CHINA Town Hall: Local Connections, National Reflections with Henry Kissinger

This event is Co-Sponsored by the
National Committee on US China Relations

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Henry A. Kissinger will be the national webcast speaker for our tenth annual CHINA Town Hall: Local Connections, National Reflections.  In addition to his years as national security advisor (1969-1975) and secretary of state (1973-1977), Dr. Kissinger has also taught at Harvard University and is currently chairman of Kissinger Associates, Inc., an international consulting firm.  While national security advisor, Dr. Kissinger played a crucial role in arranging President Nixon’s 1972 visit to China, which opened the door to the re-establishment of U.S.-China relations.  His many decades of efforts to strengthen the Sino-American relationship are why we can think of no better person to serve as our CHINA Town Hall speaker as we mark the National Committee’s 50th Anniversary in 2016.

Following the national webcast, Dr. Freeman will discuss the situation in the South China Sea, sharing her analysis of the Chinese perspective.  How does China view its territorial rights  and economic interests in the South China Sea? How is it responding  to the recent UNCLOS arbitral tribunal decision ruling against China’s maritime claims and actions in the South China Sea? How far will China be willing to go to assert its sovereignty in the region? How does it view US policy and actions on the South China Sea?  In addition to describing the Chinese government’s position, she will discuss the opinions of ordinary Chinese citizens on the issue.

Carla Freeman is Director of the Foreign Policy Institute at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), where she is concurrently Associate Director of the China Studies program and an Associate Research Professor. She has also served as the American Co-Director of the Hopkins-Nanjing Center, program officer for civil society and sustainable development for The Johnson Foundation, and a political risk consultant on Asian issues for various firms.  She has also been Peace Scholar with the United States Institute of Peace, a visiting fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and a visiting scholar at Harvard’s Fairbank Center.

Dr. Freeman received a B.A. with honors in Southeast Asia and History from Yale University and certificates from the Beijing Foreign Languages University and Sciences Po in Paris. She completed her M.A. and Ph.D. in international relations at SAIS. She is the author of numerous publications in academic and policy journals and the editor of several books.  Her current project is a book with the working title, China and the Global Commons.