ChinaFile Presents: Shifting Terrain in U.S.-China Relations, Xi Jinping’s Vision for China’s Future

On March 11, ChinaFile and the Center for China Analysis (CCA) hosted a conversation between Julian Gewirtz, a historian, China expert, and former senior director for China and Taiwan Affairs at the National Security Council under President Joe Biden, and ChinaFile Editor-in-Chief and CCA Senior Fellow Susan Jakes, about the future landscape of U.S.-China relations under the new U.S. administration. They discussed the Trump administration’s plans to overturn the norms and institutions that have underpinned U.S. foreign policy for decades and helped prevent a fraught relationship from escalating into armed conflict, and how these plans could influence U.S.-China relations. They also delved into what this means for President Xi Jinping’s ambitions for China, how he perceives the opportunities and challenges facing the country, how he interprets changes in U.S. policy, and how it may affect his calculus on China’s domestic and foreign affairs toward the United States in the coming months.