Security

The USC U.S.-China Institute talks with author David M. Lampton on his new book, which examines China’s effort to create an intercountry railway system connecting China and its seven Southeast Asian neighbors.

Commission statement: This report surveys an array of programs and policies the Chinese government has established over decades to exploit the scientific expertise of Chinese students and scholars studying in the United States for the purpose of accelerating China’s economic and military modernization. While the report examines the elaborate system of incentives the Chinese government employs to induce Chinese students and scholars to contribute scientific expertise to China’s national modernization goals, it does not intend to “profile” students from China, or to evaluate the degree of agency Chinese students and scholars have when faced with the opportunity to participate in these government-sponsored programs. This report assumes these programs target a minority of the overall Chinese student body, and that the majority of Chinese students contribute positively to U.S. research and society.

U.S. Assistant Attorney General John Demers discussed the China Initiative and the process for assessing risks posed by Chinese acquisitions or the business operations of Chinese companies in America.

David Stilwell, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, presented these remarks to open a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.