.

Power in the world is increasingly being measured and exercised in economic terms with China and other significant countries already treating economic power as a core part of their statecraft. But Jake Sullivan, a former senior official in the Obama administration, argues in this podcast with Paul Haenle that there is a disconnect in U.S. grand strategy in linking foreign policy with national economic policies. The U.S. policy community, Sullivan said, needs to examine how to better use economic tools and influence to advance national security objectives—questions that Sullivan is working to address in his new role as senior fellow in the Carnegie Geoeconomics and Strategy Program.

What is the future of geopolitics and U.S. engagement in the Asia-Pacific following President Donald Trump’s first official state visit to the region? In this podcast, Paul Haenle sat down with Daniel Russel, former special assistant to President Obama and senior director for Asian Affairs on the National Security Council, to discuss the major outcomes of Trump’s visit, the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy, and the pressing security issue of North Korea.

North Korea was atop the list of priorities for President Donald Trump during his first visit to China, but it remains to be seen how much substantive progress was made on bringing parties closer to dialogue toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. In this episode of the China in the World Podcast, Paul Haenle joined Carnegie Vice President for Communications and Strategy Jen Psaki on the Carnegie Endowment’s DiploPod podcast to discuss Chinese perspectives on North Korea and the outcomes of Trump’s visit to Beijing.

Despite intense scrutiny and analysis surrounding China’s economy, there is still no consensus on how best to understand China’s increasingly complex markets. How should we view China’s economy and what are key indicators for its future development? In this podcast, Paul Haenle sat down with Carnegie Senior Fellow Yukon Huang to discuss his new book, Cracking the China Conundrum: Why Conventional Economic Wisdom Is Wrong and evaluate pressing issues in U.S.-China economic relations.

A fierce debate is raging in China over the best policy for dealing with North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs. Recent rhetoric between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jung-un, in which both men publicly attacked and shamed each other, has further complicated and added urgency to that debate. In this podcast, Paul Haenle spoke with Dr. Cheng Xiaohe, an associate professor at the School of International Studies and Deputy Director of Center for China’s International Strategic Studies at Renmin University of China, to discuss the internal debate on China’s North Korea policy and understand the implications of Trump and Kim Jung-un’s heated rhetoric.

What are Chinese “red lines” when it comes to the Korean Peninsula? What further actions by Pyongyang might lead China to fundamentally shift its approach to one that involves more comprehensive pressure and sanctions, such as a complete oil embargo? In this podcast, Dr. Tong Zhao, a fellow in Carnegie’s Nuclear Policy Program based at the Carnegie–Tsinghua Center for Global Policy, tells Paul Haenle that while the sixth nuclear test did not cross a Chinese “red line”, there are actions North Korea could take that would do so.Most notably, if North Korea were to launch a nuclear warhead and detonate it over the Pacific Ocean, that would cross Beijing’s “red line” and lead to a significantly harsher stance towards the regime, Zhao argued. This is especially alarming given statements by North Korea’s Foreign Minister, Ri Yong Ho, on September 22nd, that indicated North Korea may be preparing to do just that.

The United States and China agreed in 2015 that neither government would support or conduct cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property, and committed to working with international partners to identify appropriate norms in cyberspace. Both countries are expected to continue discussions on a broad range of cybersecurity issues at the Law Enforcement and Cyber Security Dialogue, established during the Mar-a-Lago summit in April . In this podcast, Paul Haenle sat down with Tim Maurer, co-director and fellow at the Carnegie Endowment’s new Cyber Policy Initiative, to discuss the global debate surrounding cyber norms and the outlook for future collaboration on cybersecurity.

A positive relationship between the United States and China, the world’s two largest economies, is crucial for promoting global growth and development. The bilateral relationship, however, has become increasingly fraught by disagreements over what a “fair” economic relationship entails. In this podcast, Paul Haenle sat down with Carnegie Senior Fellow Yukon Huang to discuss major issues in U.S.-China economic relations.Yukon explained that many Americans incorrectly attribute the United States’ large trade deficit with China to bilateral issues, when trade is inherently a multilateral dynamic. Yukon noted other factors which drive the U.S. trade deficit with China, such as the diverging average savings rate per household in the two countries. In the coming years, Yukon predicted U.S. companies will continue to advocate for China to loosen restrictive investment barriers, especially in the service sector. While China recently indicated it is willing to further open up industries to foreign investment, it remains unclear when these changes will go into effect. Yukon argued that as China continues to develop, regional trade agreements like the former Trans-Pacific Partnership will help apply outside pressure for China to implement domestic reforms. In his view, a regional trade agreement is in in the interest of all parties.

Despite widespread international condemnation of North Korea’s recent inter-continental ballistic missile test, strategic distrust and misperceptions continue to impede deeper cooperation between the United States and China on the nuclear issue. In this podcast, Paul Haenle sat down with Evans Revere, senior director at Albright Stonebridge Group and former principal deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, to discuss the recent DPRK ICBM test and how the United States and China can respond to enhance regional security.

The United States and China have found areas for cooperation on global issues in recent years, including on the Paris Climate Agreement, the Iran nuclear deal, and global pandemics. Despite these successes, relations remain hindered by systematic mistrust and misunderstanding. In this podcast, Paul Haenle sat down with David Firestein, Perot fellow and senior vice president at the EastWest Institute, to discuss his recent report “’Alternative’ Strategic Perceptions in U.S.-China Relations,” which analyzes fundamental misconceptions that are impacting bilateral relations.

As the post-World War II order adjusts to a rising China, America’s predominance in the Asia-Pacific faces new challenges. Over the past five years, China has substantially built up its navy and demonstrated more assertive behavior toward its territorial claims in the South China Sea. In this podcast, Paul Haenle sat down with Robert Ross, a political science professor at Boston College and an associate at the John King Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University, to discuss the shifting tides in the Asia-Pacific and what this means for the new Trump administration.

President Trump will travel to Europe in May for his first time since taking office to meet with EU leaders, attend a NATO meeting, and visit the organization’s headquarters in Brussels. Although he has walked back some of his more extreme criticisms of the European project and transatlantic organization from the campaign, Trump’s unpredictability remains a concern for many American allies. In this podcast, Paul Haenle sat down with Tomas Valasek, the director of Carnegie Europe and former permanent representative of the Slovak Republic to NATO, to discuss the future of transatlantic relations and what shifting dynamics across Europe could mean for China.

One hundred days into Donald Trump’s presidency, he has shocked the establishment and foreign governments with many foreign policy reversals, and also some surprising areas of consistency. In this podcast, Paul Haenle sat down with Jon Finer, former chief of staff to Secretary of State John Kerry and director of policy planning at the U.S. Department of State, to discuss the major takeaways from Trump’s first 100 days in office, and the future of U.S.-China engagement.

This fall, China and India’s leaders will meet during the 9th Annual BRICS Summit in Xiamen. The meeting comes on the heels of a tense year for the two countries, as long-simmering border disputes reignited and China blocked India's bid to join the nuclear suppliers group. In this podcast, Paul Haenle sat down with Raja Mohan, Director of the Carnegie Endowment’s Carnegie-India Center, to discuss India's shifting dynamics with the United States and China in the wake of Trump's election.

One week before their first in-person meeting, President Trump told the Twitter world that he expected the dialogue with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to be "a very difficult one" unless China was prepared to make major concessions on issues like trade and North Korea. At Mar-a-lago, however, the two leaders appeared to build a congenial rapport. Shortly following their meeting, Paul Haenle spoke with Dr. Zha Daojiong, a professor of International Political Economy at Peking University and a Senior Arthur Ross Fellow at the Center on U.S. China Relations at the Asia Society, to discuss his reaction to the summit.

All eyes are on Mar-a-lago this week, where Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump will meet for their first time. The summit is expected to be heavy on symbolism rather than on concrete deliverables, but the ability to set a positive tone and foundation for the relationship will be significant nevertheless. Ahead of this meeting, Paul Haenle discussed the Trump administration's foreign policy in its early months and expected outcomes for the Trump-Xi meeting with Ashley J. Tellis, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and former special assistant to the President on the National Security Council under George W. Bush.

While President Trump appoints new officials to his administration and reviews policy frameworks, Asia-Pacific leaders are moving ahead. Since taking office, Trump has grappled with consequential developments in the region from North Korea's ballistic missile tests to the removal of South Korea's Park Geun-hye. In part two of this two-part podcast, Paul Haenle discussed the future of U.S. strategy in the Asia-Pacific under the Trump administration with Dr. Michael Green, CSIS Senior Vice President for Asia and Japan Chair, Georgetown University professor, and former senior director for Asia on the White House National Security Council.

While President Trump appoints new officials to his administration and reviews policy frameworks, Asia-Pacific leaders are moving ahead. Since taking office, Trump has grappled with consequential developments in the region from North Korea's ballistic missile tests to the removal of South Korea's Park Geun-hye. In part one of this two-part podcast, Paul Haenle discussed the future of U.S. strategy in the Asia-Pacific under the Trump administration with Dr. Michael Green, CSIS Senior Vice President for Asia and Japan Chair, Georgetown University professor, and former senior director for Asia on the White House National Security Council.

The Trump administration has spurred a debate in the United States on how to best manage the complex bilateral relationship with Russia. Paul Haenle sat down with Carnegie scholars Andrew Weiss, Paul Stronski, and Alexander Gabuev on the sidelines of the Carnegie Global Dialogue to discuss the implications of changes in the Trump administration's Russia and China policies for China-Russia relations.

The U.S.-China relationship is pivotal to the world order. U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized China during his campaign and since his inauguration. Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy Director Paul Haenle sat down with Tom Carver, vice president for communications and strategy for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, to discuss Trump’s direct assaults on the cornerstones of the U.S.-China relationship, and assess the administration’s confrontational approach to questions such as the One China policy, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and North Korea. Haenle also addressed the pressures facing Chinese President Xi Jinping as he approaches the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and how conceptions of China’s role in the world are shifting within the country.

Dr. Evan Medeiros, former NSC Senior Director for Asian Affairs under the Obama administration, and Paul Haenle, former NSC China Director under the George W. Bush administration, pick apart the significance of President Trump's phone call to Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday night, in which Trump said the U.S. would honor our "One China" policy, and look at what's next in the U.S.-China relationship.

Two weeks into President Trump’s first term, the White House has launched a review of its North Korea policy. Dealing with the threat from Pyongyang's missile launches and nuclear weapons program is likely to top the administration's security agenda in the region. Paul Haenle spoke with Tong Zhao, a fellow in Carnegie’s Nuclear Policy Program based at the Carnegie–Tsinghua Center for Global Policy, about how North Korea and other regional security challenges will fit into the new context for U.S.-China relations under the Trump administration.

In the wake of Donald Trump's inauguration, uncertainty looms over the future of U.S China policy. In part two of this two-part podcast, Paul Haenle spoke with Chen Dingding, an international relations professor at Jinan University and Founding Director of the Intellisia Institute, about the Chinese reaction to Trump’s election and his views on how it could impact future bilateral relations.

As Donald Trump’s inauguration approaches, uncertainty looms over the future of U.S China policy. In part one of this two-part podcast, Paul Haenle spoke with Chen Dingding, an international relations professor at Jinan University and Founding Director of the Intellisia Institute, about the Chinese reaction to Trump’s election and his views on how it could impact future bilateral relations.

With the United States leadership role in the fight against climate change now being called into question, China has found itself in the unique position of being a global leader of the cause. In this podcast, non-resident Carnegie-Tsinghua Scholar Wang Tao spoke with Yang Fuqiang, a senior advisor on climate and energy at the National Resource Defense Council, about China's ongoing energy transition.

Donald Trump’s election promises to inject greater uncertainty and contention into the trade and investment relationship between the United States and China. In this podcast, Paul Haenle spoke with Claire Reade, a senior associate with the Freeman Chair in China Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a senior counsel at Arnold & Porter, about her experience shaping the development of U.S.-China trade and economic ties over the past decade.

Donald Trump's election in the 2016 U.S. presidential race ushers in a period of considerable uncertainty in regard to the future of U.S. policies in the Asia-Pacific and vis-a-vis its relationship with China. In this podcast, Paul Haenle spoke with Dr. Zhao Hai, a research fellow at the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University, about China’s initial reactions to Donald Trump’s election and the implications for U.S.-China relations.

The South China Sea has been a central point of tension in the U.S.-China relationship under the Obama administration. In this podcast, Paul Haenle speaks with John Bellinger, the most senior international lawyer in the George W. Bush administration, about the implications of the July international tribunal ruling on the Philippines vs. China case, and why the U.S. is not a party to the Law of the Sea convention despite the support of consecutive bipartisan administrations. Bellinger also offers his thoughts on the upcoming U.S. presidential elections, noting that the threat of terrorism from actors such as ISIS, an increasingly assertive Russia in Europe and Syria, and developments in the North Korean nuclear program would be among the top foreign policy priorities for the next U.S. administration.

Paul Haenle and Adm. Roughead discuss what the US should do to enforce the tribunal ruling on the South China Sea and why North Korea's latest nuclear and ballistic missile tests are so significant.

Carnegie-Tsinghua Director Paul Haenle speaks with Dr. Michael J. Green, senior vice president for Asia and Japan Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, on topics such as the successes and failures of Obama's most recent trip to the G20 and ASEAN-U.S. Summit, tensions in the U.S.-Phillipines relationship, and North Korea's most recent nuclear test.