On October 15, 2026, the Washington State China Relations Council will host its 2nd Annual U.S.-China Symposium. The half-day event will bring together leading regional and national voices to examine the evolving U.S.-China relationship from the Washington state perspective.

This year, we will explore the current status and future trajectory of U.S. China relations, the growing intersection of trade, technology and security, and the role of subnational engagement and soft power. Participants will gain insights into the challenges and opportunities ahead and engage in thoughtful discussion on one of the world’s most consequential relationships.  

Whether you work in international business, policymaking, education, or community engagement, this conference will provide a unique opportunity to learn, exchange ideas, and connect with others interested in the future of U.S.-China relations.

Agenda

9:00 – 9:05 AM    Welcome Remarks

Jim Young, Board Chair, Washington State China Relations Council

Man Wang, Executive Director, Washington State China Relations Council

9:05 – 9:30 AM    Keynote Remarks

9:30 – 10:30 AM    Panel 1: Taking Stock: Where U.S.-China Relations Stand and What’s Next

U.S.–China relations are often described as entering a period of strategic competition. Is it the right framework for understanding the relationship, and what developments should we be watching most closely in the years ahead? Amid broader geopolitical rivalry, where might opportunities for cooperation remain, and how should we think about the risks of miscalculation, both for the U.S. and for Washington state?

• Andrew Batson, Partner and China Research Director, Gavekal
• Richard W. Harper Jr., Vice President of Government Affairs, US-China Business Council
• David Tang, Partner, K&L Gates
• Ann Scott Tyson, Beijing Bureau Chief, Christian Science Monitor

10:30 – 10:45 AM    Coffee Break

10:45 – 11:45 AM    Panel 2: Trade, Tech & Security: Where Business Meets Geopolitics

As competition between the U.S. and China intensifies, trade and technology policies are increasingly being used as tools of national and economic security. Measures such as export controls, investment screening, and supply chain policies are reshaping global markets and cross-border collaboration. For globally connected regions like Washington state—home to technology companies, research institutes, and export-driven industries—these shifts carry particular significance. This panel will explore how the growing intersection of trade, technology, and security is transforming U.S.-China engagement and what these developments mean for both countries and the Washington state.

• Spencer Cohen, Founder and Principal, High Peak Strategy
• Xiaomeng Lu, Director of Geo-Technology, Eurasia Group
• Kathi Rennaker, COO, Brown & Haley
• Lawrence Ward, Partner and Chair of National Security Law Group, Dorsey & Whitney

11:45 AM – 12:45 PM    Panel 3: Beyond National Politics: Subnational Engagement in U.S.-China Relations

While U.S.–China relations are often shaped by national policy and geopolitics, many connections between the two countries occur at the subnational level. Partnerships among cities, states, universities, and community organizations have long supported exchange and cooperation. In today’s more competitive and politically sensitive environment, how effective are these forms of engagement? This panel will explore the evolving role of subnational engagemen in U.S.–China relations—what works, what doesn’t, and what the future might hold.

• Kristi Heim, Founder and CEO, Lumenation
• Mason Ji, Associate, Ashurst Perkins Coie; Lecturer, School of Law, University of Washington
• Paige Miller, VP of Fundraising, Seattle Chinese Garden; President and CEO, Oleander Medical Technologies
• Connie Wan, Founder & CEO, Seattle Gummy Company

12:45 – 12:50 PM    Closing

12:50 – 2:00 PM    Lunch and Networking

Sponsorship Opportunities: Email manw@wscrc.org to learn more.

Interested in discounted access? Ask about WSCRC membership opportunities.

Media: Members of the press must email info@wscrc.org for registration inquiries. 

Stay tuned for more program and speaker updates!

Register Here

SPEAKER BIOS

Andrew Batson is a Partner and the China Research Director at Gavekal Dragonomics, one of the world’s leading independent research firms. Andrew leads the analyses of the Chinese economy at the firm. He has been working on China since 1998, and before joining Gavekal in 2011 was an award-winning reporter for The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires in Beijing and Hong Kong. In addition to managing a team of researchers in Beijing and writing regular commentary on the Chinese economy, he blogs at andrewbatson.com. His personal research interests center on China’s economic development, political economy and state-owned enterprises. Andrew was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, and educated at Reed College in Portland, Oregon.

Dr. Spencer Cohen is the Principal and Founder of High Peak Strategy LLC, an international trade and economics research consulting firm based in Seattle, WA, specializing in port operations, regional economic analysis, international trade research, and U.S.-China relations. With over 15 years’ consulting experience, he works with a diverse range of clients, including ports, international trade associations, corporations, and economic development organizations, and local governments across the U.S. and abroad, including in Washington, California, Texas, Arizona, Nevada, New York, Colorado, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, and the Asian Development Bank.

Dr. Cohen is a frequent public speaker on issues relating to U.S.-China relations, international trade, China’s economy, and regional economic recovery. Spencer has written opinion pieces in the South China Morning Post, The Daily Guardian (India), Puget Sound Business Journal, and Seattle Business Magazine. Prior to forming High Peak Strategy, Spencer served as senior economist with a Seattle-based economics consulting firm. He has also held policy and research roles with the Washington State Department of Commerce and Washington State Economic Commission.

Spencer is a 2021-2023 Public Intellectuals Program fellow (seventh cohort) with the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. He is also an affiliate professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Washington. Dr. Cohen has a PhD in geography from the University of Washington, an MA in China Studies, also from the University of Washington, and BA in mathematics and history from the University of Connecticut.

Rich Harper is the vice president of government affairs at the US-China Business Council.

From the US Senate to a national trade association, Rich has over 25 years of experience in government affairs and advocacy. He joined USCBC after leading the government affairs team at Outdoor Industry Association where he worked with outdoor companies to elevate the industry’s voice on climate, conservation, outdoor recreation, sustainability, and international trade. He began his career in the office of Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), where he served as a policy advisor on trade, foreign affairs, and defense issues for 15 years.

Harper received his bachelor’s degree from Dickinson College and his master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Kristi Heim is an experienced communications leader in life sciences, international business, and global health. A former journalist, she is currently Founder and CEO of Lumenation, a marketing and communications firm. She was previously Senior Director of Communications for Element Biosciences, a multi-disciplinary life science company. She has more than 20 years’ experience in media, public relations and international affairs, managing communications strategy and business partnerships.

Her experience includes directing corporate communications for global biopharma and genomics companies. She also spent many years working in Asia and served as executive director and president of the Washington State China Relations Council (WSCRC), from 2013 to 2016. As an award-winning journalist, she wrote about business and technology for publications including the Wall Street Journal, the Seattle Times, and the San

Mason Ji is a litigator and strategic adviser who focuses on cross-border disputes, international trade, national security, and regulatory enforcement matters. He represents companies and individuals in complex commercial litigation, arbitration, investigations, and other high-stakes cases. He advises clients on tariffs, sanctions, and export controls, including matters before the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States and under the Outbound Investment Program.

Fluent in English and Mandarin Chinese and drawing on experience in the United States and international institutions, Mason brings cultural fluency and strategic perspective to sensitive cross-border matters. In addition to his law practice, Mason teaches International Trade Law at the University of Washington School of Law and has lectured in English and Chinese on international trade and complex litigation.

Prior to private practice, Mason served as a delegate to the United Nations General Assembly, where he negotiated treaties and resolutions on nuclear disarmament, climate change, and human rights. He also served as an English-Chinese translator at the United Nations and as a White House Ambassador for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

Ji maintains an active portfolio of pro bono work, has held leadership positions in national, state, and local bar associations, and is active in community engagement. He has founded two non-profit organizations and hosts a bilingual Chinese Radio Seattle show called “Decoding America.”

Ji has delivered lectures and speeches, in both English and Chinese, on international law, comparative law, and complex commercial litigation at universities across the world, including Yale University, the University of Oxford, Harvard University, Vanderbilt University, Peking University, and Tsinghua University.

Ji is a board director and fellow of the American Bar Foundation. He is a member of the Committee of 100 Next Generation Leaders (NGL) Class of 2026. He was the recipient of the 2025 ABA Rosner & Rosner Young Lawyer Professionalism Award. He was named a Top 40 Young Lawyer on the Rise by the ABA in 2023 and was profiled by the ABA Journal as a “Member Who Inspires” in 2024. Ji received his J.D. from Harvard Law School, a Master of Public Policy and a Master of Science in Global Governance and Diplomacy from the University of Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar, and a B.A., summa cum laude, from Yale University.

Xiaomeng Lu is the Director of Geo-Technology at Eurasia Group. She oversees the team’s research agenda, focusing on the interactions of emerging technologies with geopolitics, market dynamics, and regulatory norms. She provides in-depth analysis on key policy issues such as US-China tech competition, artificial intelligence, and semiconductor supply chains.

Before joining Eurasia Group, Xiaomeng was the China practice lead at consulting firm Access Partnership. In this capacity, she helped top financial and cloud service providers of the US enter China’s market amid the trade war between the two countries. Previously, Xiaomeng worked as a global policy director at the Information Technology Industry Council, where she conducted successful advocacy campaigns that led to the suspension of onerous regulatory regimes, helping global electronics manufacturers save billions in potential losses.

Xiaomeng has a master’s degree in international trade policy from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Renmin University of China. In her spare time, she retraces Jensen Huang’s visits to Shanghai’s wet markets and Taipei’s noodle spots, using his selections as unconventional indicators that complement traditional geopolitical analysis.

Paige Miller is Vice President of Fundraising for the Seattle Chinese Garden Society, where she helps advance the Garden’s mission of fostering cultural understanding and strengthening ties between Seattle and China through education, history, and the arts. She has served on the Society’s Board of Directors since 2017.

Professionally, Paige is the President and CEO of Oleander Medical Technologies. She previously served as a Commissioner of the Port of Seattle and spent more than three decades with the Port, holding senior leadership roles in trade development, public affairs, and government relations. Throughout her career, she has helped strengthen the region’s international trade and economic competitiveness while serving on the boards of numerous organizations dedicated to trade, workforce development, and public policy, including Port Jobs, the Trade Development Alliance of Greater Seattle, and the Washington Public Ports Association. She is a graduate of Yale Law School.

Kathi Rennaker is Chief Operating Officer of Brown & Haley, the 114-year-old Tacoma-based confectioner that has handcrafted ALMOND ROCA® since 1923. ALMOND ROCA® is sold in 60 countries today, and nearly half of Brown & Haley’s production is exported to Asia, with China standing as one of the company’s most significant and long-standing international markets. Kathi has spent much of her 20 years at Brown & Haley leading the company’s global marketing efforts, before being named COO in 2026 following Brown & Haley’s merger with BHM Group, its longtime import and distribution partner in China. The merger deepened the company’s ties across the Pacific while keeping every piece of ROCA® rolling off the line in its historic Tacoma factory and adding dedicated international sales resources to support continued growth in Asia. Kathi brings a firsthand, operational perspective on how a century-old Washington State manufacturer builds and sustains trade relationships with China.

David Tang is a Partner at K&L Gates and his law practice concentrates in the areas of foreign investment, cross-border financings, mergers and acquisitions, and investments related to real estate. He has more than 40 years of transactional experience in the Greater China market. Mr. Tang was managing partner of Preston Gates & Ellis LLP from 1995–1999, a predecessor law firm to the formation of K&L Gates LLP. He is recognized in Best Lawyers and China Business Law Journal, among other directories.

Among his activities, David served on the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco from 2002–2008 and as its chair from 2006–2008. He serves as the Trustee of the Blakemore Foundation, is a board member of the Washington State China Relations Council, a member of the Advisory Council of Asia Society Northern California and Seattle, and of the World Justice Project Leadership Council. He currently chairs the American Bar Association Task force on Trade in International Legal Services. Mr. Tang holds an AB (magna) from Harvard University; a JD from Columbia University; and a Certificate from The Hague Academy of International Law.

Ann Scott Tyson is the Christian Science Monitor’s Beijing Bureau Chief, covering China and Northeast Asia. Ann is an award-winning journalist and author whose career includes a decade covering the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and eight years as a foreign correspondent in China and Asia. Her U.S. beats have included the Pentagon, Congress, and the Midwest. In addition to the Monitor, she has reported for The Washington Post and contributed to The Wall Street Journal. 

Ann is the author of a bestselling Afghanistan war memoir, “American Spartan: The Promise, the Mission, and the Betrayal of Special Forces Major Jim Gant.” She also co-wrote “Chinese Awakenings: Life Stories from the Unofficial China.”

Ann graduated from Harvard College with an honors degree in government and East Asian studies and earned an honors certificate from the Institute of Political Studies in Paris (Sciences Po). She was awarded the Bagehot Fellowship for graduate studies in economics and business at Columbia University and the Rotary Graduate Fellowship at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She speaks Chinese and French.

Dr. Connie F. Wan is the founder and general counsel of Seattle Gummy Company, a pharmaceutical company with manufacturing capabilities in both the United States and China. A seasoned intellectual property attorney, scientist, and business executive, Dr. Wan has advised clients ranging from global pharmaceutical companies to emerging biotechnology startups.

Drawing on extensive scientific, legal, and commercial experience in the United States and China, Dr. Wan advises on and negotiates cross-border licensing, drug-development collaborations, product co-development, clinical development, and commercialization transactions. Her work encompasses small-molecule drugs, therapeutic antibodies, antibody-drug conjugates, and other FDA-regulated products, with particular emphasis on patent strategy, freedom-to-operate, regulatory considerations, due diligence, and the allocation of intellectual property risk. Before entering law, she conducted small-molecule drug research at Merck and cancer-therapeutics research at the University of Washington.

Dr. Wan currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Washington State Bar Association’s Corporate Counsel Section. She previously served as Chairwoman of the Association’s Intellectual Property Section and as President of the Washington State Patent Law Association. Dr. Wan earned her J.D. from the University of Washington School of Law, holds degrees in pharmaceutical sciences from Peking University, and earned her M.S. and Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Clark University. She is admitted to practice in Washington State, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, and before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. She is fluent in English and Mandarin Chinese.

Lawrence (Larry) Ward is a Partner and the Chair of Dorsey & Whitney LLP’s National Security Law Group and and former head of the firm’s Seattle office. Clients ranging from small emerging companies or family-owned businesses to Fortune 500 public corporations and international professional associations trust Larry to advise them on ever-evolving national security law and international trade matters. Larry has worked across countless industry sectors and has developed particular expertise in aerospace and defense, mining, technology (including AI/ML), biotech, financial services, higher education, and manufacturing. As a former appointed member of the U.S. State Department’s Defense Trade Advisory Group (DTAG), Larry has built important connections with U.S. Government and industry leaders, which further bolsters his ability to provide practical compliance insight to his clients.

Larry advises clients on compliance matters related to U.S. export controls and national security law. His work includes representing clients before federal agencies on foreign investment reviews (CFIUS), national industrial security compliance (DCSA), export control regulations (EAR and ITAR), economic sanctions (OFAC), energy and nuclear export matters (DOE and NRC), and enforcement of anti-corruption laws such as the FCPA (DOJ and SEC).

Larry helps clients build and refine compliance programs, train employees, classify products for export purposes, apply for export licenses and classification requests from the U.S. Government and structure internal safeguards for dealing with classified federal government information. Larry also helps clients in building international relationships with various third parties by drafting and negotiating various commercial contracts. Before those relationships are even built, he helps clients craft due diligence programs and assists with vetting of potential foreign partners to ensure that the risks of violations of export control and international business ethics are low. He also helps foreign buyers and U.S. targets navigate important regulatory issues associated with foreign investment in the United States when U.S. national security is implicated through the transaction.

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