The 13th China Town Hall Annual Conference was held on Monday, November 18th, and was hosted by National Committee on U.S. Relations. As the local partner, Washington State China Relations Council gathered everyone in the Columbia Center to watch this conference together. George Stephanopoulos is served as moderator, and cooperated with Stephen Orlins, president of the National Committee on US-China Relations, Dr. Melanie Hart, senior fellow and director for China policy at the Center for American Progress, and Dr.  Yasheng Huang from the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dr. Ely Ratner, executive vice president and director of studies at the Center for a New American Security.

This year, the National Committee on US-China Relations slightly changed the format of the conference. The conference launched a series of discussions on hot topics. The US-China trade war is now in its 17th month, and experts agree that Trump is eager to reach a ” phase one deal.” According to Ely Ratner and marked “the end of a stage of US economic policy that has basically failed and that needs to be transitioned away from other aspects”. In addition, Dr. Melanie Hart also stressed that the deal was “just undoing the damage that has been done”. The losses include the counterattack from China after the United States imposed tariffs on China, which caused damage to the US agricultural economy. In addition, experts also talked about Xinjiang issues and Hong Kong issues, visa restrictions and the NBA, etc.

 

 

After the live broadcast, the senior economist Spencer Cohen gave a wonderful speech detailing the impact of the China-US trade war on Washington State and the United States.

WSCRC Executive Director Nor Coquillard and Director Man Wang are in China this week participating in a Washington State Delegation visit to Shanghai and Hangzhou.  The delegation, led by the Director General of the Washington State Department of Commerce, Dr. Lisa Brown, has met with a large number of companies with interests in investing in Washington as well as many provincial and municipal officials who came to Shanghai for China’s annual International Import Exhibition (CIIE). Dr. Brown also was a speaker at a conference sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce as well as at an International Aerospace Forum. The team has now moved to Hangzhou where they will meet with a number of technology companies with interests in investing in the Seattle area. In addition, the team will visit Zhejiang University and conduct discussions with the Hangzhou Municipal Government.  The WSCRC team has been instrumental in ensuring that the visitors are well versed on how to operate effectively in China to ensure that the trip is successful.

The Washington State China Relationship Council held its 40^th Anniversary Gala on the evening of October 24^th in the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Seattle. Over 300 people including many dignitaries participated in the event which paid tribute to the Council’s long history of working to improve relations between Washington State and China. The dinner opened with notes of congratulations offered by the Lt. Governor of Washington State, Cyrus Habib, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and the Economic and Commercial Council of the People’s Republic of China, Yihang Yang.

 

 

Three of the five founders who created the Council in 1979 were in the audience and were recognized for their foresight in creating such an organization.  After a tribute to Sidney Rittenberg, a recently deceased Council member who worked with both Mao Zedong and later, U.S. companies opening operations in China. Nelson G. Dong, a former Council Chairman and well-recognized Seattle based lawyer was presented with the Sidney Award for Lifetime Achievement in improving relations between Washington and China.

Seattle Port Commissioner Courtney Gregoire addressed the 40 years of cooperation between the NW Seaport Alliance and COSCO Shipping and presented an award to Nong Ding, the Chairman of COSCO Shipping North America.

Former Ambassador to China Max Baucus spoke fondly of his time in Beijing in his keynote speech.  He explained how he came to understand how to effectively engage with senior members of the Chinese government, including Xi Jinping. Ambassador Baucus closed with his observations about the differences between the political systems between the U.S. and China and presented his ideas on how the U.S. must address its internal issues to remain a strong international power.

 

 

 

 

Following Senator Baucus, former Ambassador and Chinese Scholar Stapleton Roy provided his observations regarding Xi Jinping’s commitment to socialism and his view that China will eventually prevail in his struggle versus the U.S. The Ambassador closed by noting that the U.S. has no long-term strategy vis-à-vis China that puts the U.S. at a disadvantage.

 

 

 

The Council wishes to thank all those who have participated in this event.

 

Cameron Johnson, a Washington native who has lived in China for 20 years, spoke to members of the Council on October 8^th. Cameron, a member of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, reviewed the findings of Amcham’s annual business survey which was released last month. The survey’s key findings were that American businesses in China are, in general, profitable and still optimistic about the future. Cameron also reported on his recent participation on Amcham’s Doorknock to Washington where he met with members of Congress, the Administration as well as with think tanks. Cameron reported that he did not find any coherent strategy emanating from Washington on how to improve the U.S China relationship.