BROOKINGS It could be viably argued that on the world stage of international competition in politics, economics and diplomacy the United States and China get top billing in these first 100 days of the second Trump administration especially as of late with their dueling tariffs. Now Brookings-area residents can get a first-hand view from a trio of experts as to whats going on between the pair of superpowers a quarter of the way into the 21st century.
At 5:30 p.m. April 24, in the Cooper Room at the Brookings Public Library, the South Dakota World Affairs Council will serve as local host for a 50-minute China Town Hall webcast: The First 100 Days: President Trumps China Policy, presented by the National Council on U.S.-China relations.
The discussion will be taken on by a trio of well-versed subject-matter experts
- Ryan Hess, director of the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution
- Mathew Turpin, Visiting Fellow from the Hoover Institution at Sanford University
- Lingling Wei, chief China correspondent at the Wall Street Journal
Following the podcast there will be a virtual discussion facilitated by Anna Ashton, senior fellow for Asian Pacific Trade, Investment and Innovation at the Asian Society Policy Institute.
The South Dakota World Affairs Council is chaired by Robert Burns, professor emeritus of political science and emeritus dean of the Honors College at South Dakota State University. On the world stage, SDWAC has served for more than a decade on several occasions as a local host for the annual China Town Hall webcasts presented by the National Council on U.S.-China Relations.
We have served at the local level, the chairman said. We arrange for the webcast to be shown, make arrangements for public attendance for the webcasts and host them.
Tenor of the time
Burns explained that the councils founding goes back to the 1960s, predating the Nixon Accords: It was founded with leadership from the academic community, from the business community and from the government community a collection of individuals, all dedicated to trying to improve the relations between the United States and China in the area of trade and the area of cultural exchange, education exchange, trying to temper conflict between the United States and China.
Many years later, 2007, (the National Council) started sponsorship of the China Town Hall, which is really a webcast broadcast nationally with local hosts. Local hosts can come on as a group and have the webcast shown as a group or they can arrange for individuals to come on.
In advance they give you an opportunity to put questions to the presenter or the panelists. Its all intended to improve the relations between the United States and China.
It seems to pick up on what the tenor of the times is between the United States and China, the chairman added, as to the annual focus of the webcast. Of course this year the focus will be on Trumps first 100 days and China-U.S. relations seem to be a very timely topic to focus on.
As to the political leanings of the trio of this years Town Hall participants, Burns noted: Hess comes from the Brookings Institution, which has a left of center leaning reputation; Wei from the Wall Street Journal, whose editorial board leans right of center; and Turpin from the Hoover Institution of Stanford University, which also leans right of center.
I would expect a pretty balanced objective overview of President Trumps first 100 days, particularly on how it impacts China-U.S. relations, Burns added. China is our No. 3 trading partner behind Mexico and Canada, so its obviously going to have a big impact on the U.S. economy.
Then again, if we look at the background of the panelists, I would anticipate a balanced presentation.
Free, open public
A member of the SDWAC board will host the event, but there is per se no local moderator. Frequently in past years, weve had local panels where we have had a local moderator for a local panel, Burns said. But this year, were just having an outside expert (Anna Ashton) with a virtual presentation after the webcast.
There will be some preset questions and answers during the webcast that will have been received in advance.
Burns noted that the event is free and open to all the public.
And the bottom line: This is just an opportunity for members of the public to become better informed on what is certainly a major issue confronting our nation today, the state of the economy and the impact that tariffs will have on the state of our economy.
Burns cited the SDWAC mission: to organize and present programs at the local level that will inform the public of global affairs and regional conflicts. Sometimes we look at individual nations.
The SDWAC board of directors meets ordinarily on the first Monday of each month. An SDWAC annual sustaining membership is $35. Your membership helps to provide SDWAC programming, educational opportunities and international discussions a year. Your sponsorship is tax-deductible and integral to the success of South Dakota World Affairs Council.
A look at past China Town Hall webcasts gives some idea of the heavy hitters in politics, government, diplomacy and the media who have participated: 2016-former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger; 2017-Ambassador Susan E. Rice; 2018-66th U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; and 2019-ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephenopoulos.
Contact John Kubal at [email protected].
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