In this episode of the China in the World podcast, Paul Haenle speaks with Anushka Wijesinha about the ongoing political and economic crisis in Sri Lanka. The discussion covers the domestic and international causes of Sri Lanka’s debt crisis, Beijing’s role in the Sri Lankan economy, and the path forward for debt restructuring negotiations between Colombo and Beijing. The two also touch on the broader impact of China’s development financing in the global south in the context of rising inflation and interest rates around the world.

Anushka Wijesinha is a Sri Lankan economist and international consultant. He has worked at the World Bank, International Trade Center, ADB, and UNCTAD. Anushka is the co-founder of Centre for a Smart Future, an Asia-based think tank. He also serves on the Board of Directors of three leading financial services companies – Seylan Bank PLC, FairFirst Insurance Ltd, and HNB Finance PLC.

China’s Role in Sri Lanka’s Debt Crisis

The international order is shifting. Besides COVID-19 and supply chain disruptions, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to major crises that threaten global stability. While the European Union, the United States, and their allies and partners struggle to preserve peace in Europe, tensions are rising across the globe in the Taiwan Strait. To what degree has the world order shifted in 2022? How might the United States respond to intensifying challenges from Russia and China? How can the United States leverage the support of its allies and partners? 

During a live recording of the China in the World podcast, Paul Haenle sat down with Anja Manuel to examine ongoing challenges to the global rules-based order. This discussion is the second of Carnegie China's 2022 Distinguished Speakers Series and is available to be viewed on the Carnegie Endowment's website. 

https://carnegieendowment.org/2022/08/25/distinguished-speakers-series-anja-manuel-on-international-order-and-disorder-event-7922

Distinguished Speakers Series: Anja Manuel on International Order and Disorder

In this episode of the China in the World podcast, Paul Haenle speaks with Qi Dongtao about U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s recent visit to Taiwan, China’s new Taiwan White Paper, the current state and trajectory of cross-Strait relations, and the implications of shifts in U.S. policy toward Taiwan, including those related to the potential passage of the Taiwan Policy Act introduced by the U.S. Senate. Haenle and Qi also discuss Dongtao’s new article published in the Journal of Contemporary China, “Urban Chinese Support for Armed Unification with Taiwan,” that examines which groups on the mainland show stronger support for armed unification with Taiwan and what factors contribute to their support.


Dr. Qi Dongtao is Senior Research Fellow at the East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore. Qi Dongtao received his Ph.D. in sociology from Stanford University in 2009. His research interests include Taiwanese nationalism and politics, cross-Strait relations, U.S.-China-Taiwan triangular relations and Chinese nationalism. Dr. Qi is drafting a book manuscript tentatively titled, Taiwan and the Cross-Strait Relations amid Great Power Competition, which explores new developments and challenges in cross-Strait relations since 2016.

Rising Tension in the Taiwan Strait

In this episode of the China in the World podcast, Paul Haenle speaks with Evan Laksmana about U.S.-China dynamics in Southeast Asia and Southeast Asian views of U.S. foreign policy in the region. Haenle and Laksmana touch on the role of ASEAN, the Quad, and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework as well as China and the United States’ competing visions of regional order.

Evan Laksmana is a nonresident scholar at Carnegie China, where he examines U.S.-China dynamics in Southeast Asia and the broader Asia-Pacific. Laksmana is also a senior research fellow with the Centre on Asia and Globalisation at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore. He is also a nonresident scholar with the Lowy Institute for International Policy. His research focuses on military change, civil-military relations, and Southeast Asian defense and foreign policies.

If you enjoy listening to the China in the World podcast, consider checking out the Carnegie Endowment’s suite of podcasts:

https://carnegieendowment.org/the-world-unpacked
https://carnegieendowment.org/events/carnegieconnects
https://carnegieindia.org/interpretingindia
https://carnegieendowment.org/grandtamasha
https://carnegieeurope.eu/europeinsideout

U.S.-China Dynamics in Southeast Asia

Amid the war in Ukraine, the Biden administration has maintained focus on China and enjoyed robust bipartisan support for pursuing a tough approach to Beijing. Recent U.S. export controls on semiconductors and related chip manufacturing equipment have raised the stakes of U.S.-China competition, and many in China now feel as though the United States is seeking to slow China's rise. Beijing, for its part, is not backing down from U.S. pressure. Unprecedented military drills around Taiwan after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei roiled bilateral ties. How might the U.S. midterm elections impact Biden’s China policy? Will Beijing amend its approach toward Washington after the 20th Party Congress?

One day after the U.S. midterm elections, Paul spoke with Chong Ja Ian, a nonresident scholar at Carnegie China, Yun Sun, a senior fellow and co-director of the East Asia Program and director of the China Program at the Stimson Center, and Da Wei, the director of the Center for International Strategy and Security at Tsinghua University and a professor in the Department of International Relations at Tsinghua University. This panel is the first of the Carnegie Global Dialogue Series 2022-2023 and is available to be viewed on the Carnegie Endowment's website. https://carnegieendowment.org/2022/11/09/carnegie-china-global-dialogue-u.s.-china-relations-after-midterms-event-7975

U.S.-China Relations After the Midterms

Following the 20th Party Congress, China’s paramount leader Xi Jinping engaged in a flurry of high-level diplomatic meetings with heads of state from dozens of countries in East and Southeast Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. In this episode of the China in the World podcast, Paul Haenle speaks with Hoang Thi Ha, Senior Fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, about Xi’s recent diplomacy, China-ASEAN relations, U.S.-China competition in Southeast Asia, and environmental issues in the Mekong subregion. 

Hoang Thi Ha is a Senior Fellow and the Co-coordinator of the Regional Strategic and Political Studies Programme at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. Her research focuses on major powers in Southeast Asia and political-security issues in ASEAN, ASEAN human rights cooperation, ASEAN in Indo-Pacific discourse, and ASEAN’s institution building. Ms. Hoang joined the ASEAN Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam in 2004. She then moved on to work at the ASEAN Secretariat for nine years, with her last post being Assistant Director, Head of the Political Cooperation Division.

Xi Jinping’s Charm Offensive in Southeast Asia

To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the China in the World podcast, Carnegie China is launching a series of lookback episodes, using clips from previous interviews to put current international issues in context. For the first episode in this series, the podcast looks back on ten years of U.S.-China diplomacy following the postponement of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s planned visit to China in early 2023.

The China in the World podcast has spanned three U.S. administrations and covered several historic bilateral meetings, from Obama and Xi’s summit in Sunnylands, California in June 2013 to Trump and Xi’s meeting at Mar-a-Lago in April 2017. This episode gives a glimpse into the evolution of U.S.-China relations during a pivotal decade and sheds light on what can be accomplished during high-level meetings–what went right and what went wrong during past meetings. 

The episode features clips from Paul Haenle’s interviews with over 20 American, Chinese, and international experts on foreign affairs: Stephen J. Hadley, former U.S. National Security Advisor, Xie Tao, Dean of the School of International Relations at Beijing Foreign Studies University, Yan Xuetong, Dean of the Institute of International Relations at Tsinghua University, Randall Schriver, former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs, Evan Medeiros, Professor at Georgetown University and former advisor to President Obama, Zhao Hai, research fellow at the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University, Zha Daojiong, professor at the School of International Studies at Peking University, Ashley Tellis, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment, Danny Russel, former special assistant to President Obama and senior director for Asian Affairs on the National Security Council, Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor and former senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment, Cui Liru, former president of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, Doug Paal, former vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment, Graham Allison, Director of the Belfer Center at the Harvard Kennedy School, William J. Burns, CIA Director and former President of the Carnegie Endowment, Susan Thornton, former Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the Department of State, Evan Feigenbaum, Vice President for studies at the Carnegie Endowment, Jie Dalei, associate professor at the School of International Studies at Peking University, Da Wei, director of the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University, Tong Zhao, senior fellow at Carnegie China, and Hoang Thi Ha, senior fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.

10 Years of U.S.-China Diplomacy

To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the China in the World podcast, Carnegie China is launching a series of lookback episodes, using clips from previous interviews to put current international issues in context. For the third episode in this series, the podcast looks back on 10 years of dealing with the North Korea challenge.

Developments on the Korean Peninsula have undergone major changes since the launch of the China in the World podcast. In 2011, Kim Jong-un succeeded his father, Kim Jong-il, as supreme leader of North Korea, beginning his tenure with a series of internal purges and a more assertive military posture. While the Obama administration was able to reach a moratorium agreement with North Korea on nuclear and long-range missile tests in February 2012, the agreement was quickly broken in April 2012 with an attempted space launch of the Unha-3. Between 2013 and 2016, North Korea held three nuclear tests, followed in 2017 by North Korea’s first successful test of an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking the United States, the Hwasong-15. A subsequent “war of words” between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump resulted in the first meeting between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader in Singapore in 2018, followed by Kim’s “self-imposed” moratorium on nuclear and long-range tests, which was broken in February 2022. Since the Biden administration entered office, North Korea has conducted over 40 missile tests, including 5 ICBM launches, while spurning unconditional diplomatic overtures from Washington. This episode helps shed light on the evolution of geopolitics on the Korean Peninsula over the past 10 years.

10 Years of The North Korea Challenge

After more than one year of conflict, the Russia-Ukraine War continues to drag on. Last week, China’s envoy, Li Hui, traveled throughout European capitals to discuss the potential for a “political settlement” of the Ukraine crisis. Meanwhile, Kiev has launched a counteroffensive in five areas along the front in Donetsk. In the background, China-Russia diplomatic, economic, and military relations remain robust. How is the Ukraine war impacting China-Russia relations? Are there limits to the China-Russia partnership? Will relations between Moscow and Beijing grow more or less asymmetrical in the years to come?

This China in the World podcast was recorded as a live Twitter Spaces discussion featuring Alexander Gabuev, Amy Chew, and Paul Haenle on the state of the Ukraine War and China-Russia relations.

The Ukraine War and China-Russia Relations

To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the China in the World podcast, Carnegie China is launching a series of lookback episodes, using audio clips from previous interviews to put current international issues in context. For the fifth and final episode in this series, the podcast looks back on 10 years of US-China trade relations. 

US-China trade ties have undergone significant changes since the launch of the China in the World podcast. In March 2012, the United States, the EU, and Japan filed a dispute at the World Trade Organization over China’s quota on exporting rare earth metals. That same year, China’s trade surplus with the U.S. reached an all-time high of $315 billion. In 2015, China became the largest bilateral trade partner of the U.S., surpassing Canada for the first time. In March 2018, the Trump administration announced sweeping tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese imports, kicking off the U.S.-China trade war. After bilateral negotiations with Beijing broke down in May 2019, the Trump administration raised tariffs from 10 to 25 percent on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods. Finally, in January 2020, the “Phase one” trade deal was signed, relaxing some U.S. tariffs and requiring China to import an additional $200 billion worth of American goods for the next two years. After coming to office in January 2021, the Biden administration maintained the Section 301 tariffs on China and, at the end of 2021, U.S. officials stated that China failed to meet its commitments under the Phase 1 trade deal. In 2023, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo travelled to China and agreed to establish working groups on commercial and financial issues. However, negotiations over structural economic issues such as subsidies, investment restrictions, and non-tariff barriers remain at a standstill. This episode helps shed light on the evolution of U.S.-China trade relations over the past 10 years.

10 Years of US-China Trade Relations

ChinaFile is an online magazine publishing, showcasing, and contributing to the best reporting and commentary on China published by Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations. We seek to both meet and expand the appetites of expert and non-expert audiences who want to better understand China and to provide them with a visually stimulating, well-designed platform on which they can encounter voices and topics that tend to be out of the reach of general English-speaking readers.