ChinaFile Conversation
The ChinaFile Conversation is a regular, real-time discussion of China news, from a group of the world’s leading China experts.
Last Updated: March 22, 2022
Conversation
02.05.17Is The White House Beginning to Resemble Zhongnanhai?
Since Donald Trump was sworn into office on January 20, he has lied repeatedly about the size of the crowd at his inauguration, embraced xenophobic policies, and declareda “running war with the media.” The White House has frozen out the...
Conversation
01.27.17TPP is Dead, Now What?
On Monday, on his first full working day as president, Donald Trump officially withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a 12-nation trade pact that did not include China and did not have the votes to...
Conversation
01.18.17U.S.-China Flashpoints in the Age of Trump
Over the past year, Donald Trump has vowed to “utterly destroy” ISIS, considered lifting sanctions on Russia, promised to cancel the Paris climate agreement and “dismantle” the Iran nuclear deal. But many of his most inflammatory statements are...
Conversation
12.30.16Rex Tillerson at State: What Will He Mean for U.S.-China Relations?
On December 13, President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team announced the selection of ExxonMobil Chief Executive Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State. We asked ChinaFile contributors to respond to the choice with a specific focus on how Tillerson...
Conversation
12.21.16Did Oslo Kowtow to Beijing?
In 2010, the Oslo-appointed Nobel Peace Prize committee bestowed the honor on imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo. Furious with the selection of Liu, a human rights advocate, who is currently serving an 11-year prison sentence on spurious...
Conversation
12.05.16Should Washington Recalibrate Relations with Taipei?
On Friday, Donald Trump shocked the China-watching world when news broke that he had spoken on the phone to Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen. The call was remarkable not for its content—Tsai’s office said she told Trump she hoped the United States “...
Conversation
11.28.16Should Facebook Self-Censor to Enter the Chinese Market?
The social network Facebook has reportedly developed software to suppress posts from users’ feeds in targeted geographic areas, a feature created to help the giant social media network gain access to China, where it is blocked. Facebook Chief...
Conversation
11.21.16Will China Take the Lead on Climate Change?
At a time when the world is looking to China and the United States, the leading emitters of greenhouse gasses, to cooperate under the terms of the Paris Climate Change Agreement of 2015, will China now take the lead in fighting climate change?
Conversation
11.15.16Should China’s Neighbors Rely on the U.S. for Protection?
President-elect Donald Trump campaigned on a platform of neo-isolationism that could see many traditional U.S. allies in Asia left without Washington’s support in the newly roiled waters of the South- and East China Seas. What will the governments...
Conversation
11.09.16How Should Trump Deal with China, and How Should China Deal with Trump?
Donald J. Trump, president-elect of the United States, spent much of his antagonistic campaign blaming China for many of America’s economic ills, and repeatedly making thinly veiled threats of a U.S. trade war with Beijing. How should Trump engage...
Conversation
11.07.16The Chinese Communist Party, with Xi Jinping at the Core
In late October, the Chinese Communist Party anointed Xi Jinping as a “core leader.” While the position doesn’t come with any formal responsibilities, its symbolism is important. According to The New York Times, it shows that senior Party officials...
Conversation
10.27.16What Does Xi Jinping’s Top-Down Leadership Mean for Innovation in China?
One of the hallmarks of Xi Jinping’s leadership has been a centralization of power across a whole range of areas of domestic politics. This week, the Chinese Communist Party’s leadership meets in Beijing for the sixth plenary session of its 18th...