November China Seminar

China Seminar – Thursday, November 14, 2024

The Quad & Strategic
Competition with China

featuring
Dr. Satu Limaye
Vice President of the East-West Center
Director of the East-West Center in Washington & Research Program

Speaker’s summary:
PRC comments on the Quad have been mixed; moving from dismissive to recent statements that consider the Quad as an American and allied/partner tool of strategic competition. Mixed assessments prevail in Quad member countries too. This seminar addresses these debates and assesses the Quad as part of hardening strategic competition with China.

Speaker’s Bio:
Dr. Satu Limaye is Vice President of the East-West Center and the Director of the East-West Center in Washington & Research Program. He created and directs the Asia Matters for America initiative and is the founding editor of the Asia Pacific Bulletin. He is also a Senior Fellow at CNA Corp (Center for Naval Analyses). He is a graduate of Georgetown University and received his doctorate from Oxford University (Magdalen College) where he was a George C. Marshall Scholar. He has also been a Henry R. Luce Scholar (Henry Luce Foundation) and Abe Fellow (Japan Foundation, Social Science Research Council, & American Council of Learned Societies). He publishes and speaks widely on Indo-Pacific regional issues and supports various US government, foundation, fellowship, and professional organizations. He served on the Center for New American Security (CNAS) Task Force on the US-Philippines Alliance, United States Institute of Peace (USIP) Senior Study Group on the North Pacific, Project 2049 Study Group on the US-Australia Alliance, and Global Taiwan Institute-Taiwan Asia Exchange Foundation project on Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy. He serves on the Global Taiwan Institute International Advisory Board, editorial board of East Asian Policy (East Asia Institute, National University of Singapore), regional editor of Global Asia (East Asia Foundation, ROK), and International Editorial Advisory Board, Asian Politics & Policy.


The views expressed are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect East-West Center policies or positions. Affairs

The China Seminar was founded by Dr. Daniel W.Y. Kwok 47 years ago. Under his guidance, it became a signature program of the Friends of the East-West Center (FEWC) in 2009. The program provides an informal venue for China experts, such as scholars, diplomats, and journalists, to present talks on aspects of China that interest the community and members of the Friends. Topics include politics, economics, social issues, history, culture, food, arts, and many other subjects. Though Dr. Kwok has recently retired from his involvement with the program, the FEWC and the East-West Center remain committed to continuing this important program.

2024 FEWC Annual Meeting

Wednesday, November 6, 2024
11:30 am – 1:30 pm
Hawaiʻi IMIN International Conference Center
Garden Level Rooms

You are cordially invited to the 2024 Friends of the East-West Center Annual Meeting featuring keynote speaker, The Honorable John Waiheʻe, former Governor of the State of Hawaiʻi and Chair of the East-West Center Board of Governors.

A brief meeting of our general membership will be held prior to the program to elect new members to the Friends of the East-West Center board of directors. The following nominees are:

– Maura Okamoto
-Susan Stahl

Program:
11:30 a.m. – Brief Business Meeting
12:00 p.m. – Lunch
12:30 p.m. – Program

October China Seminar

China Seminar – Thursday, October 10, 2024, 12PM via Zoom

Does International Human Rights Law
Still Matter in Hong Kong?

featuring
Carole J. Petersen
Cades Foundation Professor
William S. Richardson School of Law
University of Hawaiʻi at Manoā

Speaker’s summary:
The National Security Law, which was imposed on Hong Kong in 2020, takes precedence over local law and has profoundly affected civil liberties and the right to fair trial. But that does not mean that international human rights law no-longer matters in Hong Kong. In cases that do not affect Beijing’s core interests, local judges are still enforcing human rights treaties and ruling against the local government. This is particularly evident in strategic litigation to advance the rights of the LGBT community and the rights of asylum seekers. If the local government is serious about trying to rebuild Hong Kong’s international reputation then it should accept and fully implement these rulings. 

Speaker’s Bio:
Carole J. Petersen is the Cades Foundation Professor in the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaiʻi at Manoā. She taught law in Hong Kong from 1989 to 2006 and continues to research human rights in the territory. In 2023, she published: Territorial Autonomy as a Tool of Conflict Resolution? Lessons from “One Country, Two Systems” in Hong Kong, in the ACADEMIA SINICA LAW JOURNAL, 2022 Special Issue 195-243, available at https://www.iias.sinica.edu.tw/publication_post/1379/9. Professor Petersen holds a BA from the University of Chicago, a JD from Harvard Law School, and a Postgraduate Diploma in the Law of the People’s Republic of China from the University of Hong Kong.


The views expressed are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect East-West Center policies or positions. Affairs

The China Seminar was founded by Dr. Daniel W.Y. Kwok 47 years ago. Under his guidance, it became a signature program of the Friends of the East-West Center (FEWC) in 2009. The program provides an informal venue for China experts, such as scholars, diplomats, and journalists, to present talks on aspects of China that interest the community and members of the Friends. Topics include politics, economics, social issues, history, culture, food, arts, and many other subjects. Though Dr. Kwok has recently retired from his involvement with the program, the FEWC and the East-West Center remain committed to continuing this important program.