The U.S.-China Conversation podcast brings Chinese and American experts and practitioners together in conversation on issues around a relationship that is vital to global security and economic prosperity.

In a period of unprecedented tension between China and the United States, the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue is launching a new podcast series to provide a platform for American and Chinese experts to discuss jointly and frankly future relations between these two powers. 

In the pilot episode HD’s Asia Director Michael Vatikiotis speaks about the state of the U.S.-China bilateral relationship and what could be done to put relations on a better footing to former Acting Assistant Secretary of State Susan Thornton and Professor Da Wei of the University of International Relations in Beijing.  

Listen to the first episode here.

The idea for this series stemmed from a virtual dialogue between experts from China and the United States convened by HD in April.

Over the course of the discussion, participants expressed frustration over the risks of escalating rhetoric and the lack of official channels for discussing and solving differences.  

With effective dialogue to mitigate the risks challenging for many reasons, including the pandemic, a constructive suggestion to highlight issues of common concern, participants agreed, would be to say more together in public. 

By jointly tackling critical U.S.-China bilateral issues such as security and economic cooperation on a public platform, HD hopes that direct exchange of views between experts can be encouraged, and constructive ideas and common ground can be identified for all to consider for the future.