Untangling the U.S. – China Narrative: Technology, Trade, and Tensions

Join the Committee of 100 and Asia Society Northern California for a special evening discussion to untangle this US-China narrative.

As trade talks between the United States and China break down without a deal, anxiety has become an expression of the deeper underlying tensions of these two countries. Security concerns, further complicated by exigencies of domestic politics, have resulted in talks of a new era of US-China relations. News headlines are daily reminders of this evolving and complex bilateral relationship – “MD Anderson ousts 3 scientists over concerns about Chinese conflicts of interest”, “MIT recently suspends ties with China’s Huawei and ZTE”, “Department of Justice Launches Initiative to Address Chinese Espionage”, “China rejects ‘unfounded hype’ after GE spying accusation”, “China hides identities of top scientific recruits amidst growing US scrutiny”. Technology and cyber security are at the core of this deepening conflict between the world’s largest economies. Join the Committee of 100 and Asia Society Northern California for a special evening discussion to untangle this US-China narrative.

and diversification, while remaining focused on the group’s core niches of technology, life sciences, venture capital and premium wineries. Ken is Chairman of the Board of the Asia Society of Northern California, Treasurer of the Asian Art Museum, and Chairman of the Board of the 21st Century China Center Advisory Board. Also, he is a member of the board of the Equilibrium Capital Group, and Chief Credit Officer of Columbia Lake Venture Debt Fund. He is also an adjunct professor and member of International Advisory Board at Fudan University in Shanghai, and an advisor to a number of startups. Earlier in his career, Ken was a member of the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco from 2006 to 2012.

Speakers:

Buck Gee, co-founding board member of the Chinese American Community Foundation and serves on the board of Ascend/Northern California
John Pomfret, Former Bureau Chief in Beijing, Washington Post
Andy Rothman, Investment Strategist at Matthews Asia
Moderator: Frank H. Wu, President of Committee of 100
Opening remarks: Kenneth P. Wilcox, Chair of Asia Society Northern California Advisory Board

Buck Gee is board president of the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation and also serves on the board of Ascend/Northern California and the advisory board of the Asia Society/Northern California.  He is a member of the Committee-of-100 and serves on its public policy committee. He has served as co-chair of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation Donor Advisory Board and was co-founder of the Chinese American Community Foundation. He has authored opinion pieces for the Harvard Business Review, New York Times, USA Today, KQED and San Jose Mercury News. He retired in 2008 from Cisco Systems, where he was Vice President and General Manager of the Data Center Business Unit. He joined Cisco with its 2004 acquisition of Andiamo Systems where Mr. Gee was President and CEO. He holds BSEE and MSEE degrees from Stanford University and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

John Pomfret was a longtime, award-winning correspondent with The Washington Post. He spent seven years covering China - one in the late 1980s during the Tiananmen Square protests and then from 1998 until the end of 2003 as the bureau chief for The Washington Post in Beijing. Returning to the United States in 2004, Pomfret was the paper's West Coast bureau chief for two years before being appointed the editor of its Outlook section, the Post's weekly commentary section, which he ran from 2007 until September 2009. Pomfret moved back to China in 2011 to undertake research funded by a Fulbright grant and the Smith Richardson Foundation for his new book The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom, which won the sixteenth annual Council on Foreign Relations Arthur Ross Book Award. Pomfret speaks, reads and writes Mandarin, having spent two years at Nanjing University in the early 1980s as part of one of the first groups of American students to study in China. In 2003, Pomfret was awarded the Osborne Elliot Award for the best coverage of Asia by the Asia Society. In 2007, Pomfret was awarded the Shorenstein Award from Harvard and Stanford universities for his lifetime coverage of Asia. In 2011, he was awarded the Weintal Award from Georgetown University for diplomatic coverage.

Andy Rothman is an Investment Strategist at Matthews Asia. He is principally responsible for developing research focused on China’s ongoing economic and political developments while also complementing the broader investment team with in-depth analysis on Asia. In addition, Andy plays a key role in communicating to clients and the media the firm’s perspectives and latest insights into China and the greater Asia region. Andy serves on the advisory board of Asia Society Northern California. Prior to joining Matthews Asia in 2014, Andy spent 14 years as CLSA’s China macroeconomic strategist where he conducted analysis into China and delivered his insights to their clients. Previously, Andy spent 17 years in the U.S. Foreign Service, with a diplomatic career focused on China, including as head of the macroeconomics and domestic policy office of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. In total, Andy has lived and worked in China for more than 20 years. He earned an M.A. in public administration from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs and a B.A. from Colgate University. He is a proficient Mandarin speaker.

Frank H. Wu is president of C100 and became a Distinguished Professor following service as Chancellor & Dean at UC Hastings. He was a member of the faculty at Howard University, the nation’s leading historically black college/university (HBCU), for a decade; Dean of Wayne State University Law School in his hometown of Detroit; a visiting professor at Michigan; an adjunct professor at Columbia; and a Thomas C. Grey Teaching Fellow at Stanford. He taught at the Peking University School of Transnational Law in its inaugural year and again a decade later. In his leadership roles at UC Hastings and Wayne, as well as on faculty at Howard, he was the first Asian American to serve in such a capacity.

Kenneth P. Wilcox is chair of Asia Society Northern California Advisory Board and currently serves as Emeritus Chairman of Silicon Valley Bank and was Vice Chairman of SPD Silicon Valley Bank. Ken was previously the CEO of SVB Financial Group. In that role, he successfully pursued a strategy of expansion and diversification, while remaining focused on the group’s core niches of technology, life sciences, venture capital and premium wineries. Ken is Chairman of the Board of the Asia Society of Northern California, Treasurer of the Asian Art Museum, and Chairman of the Board of the 21st Century China Center Advisory Board. Also, he is a member of the board of the Equilibrium Capital Group, and Chief Credit Officer of Columbia Lake Venture Debt Fund. He is also an adjunct professor and member of International Advisory Board at Fudan University in Shanghai, and an advisor to a number of startups. Earlier in his career, Ken was a member of the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco from 2006 to 2012.

Agenda:
5:30 PM        VIP reception with Asia Society Northern Californa's President's Circle & C100
6:00 PM        Registration for public
6:30 PM        Program
8:00 PM        Event ends
 
About Asia Society Northern California: The Asia Society Northern California Center, established in 1998, is uniquely positioned on the edge of the Pacific and at the entrance to Silicon Valley. The Center connects the San Francisco Bay Area’s diverse local community with a wide network of global leaders and visionaries in the fields of policy, business, arts & culture, and technology/innovation.
 
About C100: The Committee of 100 (C100) is a non-partisan leadership organization of prominent Chinese Americans in business, government, academia, and the arts. The Committee’s purpose is to provide leadership and act as a constructive force in the twin missions of: Promoting the full participation of all Chinese Americans in American society and acting as a public policy resource for the Chinese-American community; and advancing constructive dialogue and relationships between the peoples and leaders of the United States and Greater China.