Transcripts For CSPAN Ambassador 20240705 : vimarsana.com

Your own. This is where democracy lives. Cspan, powered by cable. U. S. To china Nicholas Burns talks about relations between the United States and china at an event hosted by the Brookings Institution in washington, d. C. This is a little over an hour and 10 minutes. [indiscernible chatter] good morning to all of those who have joan into joined us in the auditorium and online. Im the Vice President and director of Foreign Policy at brookings and im delighted to welcome you to our public event featuring a discussion with the honorable Nicholas Burns, u. S. Ambassador to the peoples republic of china. Ambassador burns and his Hardworking Team at the embassy are on the front lines of one of the most complex and consequential bilateral relationships for the United States. The u. S. Mission he leads includes Public Servants from 47 u. S. Government agencies and sub agencies. He oversees the embassy interactions with china on the full range of political, security, commercial, economic and consular issues as well as many other issues that shape this critical relationship. Last month the ambassador accompany President Biden when he met with president xi jinping at the apex summit in california. Im looking forward to hearing his perspective on these conversations that covered a number of critical issues. Todays discussion will include a unique opportunity to gain insight on the impact of the direction of u. S. China relations including weather stabilization efforts resulting from the summit can endure, and on the issues that will animate the relationship into the future. Before we begin, let me offer a brief and telegraphic introduction of ambassador burns. In his distinguished career, he has played a key leadership role in formulating u. S. Policy on every major issue and region. He has served six president s and nine secretaries of state and senior positions including undersecretary for political affairs, ambassador to nato and greece and state department spokesman, to name a few. Ambassador burns is currently on Public Service leave from Harvard Universitys Kennedy School of government where he founded the future of diplomacy project and served as the goodman professor of practice on diplomacy and International Relations. I will briefly introduce my colleagues who will moderate the discussion. Ryan is the director of the John L Thorton china center and the chair of taiwan studies at brookings. He is a fellow for east asia policy studies. Until 2017 he was senior director for china, taiwan and mongolia at the National Security Council Staff during the obama administration. Patricia is a fellow at brookings and holds the joint appointment with the center for east asia policy studies and the china center. She is an expert on u. S. China relations and coleads our wonderful global China Project at brookings alongside ryan. The global China Project focuses on advancing recommendations on how the United States can respond to chinas actions that implicate key u. S. Interests around the world. Before the discussion gets underway i would like to thank the ford foundation, which has made this event policy possible, and the global china this reflects the views of the speakers. We are streaming live and on the record so please send your questions via email or on social media using global china. A question and answer session will follow at the end of the discussion and staff will come around with microphones. Thanks for joining us today. Ambassador burns, the floor is yours. [applause] good morning, everybody. Nice to be back at brookings. I want to pay tribute to suzanne. We worked closely together when i was under secretary of state in the george w. Bush First Administration on iran policy. We were figuring out sanctions are on their illegal aspirations on the Nuclear Realm and i didnt have a better partner than suzanne. She is one of our great Public Servants. It is nice to be at brookings. Not to date myself but i came to washington for the first time in september 1978. I was a student across the street at Johns Hopkins. Brookings, to all of us who were students, was the place to go to get smarter on economics, on domestic and foreign economic policy. It has always been, and my good friend headed the institution for a decade, one of our finest and most objective and scholarly think tanks in washington so im glad to be here. Glad to be with brian and patricia. We will have a conversation and im not going to bore you with a long speech, but they have asked me to give introductory comments. I wanted to do that to set the stage of where i think we are on u. S. China relations. I have come back four days ago from beijing. It has been a very active period in our relationship with the chinese. I was with the president a month ago this week in california just north of the stanford campus for his meeting with president xi jinping. A few thoughts for me on where we stand. I look at this and think most people do, the u. S. China relationship is the most consequential relationship the United States has now. Particularly, that we will have for the next couple decades. We are the two leading economies in the world and will be into the 20 30s and 20 40s. We are the two most powerful militaries in the world and certainly will be for the next two or three decades. We are the two countries with the widest global reach, if you think about the economic, societal, political, strategic breadth of the interests of both countries. And we are vying for global power, as well as regional power. I think we are systemic rivals. If you think about our larger security and economic and political interests around the world. In our administration, President Biden set out our clear policy. It is called invest, align, and compete. That is the policy secretary tony blinken put forward a year and a half ago in washington at another institution, georgetown university. We think as we look at this longterm competition with china, we have to invest in our own country. That is the infrastructure bill of 2021, that is the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, the 369 billion we are putting into clean energy and research which will revolutionize the u. S. Economy, and it is the chips and science active where we have to make strategic bets on Certain Key Industries that are at the heart of our competition with china to enhance competitiveness economically and as a society. That is the invest parts. The align party is critical to the u. S. Our advantage if we think about the competition with china, is that the u. S. Has long historical alliances with Key Countries of east asia, with japan. That alliance over the last couple years under President Biden i think is the strongest we have ever had with the japanese. A newfound and revived alliance with the republic of korea and through the camp david summit the president hosted, this historically good relationship, productive relationship between japan and the republic of korea itself. Our alliance with the philippines, which dramatically in 22 has swung back in favor of a close Strategic Military, political and Economic Engagement where the United States has access to nine bases on the philippines, very important as we think about geostrategic position in east asia. Australia, pound for pound, extraordinarily important and close. Security and strategic relationship. The development of australia, the u. S. And the united kingdom, working on generational investments in the National Security realm. And importantly, the development of the quad, india, japan, australia and the United States, an initiative that both republican and democratic administrations have been putting forward for the last 20 years. We worked on the quad in the george w. Bush administration. President god president obama, President Trump and President Biden have taken it forward. India is choosing to have a Strategic Military and Political Partnership with the United States, australia and japan, which is a game changer in terms of the politics of south asia, and the indo pacific as well as east asia. That is the invest part. What has been interesting in 2022 and 2023 is the degree to which europe has begun to think strategically in a very important way about its relationship with the u. S. , japan, australia, visavis china. Both the eu and nato have called china a systemic arrival of the europeans. That has been motivated in large part by the fact that china has swung its support in to russia, in support of russias barbaric, illegal invasion of ukrainian 2022. It is also because i think those countries in europe want a stable Indo Pacific Region for strategic and economic regions that we are cooperating inside of nato as a founding member, but in our strategic conversation with the eu leadership, particularly the president of the eu commission, very close relationship between us. The Alliance Part of it is the unique american strength. Our alliance at nato and the east asian alliances. And finally, compete. We are in a competitive relationship. We are competing for Strategic Military power. In the indo pacific area and we see china pushing out illegally in the south and east china sees claiming territory that is not theirs. The International Court of justice in the case of the philippines ruled clearly in favor of the philippines in july 2016. That is irrefutable. You have seen the dramatic actions over the last weekend in scarborough shoal. These are issues we are involved in as a treaty ally under the 1951 u. S. Philippines mutual defense agreement. If you think as well on the competitive side, the larger issues dealing with the East China Sea, and islands that fall under the u. S. Japan defense alliance, and the taiwan straight which is an important place for the global economy. 50 of container traffic in the world flows through the taiwan straight daily. 70 of advanced semiconductors in the world are produced on the island of taiwan. Think about that as a strategic economic space as well as strategic politically. This is a consequential part of the world in terms of Strategic Military and political and economic interests. Technology, on the competition side, has become in a way, the heart of the battle. It is not just a commercial rivalry that might be normal if you think about the development of ai and Machine Learning and biotech allergy and quantum mathematics. It is the fact that many of those technologies will be militarized into a new generation of military technology and we dont land to be the number two in that Technology Battle of the future. You have seen the competitive actions we have taken over the last couple years to restrict the supply of advanced semiconductors into the chinese economy. Because of their potentially dubious technologies. Trade investment, i spent time in shanghai talking to members of the business community. There is no level Playing Field for American Companies in china. Intellectual Property Rights violations, forced technology transfer, massive subsidies not just from the government in beijing but provincial governments in china to Chinese Companies, putting their american rivals, competitors, at a disadvantage. So you see the competitive nature of trade and technology. And last, but really first, is the fizzle philosophical differences between the communist party of china, the peoples republic of china and the United States. The human rights day was last sunday, marking the adoption of the universal declaration of human rights, our secretary of state to shoot major statement globally. I issued a statement as ambassador to china. Condemning chinese human rights practices in shenyang, tibet, hong kong, the lack of religious and political freedom. In these competitive areas, that tends to dominate the relationship between the u. S. And china. Our job is to wage competition and to do so practically, to do so peacefully, but to wage competition because these are our National Interests at stake. What makes this relationship complicated and complex, and doesnt render it to simplistic analysis, is the fact that we are competing with we have to engage china. President biden and president xi have agreed we have to work on Climate Change together. China is the largest carbon emitter in the world. We are number two and you have seen john kerry and his chinese counterpart working together. They have had 50 meetings over the last three years before they arrived together at cop 28 in dubai that just concluded. Working practically together. They had 50 meetings over the last three years before they arrived together at cop 28 in dubai the just concluded. So we have to Work Together on Climate Change. We have to Work Together on fentanyl and that was one of the breakthrough agreements at the california summit between the two president s. Fentanyl is the leading cause of death in the United States of americans age 1849. It is the greatest Public Health crisis we face in the majority of the precursor chemicals that are shipped to the drug cartels in mexico come from blackmarket chinese firms. The chinese leadership have agreed to work with us to cut off that flow of precursor chemicals, to defeat the drug cartels and reduce by a large margin we hope, the fentanyl coming across our borders into every town, every county and every state in the United States. So we are cooperating and engaging with china on fentanyl. We have to engage on global Public Health. We didnt do such a good job of that back in february, march, april, may and june of 2020. The law of averages, we will face another pandemic at some point. In the coming years, we are the two countries with tremendous capacity in global Public Health. We would rather cooperate with china if thats possible on global Public Health than not. Full security is another area where we want to be engaged. We seen a dramatic reduction of grain coming out of the black seaports with ukraine and russia. Thats a major impact on the horn of africa and subsaharan africa, in south asia. We are trying to work with the chinese on that. Finally, agriculture. One of the anomalies of this relationship, i started with the competition of the largest market for american agriculture in the world is china. 1 5 of our agricultural exports go to that one country. I spent a lot of time with farmers, ranchers and their fishing industry. If you talk to soybean farmers from illinois or corn and wheat farmers from nebraska, iowa, kansas or western ranchers were the fishing industry from the Pacific Northwest or my home region of new england, red sox nation, massachusetts, thats the largest market. I want to introduce the idea of complexity. That a single onedimensional shot that this is only a competitive relationship doesnt get to what the heart of the relationship is. I started with competition because a lot of our vital National Interests are focused and they have to be focused on competition. All the americans, great Public Servants and ive worked with them all in china and i are focused on competition. We probably spent undoubtedly the majority of our time competing defending, advancing in those areas i talked about, security, technology, trade, human rights. We also have to work with china. On these other engagement areas because our interests sometimes are aligned and weve got to do something about Climate Change and global health. And Food Security in fentanyl. This means that we have to think of a balance of interests as we deal with china. Its not weighted evenly. The competitive balance is certainly weightier but we have to engage this country and thats what President Biden has decided to do. We will test over the next couple of months and implement these agreements from california on fentanyl, on the resumption of our military to military ties with high communications at high levels, starting to talk about what the advents of Nicholas Burns<\/a> talks about relations between the United States<\/a> and china at an event hosted by the Brookings Institution<\/a> in washington, d. C. This is a little over an hour and 10 minutes. [indiscernible chatter] good morning to all of those who have joan into joined us in the auditorium and online. Im the Vice President<\/a> and director of Foreign Policy<\/a> at brookings and im delighted to welcome you to our public event featuring a discussion with the honorable Nicholas Burns<\/a>, u. S. Ambassador to the peoples republic of china. Ambassador burns and his Hardworking Team<\/a> at the embassy are on the front lines of one of the most complex and consequential bilateral relationships for the United States<\/a>. The u. S. Mission he leads includes Public Servants<\/a> from 47 u. S. Government agencies and sub agencies. He oversees the embassy interactions with china on the full range of political, security, commercial, economic and consular issues as well as many other issues that shape this critical relationship. Last month the ambassador accompany President Biden<\/a> when he met with president xi jinping at the apex summit in california. Im looking forward to hearing his perspective on these conversations that covered a number of critical issues. Todays discussion will include a unique opportunity to gain insight on the impact of the direction of u. S. China relations including weather stabilization efforts resulting from the summit can endure, and on the issues that will animate the relationship into the future. Before we begin, let me offer a brief and telegraphic introduction of ambassador burns. In his distinguished career, he has played a key leadership role in formulating u. S. Policy on every major issue and region. He has served six president s and nine secretaries of state and senior positions including undersecretary for political affairs, ambassador to nato and greece and state department spokesman, to name a few. Ambassador burns is currently on Public Service<\/a> leave from Harvard Universitys<\/a> Kennedy School<\/a> of government where he founded the future of diplomacy project and served as the goodman professor of practice on diplomacy and International Relations<\/a>. I will briefly introduce my colleagues who will moderate the discussion. Ryan is the director of the John L Thorton<\/a> china center and the chair of taiwan studies at brookings. He is a fellow for east asia policy studies. Until 2017 he was senior director for china, taiwan and mongolia at the National Security<\/a> Council Staff<\/a> during the obama administration. Patricia is a fellow at brookings and holds the joint appointment with the center for east asia policy studies and the china center. She is an expert on u. S. China relations and coleads our wonderful global China Project<\/a> at brookings alongside ryan. The global China Project<\/a> focuses on advancing recommendations on how the United States<\/a> can respond to chinas actions that implicate key u. S. Interests around the world. Before the discussion gets underway i would like to thank the ford foundation, which has made this event policy possible, and the global china this reflects the views of the speakers. We are streaming live and on the record so please send your questions via email or on social media using global china. A question and answer session will follow at the end of the discussion and staff will come around with microphones. Thanks for joining us today. Ambassador burns, the floor is yours. [applause] good morning, everybody. Nice to be back at brookings. I want to pay tribute to suzanne. We worked closely together when i was under secretary of state in the george w. Bush First Administration<\/a> on iran policy. We were figuring out sanctions are on their illegal aspirations on the Nuclear Realm<\/a> and i didnt have a better partner than suzanne. She is one of our great Public Servants<\/a>. It is nice to be at brookings. Not to date myself but i came to washington for the first time in september 1978. I was a student across the street at Johns Hopkins<\/a>. Brookings, to all of us who were students, was the place to go to get smarter on economics, on domestic and foreign economic policy. It has always been, and my good friend headed the institution for a decade, one of our finest and most objective and scholarly think tanks in washington so im glad to be here. Glad to be with brian and patricia. We will have a conversation and im not going to bore you with a long speech, but they have asked me to give introductory comments. I wanted to do that to set the stage of where i think we are on u. S. China relations. I have come back four days ago from beijing. It has been a very active period in our relationship with the chinese. I was with the president a month ago this week in california just north of the stanford campus for his meeting with president xi jinping. A few thoughts for me on where we stand. I look at this and think most people do, the u. S. China relationship is the most consequential relationship the United States<\/a> has now. Particularly, that we will have for the next couple decades. We are the two leading economies in the world and will be into the 20 30s and 20 40s. We are the two most powerful militaries in the world and certainly will be for the next two or three decades. We are the two countries with the widest global reach, if you think about the economic, societal, political, strategic breadth of the interests of both countries. And we are vying for global power, as well as regional power. I think we are systemic rivals. If you think about our larger security and economic and political interests around the world. In our administration, President Biden<\/a> set out our clear policy. It is called invest, align, and compete. That is the policy secretary tony blinken put forward a year and a half ago in washington at another institution, georgetown university. We think as we look at this longterm competition with china, we have to invest in our own country. That is the infrastructure bill of 2021, that is the Inflation Reduction Act<\/a> of 2022, the 369 billion we are putting into clean energy and research which will revolutionize the u. S. Economy, and it is the chips and science active where we have to make strategic bets on Certain Key Industries<\/a> that are at the heart of our competition with china to enhance competitiveness economically and as a society. That is the invest parts. The align party is critical to the u. S. Our advantage if we think about the competition with china, is that the u. S. Has long historical alliances with Key Countries<\/a> of east asia, with japan. That alliance over the last couple years under President Biden<\/a> i think is the strongest we have ever had with the japanese. A newfound and revived alliance with the republic of korea and through the camp david summit the president hosted, this historically good relationship, productive relationship between japan and the republic of korea itself. Our alliance with the philippines, which dramatically in 22 has swung back in favor of a close Strategic Military<\/a>, political and Economic Engagement<\/a> where the United States<\/a> has access to nine bases on the philippines, very important as we think about geostrategic position in east asia. Australia, pound for pound, extraordinarily important and close. Security and strategic relationship. The development of australia, the u. S. And the united kingdom, working on generational investments in the National Security<\/a> realm. And importantly, the development of the quad, india, japan, australia and the United States<\/a>, an initiative that both republican and democratic administrations have been putting forward for the last 20 years. We worked on the quad in the george w. Bush administration. President god president obama, President Trump<\/a> and President Biden<\/a> have taken it forward. India is choosing to have a Strategic Military<\/a> and Political Partnership<\/a> with the United States<\/a>, australia and japan, which is a game changer in terms of the politics of south asia, and the indo pacific as well as east asia. That is the invest part. What has been interesting in 2022 and 2023 is the degree to which europe has begun to think strategically in a very important way about its relationship with the u. S. , japan, australia, visavis china. Both the eu and nato have called china a systemic arrival of the europeans. That has been motivated in large part by the fact that china has swung its support in to russia, in support of russias barbaric, illegal invasion of ukrainian 2022. It is also because i think those countries in europe want a stable Indo Pacific Region<\/a> for strategic and economic regions that we are cooperating inside of nato as a founding member, but in our strategic conversation with the eu leadership, particularly the president of the eu commission, very close relationship between us. The Alliance Part<\/a> of it is the unique american strength. Our alliance at nato and the east asian alliances. And finally, compete. We are in a competitive relationship. We are competing for Strategic Military<\/a> power. In the indo pacific area and we see china pushing out illegally in the south and east china sees claiming territory that is not theirs. The International Court<\/a> of justice in the case of the philippines ruled clearly in favor of the philippines in july 2016. That is irrefutable. You have seen the dramatic actions over the last weekend in scarborough shoal. These are issues we are involved in as a treaty ally under the 1951 u. S. Philippines mutual defense agreement. If you think as well on the competitive side, the larger issues dealing with the East China Sea<\/a>, and islands that fall under the u. S. Japan defense alliance, and the taiwan straight which is an important place for the global economy. 50 of container traffic in the world flows through the taiwan straight daily. 70 of advanced semiconductors in the world are produced on the island of taiwan. Think about that as a strategic economic space as well as strategic politically. This is a consequential part of the world in terms of Strategic Military<\/a> and political and economic interests. Technology, on the competition side, has become in a way, the heart of the battle. It is not just a commercial rivalry that might be normal if you think about the development of ai and Machine Learning<\/a> and biotech allergy and quantum mathematics. It is the fact that many of those technologies will be militarized into a new generation of military technology and we dont land to be the number two in that Technology Battle<\/a> of the future. You have seen the competitive actions we have taken over the last couple years to restrict the supply of advanced semiconductors into the chinese economy. Because of their potentially dubious technologies. Trade investment, i spent time in shanghai talking to members of the business community. There is no level Playing Field<\/a> for American Companies<\/a> in china. Intellectual Property Rights<\/a> violations, forced technology transfer, massive subsidies not just from the government in beijing but provincial governments in china to Chinese Companies<\/a>, putting their american rivals, competitors, at a disadvantage. So you see the competitive nature of trade and technology. And last, but really first, is the fizzle philosophical differences between the communist party of china, the peoples republic of china and the United States<\/a>. The human rights day was last sunday, marking the adoption of the universal declaration of human rights, our secretary of state to shoot major statement globally. I issued a statement as ambassador to china. Condemning chinese human rights practices in shenyang, tibet, hong kong, the lack of religious and political freedom. In these competitive areas, that tends to dominate the relationship between the u. S. And china. Our job is to wage competition and to do so practically, to do so peacefully, but to wage competition because these are our National Interests<\/a> at stake. What makes this relationship complicated and complex, and doesnt render it to simplistic analysis, is the fact that we are competing with we have to engage china. President biden and president xi have agreed we have to work on Climate Change<\/a> together. China is the largest carbon emitter in the world. We are number two and you have seen john kerry and his chinese counterpart working together. They have had 50 meetings over the last three years before they arrived together at cop 28 in dubai that just concluded. Working practically together. They had 50 meetings over the last three years before they arrived together at cop 28 in dubai the just concluded. So we have to Work Together<\/a> on Climate Change<\/a>. We have to Work Together<\/a> on fentanyl and that was one of the breakthrough agreements at the california summit between the two president s. Fentanyl is the leading cause of death in the United States<\/a> of americans age 1849. It is the greatest Public Health<\/a> crisis we face in the majority of the precursor chemicals that are shipped to the drug cartels in mexico come from blackmarket chinese firms. The chinese leadership have agreed to work with us to cut off that flow of precursor chemicals, to defeat the drug cartels and reduce by a large margin we hope, the fentanyl coming across our borders into every town, every county and every state in the United States<\/a>. So we are cooperating and engaging with china on fentanyl. We have to engage on global Public Health<\/a>. We didnt do such a good job of that back in february, march, april, may and june of 2020. The law of averages, we will face another pandemic at some point. In the coming years, we are the two countries with tremendous capacity in global Public Health<\/a>. We would rather cooperate with china if thats possible on global Public Health<\/a> than not. Full security is another area where we want to be engaged. We seen a dramatic reduction of grain coming out of the black seaports with ukraine and russia. Thats a major impact on the horn of africa and subsaharan africa, in south asia. We are trying to work with the chinese on that. Finally, agriculture. One of the anomalies of this relationship, i started with the competition of the largest market for american agriculture in the world is china. 1 5 of our agricultural exports go to that one country. I spent a lot of time with farmers, ranchers and their fishing industry. If you talk to soybean farmers from illinois or corn and wheat farmers from nebraska, iowa, kansas or western ranchers were the fishing industry from the Pacific Northwest<\/a> or my home region of new england, red sox nation, massachusetts, thats the largest market. I want to introduce the idea of complexity. That a single onedimensional shot that this is only a competitive relationship doesnt get to what the heart of the relationship is. I started with competition because a lot of our vital National Interests<\/a> are focused and they have to be focused on competition. All the americans, great Public Servants<\/a> and ive worked with them all in china and i are focused on competition. We probably spent undoubtedly the majority of our time competing defending, advancing in those areas i talked about, security, technology, trade, human rights. We also have to work with china. On these other engagement areas because our interests sometimes are aligned and weve got to do something about Climate Change<\/a> and global health. And Food Security<\/a> in fentanyl. This means that we have to think of a balance of interests as we deal with china. Its not weighted evenly. The competitive balance is certainly weightier but we have to engage this country and thats what President Biden<\/a> has decided to do. We will test over the next couple of months and implement these agreements from california on fentanyl, on the resumption of our military to military ties with high communications at high levels, starting to talk about what the advents of Artificial Intelligence<\/a> means for two global superpowers in the global balance of power and finally and i will close on this and we can have our conversation bringing the American People<\/a> and the Chinese People<\/a> back together again. Its the palpable insights we feel every day at u. S. Mission china is that the american and Chinese People<\/a> were pulled apart by covid. Im not blaming either government for that. Let me give you some data points we had 15,000 American Students<\/a>, six or seven years ago in china. Last year, were down to 350 American Students<\/a> in all of china. We doubled that population with American Students<\/a> now but it doesnt represent the interests we have. Im looking at a lot of young people and im a former college professor. We need Young Americans<\/a> to lured. We need them to have an experience of china. We need Young Chinese<\/a> and there are nearly 300,000 chinese in our universities to understand this country. To understand our democracy because 40 years ago, the young people here are going to be running our society. They will be president of brookings and president of the United States<\/a> and secretary of state and for an American Leadership<\/a> of the future that is cut off from china, that hasnt had an experience there, that doesnt speak mandarin, thats not in the National Interest<\/a>. We are trying to put our students back together. I will give you another example, tourism. Chinese tourism in the United States<\/a> is a 30 alien dollar business for the American Economy<\/a>. I was struck when secretary Gina Raimondo<\/a> came out in late august to beijing and she and i talked to the representative of los angeles county. This representative said in 2019, there were one point 2 million Chinese Tourists<\/a> in los angeles alone. In 2022, 106 to 1000 Chinese Tourists<\/a> in los angeles. 162,000 chinese terrace. We are opposed on all the grounds i suggested to what the Chinese Government<\/a> is doing. The people of china are not our enemy. We want to live in peace with china. No person in the right mind should want this relationship to end up in war. We will have to develop a relationship where we can compete but as the president says, compete responsibly, drive down the probability of a conflict and bring our people together as ballast in the relationship and thats one way to do that. What im trying to suggest for our conversation is we have to think of this as a very complex undertaking, how we relate to the Chinese People<\/a> and government. Its not simple. The pervasive color as i learned at Johns Hopkins<\/a> site across the street often in International Relations<\/a> is not black and white, its great. Lets start the conversation there. Its great. Its gray. So lets start the conversation there. [applause] well thank you for your leadership also for the candor and clarity of your comments this morning. I think you set us off on an interesting course. I think it is important for us to hold two countries thoughts in her mind at once when we think about china. We want to dive in a few too a few of the issues to draw out your thinking on the outlook for the relationship going forward. But most importantly to observe as much time as possible for this wonderful audience to have the opportunity to engage with you. I will get us started. You were in the room with both leaders in woodside. Not many of us have had that opportunity. Bring us into the room, what was the atmosphere like, what was the conversation, how would you rate the quality of the conversations . I hope people can hear me. Not working . Is the voice quality ok . Good. Youve been in that room when you served in the National Security<\/a> council. One of the advantages we have in this important relationship is that President Biden<\/a> and president g hsing paying avenue known each other for 13 years. They dont agree a lot of things you can tell by my opening comments how many issues divide us. There is a sense of mutual respect. They spend a lot of time together when they were Vice President<\/a> and when president xi became president and when President Biden<\/a> became president and now they are two leaders and they are able to disagree constructively. Our president doesnt mince words. He is very straightforward and he defends the United States<\/a>. I thought the quality of conversation of 4. 5 hours and theyve had to in person meetings and five Virtual Meetings<\/a> or phone calls because of covid, seven meetings in the last three years. Its our best working relationship. Thats what struck me. Also, the honesty of the debate and know we are competing. Sometimes, the chinese will tell me in beijing that they dont like the word competition. They would like to think we are not in competition but we both know we are in competition. Our view is call it what it is and clarify that we need to compete but to do it responsibly , drive down the probability of a conflict but compete and defend that compete and defend and that point commit in california. President biden said in the press conference he thought it was a constructive meeting and productive any said probably the best meeting in that sense he had had of the seven meetings. We had a couple of gaps we had to fail. We had an agreement on fentanyl, china will help us on fentanyl. Weve seen that happen over the last 30 days. China is beginning to shut down some of this blackmarket trade in chemical precursors to the drug cartels. The test will be whether that continues and we hope it will, but as president reagan said famously, trust and verified. Implementing that will be important. We had a real problem on military to military communication. China unwisely shut down all of our military to military talk in the wake of Speaker Pelosi<\/a>s visit to taiwan in august, 2022. I was engaged with the Chinese Government<\/a> for, during and after her visit. We defended Speaker Pelosi<\/a>s right to visit and we defended speaker mccarthys right to meet with them in los angeles at the reagan library. We think american members of congress of a right to go to taiwan. Chinas response was to shut down or climate talks, shut down our military to military talks, shut down our fentanyl conversation at the time. They agreed in california to resume military to military communications. The counterpart of the secretary of defense talked to his counterpart and its all the way down the line. Our two militaries are operating in close proximity to each other in the International Waters<\/a> and airspace of the south china sea. Youve got to have a situation where god for bid, there is an accident, senior military people can talk to each other to diffuse a crisis before it gets out of hand so thats very important. Every government in the world has talked to each other about the advent of ai and what it means for global stability, particularly in the military realm. We have agreed to have a conversation. Got to figure out the dimensions of that and what it looks like and whos at the table but that will be an important conversation. Both president s i think firmly agreed weve got to get our people back together again for the reasons i suggested. We need to work with the Chinese People<\/a>. Thats something i think all american prisons have agreed on. Those of the four agreements we came to. There was a lot of other conversation on issues where we didnt agree and we can talk about those. Let me join my colleagues in thanking you for joining us today and sharing your valuable insights. Its really a treat to engage with you. Last june, you made headlines i did . You said at an event that u. S. China relations are at the lowest point since nixons opening to china. I do remember saying that and it was true. Since then, the relationship has weathered a considerable amount of turbulence and great efforts were made to restore communications and stabilize this relationship. The big question is how durable is this stabilization . Are the open channels of communication sufficient to prevent the u. S. And china to veering into dangerous conflict . I was confirmed two years ago next week by the senate to begin my term as ambassador. Its been a roller coaster i have to say. In 2022, we had covid and we have lockdowns and mandates in china that made it impossible for my staff and i to travel. Our consulate locked down there. It was a real crisis situation and the present had a good meeting in bali at the end of 2022 and you remember the balloon incident at the beginning of february of 23 that was preceded by the controversy over Speaker Pelosi<\/a>s visit so the chinese reaction to Speaker Pelosi<\/a> and the balloon incident were to shut down. Most conversations between the u. S. And china were dangerous. As of late spring early summer of this year, we were in a situation where we did not have any highly developed cabinet contacts. We didnt have channels where the secretary of state or treasury or commerce could call their counterparts and work out issues. We were active in beijing but you want to have the higher level. We decided along with the chinese, that we had to change that situation. Its been a remarkable last seven or eight months. Secretary blinken was the first secretary of state to visit china and the last four years. Secretary yellen came out in july, first secretary of treasury. Secretary raimondo came out on her first visit to china, first visit by secretary of commerce in four or five years. So you can see has separated we have become. John kerry came out. They are external revisits with Henry Kissingers<\/a> visit, 100 years of age and i met him at the airport it was 102 degrees in mid july at 2 00 in the afternoon and he had a 20 hour flight and he came off the plane and engaged in five days of conversations with xi jin ping. He did a halfday seminar in ai with chinese leading ai scientists. He came to the embassy and 700 of us honored him being the father of this relationship in many ways so i think that visit was not era visit. He was invited by president xi but it helped to normalize the coming together of the tube peoples we had the first congressional delegation with Senate Majority<\/a> leader chuck schumer, and 80 minute meeting with xi jin ping on fentanyl, trade and investment, the gaza war. We came together and reengaged. Our first governor came out shortly thereafter. We had nothing like this in 2020, 2021, 2022. The two governments had separated. What we done is to plug the Government Back<\/a> in together so we can at least have open conversation on the competition side and the cooperation side. Over the next 12 months or so we will implement the agreements from california that will be important to keep the two governments connected through thick and thin is important. The chinese practice when you hit major speed bumps is to disengage, that is not smart. We want to keep these contacts going. Thats where we are in terms of the methodology of this relationship. Thank you. As i look at u. S. Investors in asia, the two investors that have high passion for train travel. I know the other one is rahm emanuel. Ive tried to do an informal count i think on mileage and i think you are ahead on miles. Dont tellrahm that. It has been a noble feature that youve been an effort to get to beijing to talk to provincial and business leaders. What is top of mind for them . What are they thinking about and what are they talking about with you . My entire first year, my first 11 months, we cannot travel out of beijing because of the lockdowns. The penalty was if you want to go to other cities, you could go but you would stay there under lockdown. Too high a price to pay. As you know, china has extraordinary highspeed train network. It makes more sense to take the train to shanghai, little over four hours and it does to go to the airport. The advantage is i normally travel second class because thats what an american investor should do. They should not be in first class. You sit next to Chinese People<\/a>. You encounter people walking up and down the aisle. People might think that must be an american so lets talk. You are able to engage with real people and the interesting thing is i cant remember any of those people asking me about taiwan. What they want to talk about his business, trade and investment, students. My nephew wants to go to ucla. In the high degree of connectedness of our people weve had more than 12 million chinese living in china now who have studied at american universities. Thats 12 Million People<\/a> who understand how democracy works. They understand brookings, the understand our democracy. Thats why travel by train. The other thing is to get outside of china. They have a window into western china. Shanghai is the new york and l. A. Combined of china. Nanchangs educational. I do travel because thats where the Chinese People<\/a> are and we have to be out mainly in the capital but you got to get out to see the rest of china. I think it helps the longterm interests i was talking about. I agree. Ambassador, washington and beijing seem to have a philosophical difference over the concept of derisking. American officials often point to u. S. Export restrictions and other competitive measures that have been adopted in recent years to explain the steps are necessary to protect american security, reduce overreliance on china, but they also make the case that the United States<\/a> values its economic relationship with china. It doesnt want to fully decouple. On the other hand, you hear from chinese officials who counter and say these measures the United States<\/a> are taking our limiting chinese economic to element under the guise of National Security<\/a>. Why do you think this procession exists and what are the implications for the bilateral relationship . Thats one of the key questions in the relationship. I told patricia and ryan before we came on whats been what weve been trying to do is try to balance the National Security<\/a> interest in competition with the National Security<\/a> interest and engagement. Your question brings us to that. We have a 690 billion dollar twoway trade relationship between the u. S. And china. 10 is the Third Largest<\/a> trade partner. Number two are mexico and canada. 750 thousand american jobs depend on trade with china. The largest market for agriculture, consumerproducts, health care, look at the major parts of the American Economy<\/a> over 40 years has developed an extraordinary symbiosis in the two economies. We made a determination early on with secretary yellen articulating at Johns Hopkins<\/a> and Jake Sullivan<\/a> came to brookings to articulate last spring, we are not trying to decouple the two economies. Secretary yellen was very specific. She said that would be a disaster for the american and chinese economy and the global economy. I was with her last night we would go spoke at the gala dinner of the u. S. China business council. She went through this again and said we are not trying to decouple. President biden said at his press conference in california that we are against decoupling so we are not trying to tear this relationship apart. Jake sullivan came here in a very important speech and i read the q and a firm brookings last spring and its really important. He said we are not decoupling but we have to derisk. What does that mean . The fundamental lesson we drop in the pandemic is that you dont want to have undue reliance on critical material and critical supplies from a country that might practice economic coercion against you in a crisis. You want to bring the supply chain for certain products closer to home. The United States<\/a> itself or mexico or ireland are trusted sources. Jake focused on what secretary raimondo is focused on. We want to prevent dual use exports from American Companies<\/a> into china, prevent their use by the pla to modernize and therefore compete with the United States<\/a> military in the future. The example is october, 2022 and the additional action we took on october, 2023, we have shut down the ability of American Companies<\/a> to export advanced semiconductors particular for ai applications into the chinese economy. There is a Civil Military<\/a> fusion. The government of china can go to any Chinese Company<\/a> and say we want that ip, that product and we will use it for intelligence or military purposes. Its International Interest<\/a> in its irrefutable to keep that Technology Part<\/a> of the battle outside of china. Secretary raimondo was very effective on this issue during her visit in august. She said to the chinese leadership that im not going to compromise with you on these dual use technologies. They are nonnegotiable. This is our National Security<\/a>. We have all said that to the chinese leadership. Derisking, yes, decoupling, no. We want to continue a major trade and investment relationship with china, just not in the realm that might help them leapfrog over us sometime in the next 10 years in military technology. Its been interesting for me to sit in beijing and pound away at this issue. We have them accusing us, they said you are decoupling and i said we are derisking. There is a fundamental difference between the two. But they forget and what i have pointed out to them is you are doing the same thing. China began its real derisking when china 2025 which aid they made public in 2015, chinas goal is to dominate a whole series of industries from solar and wind to Battery Technology<\/a> to ai and Machine Learning<\/a>. Its a declaratory policy and they accuse up of derisking when theyve been doing the same things. These are logical policies for both of us to follow. We are just a little bit more transparent about what we doing in the chinese are. There is a lot of discussion in washington, d. C. About the threat china poses to the United States<\/a>. I think there is broad agreement that they pose threats but there is not consensus on how to conceptualize what threat is. I was wondering if you could help us think through how you to find the threat that china poses to the United States<\/a>. If you look at the congress and look at the debate in the think tanks and look at how barack obama, donald trump no joe biden has proceeded, i think we have a high degree of uniformity, bipartisanship and what the threat is. China wishes to become the strongest power in the indo pacific. I think that is irrefutable, thats their goal. The great lee quan yu determined that was the case 12 or 15 years ago. I so that before coming into government this time. Im firmly convinced thats her longterm goal. China has a different view of Global Governance<\/a> and the future of the liberal order. If you look at the three pillars of their theology whether its the general Civilization Initiative<\/a> or the Security Initiative<\/a> for the development initiative, these are the three policies that are in the International System<\/a> that china is offering. They look at a world where the universal declaration of human rights would not be central. We are attached to liberal order because it speaks to our values and our interest and we think this is the best order for the world. I think there is a competition there. If you look at the bob gates Foreign Affairs<\/a> article of last month and i have a lot of respect for him as my former boss of the National Security<\/a> council several administrations ago, he is suggesting there is at least a loose arrangement, not an alliance with russia, china, iran and you can disagree with that but look at the way the chinese now are not holding nor thick north korea to account for its violation of un Security Council<\/a> resolutions on ballistic missiles. Look at the way the peoples republic of china have normalized their relationship with iran. When suzanne and i were working together not his not too long ago, china was on our side of the table. They were voting for sanctions against iran. That has changed. Most importantly, china has given unqualified support in my view to russia or its a legal war in ukraine. Thats the brightest red line in the national system. You cant attack your neighbor and try to destroy the country and taken over as Vladimir Putin<\/a> is trying to do. We have a lot of difference with the chinese and its important we air them publicly and thats a large part of what we are doing in our private conversations as well. Let me followup up on that quickly. You are a long time, strong advocate for democracy and human rights. Its been a through line of your career. Yet, critics of the Biden Administration<\/a> have suggested that the Biden Administration<\/a> is pulling back on these issues to serve the relate to smooth the relations and have a better summit between the two leaders. Are these people wrong . Look at the statement i made last sunday on our website. I condemn on behalf of the United States<\/a> and their secretary of state has talk like this as well, what theyve done in shin john against the weaker the uighur population. And what theyve done to extinguish freedoms in hong kong, the lack of religious freedom. One can see that when you travel around china. We are not trying to downplay this value difference. Its a battle of ideas. We started a program which is transparent and you can find it on our website where interview americans about the meaning of democracy. I interviewed condoleezza rice, caroline kennedy, what does democracy mean to you . You are a son or daughter of immigrants . What does the American Experience<\/a> mean . What was it the first time you voted . We put it out in mandarin. We want the Chinese People<\/a> to hear from michelle kwan. I interviewed her last year, a chineseamerican, now an american investor to belize. What was a like for you as the child of immigrants . We are trying to give the Chinese People<\/a> who dont get any sense, they get a distorted sense from their own government about who we are. A true picture of American Society<\/a> come of the immigrant experience, the diversity of america come of the struggle. We dont try to underplay the imperfections in our democracy. I think we are waging a battle of ideas. I challenge the critics to show us how we are not doing that because its very public. Id like to turn to the war in israel and gaza. Beijing has taken a different approach than the United States<\/a> and responding to the hamas october 7 attack on israel. Yet both United States<\/a> and china share a common interest in preventing the spread of conflict in both countries are concerned, along with many others come on the severe humanitarian toll the conflict has had. Im curious if you see room for coordination between washington and beijing on this issue. Has there been coordination and what role can or should china play to help limit the spread of violence . On october 7, i was in shanghai getting ready to receive to meet the plaintiff senator schumer and the four other members of congress. Within two hours of their arrival, we learned about the hamas attacks, the vicious attacks against the people of israel. Four days later, and i can say this because senator schumer and eyes put this out in press conference four days later, senator schumer directly raised this issue with xi jin ping and their foreign minister. The request he made anys talked about this publicly and which i very much supported our administration is please, china, condemn hamas for this barbaric, people act of terrorism on october 7. We have not seen that. Please show sympathy for the citizens of israel under attack. Please use your influence with others in the middle east to make sure the conflict doesnt widen. We have had a conversation since then with the government of china. I cannot speak for them, obviously, but its important they use their influence with others and they have friendships in the middle east to limit the nature of this conflict. I read peoples daily every day. Theyve been unremitting in their criticism of the United States<\/a> on gaza. I will point out that we contributed 100 million to the humanitarian support for gaza and the west bank and the state of israel because of this horrific civilian crisis. The chinese contribution is not in any way, shape or form equal to ours. I also really respect the way secretary blinken and Jake Sullivan<\/a> today say we are in the middle of this, trying to do our best. But also to support the state of israel and help civilians, palestinian and israeli civilians. The chinese just dont have that history in the middle east. Give not seen that kind of involvement. Im not being critical, im stating the obvious. When you sit in beijing and read the peoples daily this pounding away at us, we are in there trying to do something about this and thats the role of the United States<\/a> and the world. I think china has a wish to become more influential in the middle east. We saw china broker last spring meetings between the iranians and saudis. I remember Jake Sullivan<\/a> and secretary blinken and i went out to say good for china for trying to bring these two countries together. We thought that was positive. In a crisis like this, we need real work to end this conflict and i think its on her shoulders i think the chinese are not involved in a day to day basis. Turning to another conflict, to ukraine and the chinarussia relationship which you mentioned briefly earlier, there is great concern that beijings deepening Strategic Alignment<\/a> with russia is having applications for the war in ukraine. While beijing is not provided lethal aid to moscow, bilateral trade is booming between the two countries in beijing continue to diplomatically support moscow. They are continuing to exercise militarily. Just yesterday, there is news there were joint patrols, sino russian patrols over the East China Sea<\/a> and the sea of japan. How should the United States<\/a> view this growing alignment . Can we impact the dynamics of this alignment . What should we try to avoid or achieve when it comes to the sino Russian Partnership<\/a> . Its obviously a Significant Development<\/a> that these two countries are working together. Secretary blinken as far back as last february said publicly that china should not provide lethal military assistance to russia for the war in ukraine. We have not seen that happen. We watch it every day but we have not seen it happen. As you know and you can look at the federal register, we have sanctioned Chinese Companies<\/a> were having deviated from the u. N. Sanctions for the sanctions regime against russia area thats very clear as well. We have encouraged the chinese to use their influence with moscow to convince president putin to end the war that is obviously not succeeding. I cant know what advice the chinese have given. But it appears the chinese are very heavily tilted toward russia in this conflict. They are not evenhanded. There is a new Ukrainian Ambassador<\/a> who is a good friend of mine. In beijing he arrived six months ago and hasnt had the access to the government of basing that he should have. We would hope the chinese would be more evenhanded. Ukraines leading trade partner prewar was china. The chinese say in the United Nations<\/a> and International Political<\/a> meetings were neutral but you read the peoples daily and from day one, they blamed this were on the United States<\/a> incorrectly and unfairly. And nato. We are engaged in a kind of conversation with them. I have had talks with their ambassador, the chinese envoy. We will stay in touch on these issues and its important set of conversations but we have substantial differences when it comes to the ukraine war. We have a lot more questions that we would love to ask you but i think its time for us to yield to the audience to have them and have them engage with you. I ask that you raise your hand when you receive a microphone, please be brief, introduce yourself and ask your question. We will start right here. Thank you so much. Its a golden rule of conferences the microphones never work. Its not your fault. The second microphone usually works. Thank you for coming to speak to us. Im a former legislator in taiwan. Thank you for being part of this very important conversation. It seems that you describe very positive evolution of u. S. China relations and there are areas that are optimistic that the u. S. And china are working towards and coordinate. It seems that there are fundamental differences of how the two sides view the question of taiwan. My question to you is, what suggestions or advice you would give or what more can be done on three sides, meaning taiwan, u. S. And china, to mitigate the potential risks or potential conflict that might arise in the years to come . Thank you. Thank you. If i may respectfully, i dont feel optimistic about the future of u. S. China relations. I feel we need to see how things develop. We had a good and productive meeting in california. Can we sustain that engagement . Can we meet our commitments to each other and so far, the chinese have met their commitments on fentanyl and i think will in terms of our military to military contact. Lets see that happen over time. Ive lived the past, the roller coaster past where communication is cut off and then put back on again. I wouldnt say im optimistic. Im careful about this, maybe realistic, hopeful, if you will but hopeful is different than optimistic. I just want to say that for you and thank you for your question. Obviously, the american position on taiwan is clear. President biden said that a policy hasnt changed. He said the policy of all american president s going back cap a century has not changed. As we look ahead to january 13, the taiwan elections, our strong expectation and hope is that those elections be free of intimidation or coercion or interference from all sides. The United States<\/a> is not involved in will not be involved in these elections. Our abiding hope on this whole complicated issue of taiwan is that there be a peaceful resolution of differences. That is the focus of american policy and that was the focus of all the administrations back to 1979 to president carter. Even back to the shanghai communique of 1972, president nixon and premier joe enlai. We insist on a peaceful resolution of a dispute. There is a status quo of the last seven decades and that has largely worked. It has kept the peace amid these cross strait differences. We believe thats the way forward. We hope very much that we will see responsible behavior on all sides as we lead up to the january 13 election and afterwards. I hope that answers your question. Thank you. We have a lady right here in that row. The second microphone use that one. [laughter] i am from the National Science<\/a> foundation. My questions about u. S. Hyphens china scientific reciprocity. We have issues where we feel we give more than we get and yet its a complicated relationship of course. Im wondering what your view is about Scientific Collaboration<\/a> with the p. R. C. Im smiling because i agree with you on the word reciprocity and the value of it. Its a golden rule in diplomacy. The Science Technology<\/a> agreement was the First Agreement<\/a> that president carter and the chinese president signed in 1979. Its been the bedrock of our cooperation and research institutions, academic institutions and some of science and technology universities. Its very important. That agreement lapsed a couple of months ago. We agreed to extend by six months. I met with the science and tech minister a couple of weeks ago in beijing. We are beginning a discussion on whether or not to extend it. We have a new agreement and what would be the issues involved. I think its complicated. An agreement made in 1979 does not account for Artificial Intelligence<\/a>. It doesnt account for a world of biotech and Machine Learning<\/a> and quantum mathematics. It needs to be modernized, but we also here is why i am in violent agreement with you, we have to make sure its fair on both sides or i cannot anticipate where the negotiations will go. We are just starting it but the opening conversation i had, we put down our expectations that had to be modernized, that its not a given that we will agree. I think both sides a great disagree on that and we will have to negotiate this. Thats where we will see things in a couple of months. Thanks for sharing your time with us. I want to ask about the quality of policy debate. The old rule was you could criticize policy but not the party. Until 2015. Among the policy elite in china, to what extent is this present in your ears . Good question. Difficult to answer. I want to be respectful of my role. A lot of what i do i dont talk about in public. No question china has an authoritarian system and there is centralization of power over the last decade, different than 20, 30, 40 years ago. In conversation with people outside the government or in reading the press in china, statecontrolled press, you do not see multiplicity of views. What i can talk about is how often our country is distorted in the media. The nature of our society, the struggles we have here. What we believe or dont. They are often distorted. One of the major preoccupations of our mission, working with my skilled colleagues, is to try and tell the truth about American Society<\/a>, history, u. S. China relations to the Chinese People<\/a>. Its a cat and mouse game sometimes. May 22, Antony Blinkens<\/a> speech, we put it out on twitter. We had 1. 2 million followers on our embassy account, to the chinese speaking world. Within two hours, it had been taken down. We put it out the next day under a different title. It was gone in 20 minutes. For 22 hours, millions looked at it. We are all about the Free Exchange<\/a> of ideas. That is what america is. We want Chinese People<\/a> to have a full picture of our society. My colleagues have been dismayed by what we here at the Daily Briefing<\/a> in the foreign ministry. Outright distortion of our country, values, people and policies. Part of what we have to do is to defend our society. We take that seriously. Hello. Does it work . [laughter] u. S. China education trust. Its a rare opportunity to hear you twice in person, two days in succession. The question of keeping Communication Channels<\/a> open and broadening it. From the perspective of an ngo. We are being hit by a double emmy. Whammy. The operating environment in china is tightening. Has made it so difficult that many of our nonngo we are Still Standing<\/a> at the same time Funding Sources<\/a> are drying up fast and almost completely. With American Students<\/a>, not many are continuing to be interested in studying in china. Tourism is dropping. Who is left to talk about america . We need your advice. How do we stay in the game . Thank you. Ambassador, thank you for your remarks. I agree with everything you said. We need to bring more American Students<\/a> to china. It is a passion of mine, personally. The way i look at this relationship, we have a highly competitive relationship with the government of china, where we defend our National Interests<\/a>. We have a National Interest<\/a> to engage the people of china. Covid pulled us apart. We launched a major effort for american universities to go back to china. Duke is coming back to its magnificent campus north of shanghai. Arizona state leadership wants to bring students back. All good. So many universities, for good reason, shut down during zero covid. It was not a place students should be. Engaging the Younger Generation<\/a> of the two countries is pivotal if you agree with my assumptions, they will be the leading most powerful countries 30 years from now. If you want to compete peacefully, the people of the countries must understand each other. So important. Weve all seen that around the world. People are a big part of international politics, not just people with titles. We are trying to do that grassroots. President xi in San Francisco<\/a> said there should be 50,000 American Students<\/a> in china. I think he is right to say we should have big vision. Getting there, from 700 people now, to 50,000 weve never had that going back to 1784, when we began our relationship. Its a big vision. Lets work toward it. We agree with this, we have to bring people together. Thank you for your foundation. I want to see if we can ask anyone under 30 to offer a perspective . You got to be under 30. [laughter] i work for the world bank. You talk about the need for more engagement. Im going as a tourist to china next week but i have to fly to london to get to china. They brought back the beijing flight. 4000 economy. Is there a plan . [laughter] that is an important question. If we are going to bring the people back, we got to have flights. The empress of china left new york harbor in the first year of our independence and it took 10 months to get that ship to canton. Precovid, 3. 5 years ago, there were 345 direct flights per week between the u. S. And china. Last april 12. Right now . 70. We hope in 2024, can we double that . Ive learned a lot about aviation negotiation. Its got to be reciprocal. The American Airlines<\/a> have to be defended so they can operate on a level Playing Field<\/a> with chinese competitors. D. O. T. , pete buttigieg, is doing the right thing by insisting on reciprocity. We are inching forward. I was coming to new york and washington from beijing. The only route i could fly sunday was san fran, then across the country to the east coast because there are no American Airlines<\/a>, american, delta or United Direct<\/a> from beijing to the east coast. In june, it took me three flights, 32 hours beijing to washington. The average person, look at the cost of travel, is prohibitive. This is our job, two governments, to have successful negotiations in 12 months to get the flights expanded. Youre not going to have people to people coming together unless the flights come back. We are trying hard. D. O. T. Is doing a good job. We have time for one more. The woman right here . Good afternoon, morning. Thank you brookings. Great to see you, ambassador. New thought about a lot of problems. Im wondering on india. I think there has been democratic backbiting. It seems to be pivotal in the strategy about how americans think of china. Do you think this is an opportunity for modi to behave in a more difficult manner, elections next year . Are you worried about that . Thanks for the easy question. [laughter] obviously, im not the American Ambassador<\/a> to delhi. My friend, ambassador garcetti is. I was the india negotiator for the bush administration, as we were trying to expand our strategic relationship. The nuclear deal, three years in the making, back in that administration. Then the uniformity of interest going back to the clinton administration, george w. Bush, barack obama, donald trump, joe biden. Each of those president s has seen india and the development of the strategic relationship as an unqualified good for american National Security<\/a>. Each of them has worked on it. There has been a baton passed. President biden has strengthened our strategic relationship with india. Why does it matter . We need democratic countries of the world to be present in the indo pacific, to Work Together<\/a>. India and the u. S. Are working together in the western pacific in the air and navy, working closely with japan, australia. That is significantly strengthening what we need, the health, military power and effectiveness of these democratic countries. This is one of the most significant strategic developments of the last decades, the emergence of india as a partner of the u. S. And the other countries. As i sit in beijing, that helps us to do our job, knowing we have this strength, alliances and in india, a strategic partnership. We want to maintain openness of the sea lanes, we want freedom of navigation, whether through the strait of malacca, the taiwan straight it is critical for international law, the liberal order and the global economy. You can see how hard and successfully President Biden<\/a> has worked on this. This has been a tour de force. Youve given us a framework of thinking on the relationship. Youve challenged us to get beyond blackandwhite thinking, to be comfortable in gray, understand the needs to hold thoughts about the competitive nature of the relationship, as well as where mutual self interest should guide us to cooperation. Thank you for your time and insights. [applause] tonight on cspan, President Biden<\/a> speaking at a Campaign Event<\/a> in charleston, South Carolina<\/a> and visiting a church where a shooting that churchgoers dead. After that, testimony from the director of the federal housing infringes and mortgage fees. And later, remarks by Vice President<\/a> Kamala Harris<\/a> in South Carolina<\/a> marking the anniversary of the january 6, 2021 attack on the u. S. Capitol. Announcer cspans washington journal. Our life forum involving you to discuss the latest issues in government, policy and politics. Coming up Tuesday Morning<\/a>, usa today Justice Department<\/a> correspondent discusses tomorrows hearing in d. C. S Circuit Court<\/a> over former President Trump<\/a> claim of immunity for the events of january 6. Then the editor in chief of jewish editor and fox news radio political analyst talks about camping 2024 and political fallout from the ongoing israelhamas war. These bands washington journal. Join in the conversation at 7 00 eastern to the morning on cspan, cspan now, or online at cspan. Org. Announcer the u. S. Court of appeals for the d. C. Circuit judge years oral argument in United States<\/a> versus donald j. Trump on whether former President Trump<\/a> is immune from prosecution for his alleged role in the january 6 attack on the u. S. Capitol. Watch or listen live Tuesday Morning<\/a> beginning at 9 30 on cspan3, on the free cspan now app or online at cspan. Org. Announcer starting tuesday, watch ct scans campaign 2024 coverage as we are on the ground in iowa where republican president ial candidates are in the final week of campaigning before the first in the nation caucuses. Hear their arguments, watch voters meet the candidates, and experience what it is like on the campaign trail. Watch live coverage of the Iowa Caucuses<\/a> on the cspan networks, cspan now our free mobile app, or online at cspan. Org. Cspan, your unfiltered view of government. 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