China-U.S. Relations during the Obama Era

Shen Dingli, director of Fudan University's Center for American Studies, visits USC to discuss U.S.- China relations.

The Obama administration has indicated it is eager to engage China’s leaders in discussions to address many shared concerns including worries over the financial crisis, the spread of nuclear weapons, and climate change. In the first days of the administration, however, Chinese officials and scholars quickly rejected the charge then Treasury Secretary-designate Timothy Geithner made that China manipulated its currency so as to promote exports. Professor Shen Dingli was among the scholars quoted by the Western media when the issue came up. Please join us for this candid discussion of what Prof. Shen believes to be the key issues and where cooperation might be possible and where he thinks conflict will be likely.

Shen Dingli earned his doctorate in physics and was a postdoctoral fellow at Princeton University. He is a professor of international relations at Shanghai’s Fudan University. He directs the university’s Center for American Studies and is and executive dean of the university’s Institute of International Studies. He is the co-founder and Director of China's first non-government-based Program on Arms Control and Regional Security, at Fudan University. Prof. Shen teaches courses on nonproliferation and international security, and China’s foreign policy and carries out research on China-US security matters and nuclear ties, regional security and nonproliferation issues, and Chinese and American foreign and defense policies. He is a member of the USCI board of scholars and publishes widely.