China, the United States, and COVID-19

The international community has been profoundly impacted by the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, and great powers have not been exempt from this cataclysmic shift. Both China and the United States now face serious questions as they prepare for a post-COVID-19 world, the answers to which could have serious ramifications for their relative fortunes in the coming years. Whose leadership and prestige might be enhanced, and whose might be diminished? Will Xi Jinping or President Trump be better positioned to assume a global leadership role?

To discuss these important questions, the Center for the National Interest hosted a virtual webinar moderated by Paul Heer, a former National Intelligence Officer for East Asia and our newly named Distinguished Fellow at the Center for the National Interest for China and East Asia. Joining Paul were two distinguished panelists who provided unique perspectives on how China and the United States might move forward in the wake of the coronavirus:

-Richard McGregor is a Senior Fellow at Australia’s Lowy Institute. He is an award-winning journalist and author with unrivaled experience reporting on the top-level politics and economies of east Asia, primarily China and Japan. His book The Party: The Secret World of China’s Communist Rulers won numerous awards, including the Asia Society’s 2011 award for best book on Asia. His most recent book is Xi Jinping: The Backlash.

-Michael Auslin is the Payson J. Treat Distinguished Research Fellow in Contemporary Asia at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. His latest book is Asia’s New Geopolitics: Essays on Reshaping the Indo-Pacific.

Also on hand to provide his comments and expertise was Lieutenant Wallace Gregson (Ret., USMC) who serves as the Senior Director, China and the Pacific at the Center for the National Interest and previously served as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs from (May 2009-April 2011).