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China from a US Policy Perspective

Published by USC Bedrosian Center on

Road to the White House

The futures of China and the United States are increasingly interlinked. From an economic perspective, US deficits are funded in large part through loans from China. Those loans, in turn, are funded through China’s accumulated trade surpluses, which are vivid reminders of a declining US economic stature, at least in relative terms. Controversy swirls over the extent to which an undervalued Chinese currency is the root cause of such imbalances in trade and financial flows. From a geopolitical perspective, China is emerging as a rival for US power and influence, both in the Asia Pacific region and well beyond. This is reflected in military terms as well as in a broader competition to secure energy resources and to exert political influence and other forms of soft power. These two largest national economies are also the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, and so even the earth’s biosphere is impacted by the extent to which China and the US can jointly exercise responsible environmental stewardship. Meanwhile, students, tourists, business entrepreneurs, and NGOs continue to forge relationships with their counterparts directly, without specific reference to state-to-state relations. Moreover, these phenomena are all intertwined, as scarce resources, economic dislocation, political considerations and social interactions all feedback upon each other. Our discussion will assess how these issues may factor into US policy deliberation and election-year rhetoric and debate.

Moderated by Bedrosian Center Director, Dan Mazmanian

Featuring:

  • Eric Heikkila, Professor USC Price
  • Joshua Harris, Master of Public Administration candidate, USC Price
  • Caroline Kim, Master of Public Administration candidate, USC Price
  • Luyang Liu, Master of Arts (Economics) candidate, USC Dornsife

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