Tag: politics

December China Seminar

On By friendsofewcIn Uncategorized
China Seminar – Thursday, December 12, 2024
Click Here to View Recording

Bolstering China’s Economy:
Too Little, Too Late?

featuring
Richard Hornik
Senior Adjunct Fellow
East-West Center

Speaker’s summary:
After months of dithering, reportedly due to Xi Jinping’s opposition, Beijing finally began in September to address the PRC’s economic stagnation with measures designed to increase the amount of credit available in the economy. Shortly after Donald Trump’s electoral victory — amid fears of increased tariffs — it followed up with a $1.4 trillion rescue package designed to alleviate a growing crisis in local government finances tied to the ongoing collapse in real estate values. Amid global pressure to rein in China’s overheated export drive, even Chinese economists admit that far more will need to be done to turn the economy around. Will Xi Jingping concede that the economy’s belt needs to be loosened a few more notches?

Richard Hornik is an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the East-West Center.  During his 40-year career in journalism he served as Executive Editor of AsiaWeek, News Service Director of TIME magazine, and TIME’s Bureau Chief in Warsaw, Boston, Beijing, and Hong Kong. He co-authored Massacre in Beijing: China’s Struggle for Democracy, and has written on China for Foreign Affairs, Fortune, The New York Times, and Wall Street Journal. He also served as Interim Editor of the Harvard Business Review. Mr. Hornik was a Lecturer at Stony Brook University from 2007-19, where he helped develop and propagate its innovative News Literacy curriculum now used in over 40 universities worldwide. He was a Visiting Lecturer at Hong Kong University in 2012 and at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in 2015, where he was also the inaugural Daniel K. Inouye Visiting Scholar. 

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 in 1977. 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.

November China Seminar

On By friendsofewcIn Uncategorized

China Seminar – Thursday, November 14, 2024
Click Here to View Recording

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.

October China Seminar

On By friendsofewcIn Uncategorized

China Seminar – Thursday, October 10, 2024, 12PM via Zoom
Click Here to View Recording

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.