A food safety factory shutdown has Americans hunting for baby formula. Readying themselves for a covid-19 lockdown, Chinese in Beijing emptied store shelves. Emerging from lockdown, some in Shanghai are visiting well-provisioned markets. U.S.-China agricultural trade is booming, but many are still being left hungry. Food security, sustainability and safety remain issues.
China’s International Influence — Strength & Weakness
The Institute for Taiwanese Studies presents a discussion of China's recent rise in global influence and its shifting foreign relations.

Presenter: Perry Link 林培瑞, Professor, Princeton and UC Riverside
“How secure do Chinese people feel today—inside?”
Discussant: Richard Baum 瑞嘉, Professor, UC Los Angeles
Presenter: Jeffrey Wasserstrom, Professor, UC Irvine
“From the Beijing Olympics to the Shanghai Expo: Reflections on the Domestic and international Impact of two Chinese Global Spectacles”
Discussant: Daniel Lynch, Professor, University of Southern California
The China’s global influence rose substantially in the past several years. China acted tough on many US-China relations related issues. As a result, the tension between US and China was up recently. There are some concerns about whether China miscalculated Obama’s China policy. One year ago, the Gallup Poll issued a two-part series on the race for global influence between China and US. One Russian commentator said “China ought to be feared because of its weakness, not strength”. EU-China relations also went through trouble times and one EU scholar called China “Red Dragon”, not gentle panda. A timely discussion of China’s global influence by four experts from Southern California will provide fair and interesting assessments of this vital issue.
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European views toward China are not uniform. Europeans recognize China's economic prowess and clearly favor continued ties, but majorities in much of Europe now have a negative view towards China.