by Kate Ashley H. Espeleta

The Philippine Association for Chinese Studies organized a webinar on “The Current and Future State of China-US Relations” on 13 November 2021 via zoom. The event gave context to relations between the United States and China, the future trajectory of their relationship, and mapped out prospects for cooperation.  

The first speaker was Professor Ralph Cossa, a  US-Asia-Pacific security policy analyst, President Emeritus, and the WSD-Handa Chair in Peace Studies of Pacific Forum. According to Professor Cossa the changes in leadership styles in China and the United States signaled the shift in their foreign policies, which inevitably elicited reactions from each other. In his presentation, he also discussed potential areas of cooperation between the two countries.

Professor Zhu Feng, Executive Dean of the School of International Studies of Nanjing University and a scholar specializing in Asia-Pacific regional security, served as the second speaker. He observed that there is growing anxiety from the United States over the power gap with China. It ultimately led the former to adopt an assertive foreign policy, which prompted the latter’s current reactive stance.

The speakers’ presentations were followed by a question-and-answer session, and was moderated by a PACS member from the University of the Philippines-Diliman, Assistant Professor Enrico Gloria. The participants raised concerns on the following: the threat of U.S. alliances to China, the possibility of an international rules-based order founded on Chinese beliefs, Philippines-China relations, the mechanisms that can protect the Philippines from the growing tensions between China and the United States, the reformation of a Philippines-United States defensive alliance, and the Taiwan Relations Act.

To watch the webinar again, the recording of the discussion is posted online for viewing at PACS Facebook page, and at PACS Youtube Channel. For information about PACS upcoming webinars, visit https://www.pacs.ph/ucpoming-events/.