Taiwan and the U.S.-China Relationship with Dr. Robert Wang

September 8, 2021

Dr. Da Wei, professor in the Department of International Relations at Tsinghua University and a senior research fellow at Tsinghua’s Center for International Strategy and Security, joins host David Firestein to discuss how Chinese experts assess the current state of the U.S.-China relationship.

The discussion, situated around the 200-day mark of the Biden presidency, analyzes why the relationship between the United States and China remains about as tense and contentious as it was during the final months of the Trump Administration. The United States and China have engaged each other at high levels, but fundamental and seemingly irreconcilable differences around a host of issues – including trade, technology, human rights, Taiwan and the South China Sea, among others – remain evident.

Dr. Da speaks to the fundamental question: from a Chinese vantage point, where is the United States correctly assessing what might be termed “the China challenge” and where is the United States gauging China’s intentions incorrectly?