Video: Why the way forward will be bumpy -- Bates Gill on US-China relations

Across the United States and Europe, the mood toward China is souring.  China’s economic competitiveness, its claim that its currency is not overvalued, military modernization, and its insistence to define human rights on its own terms all contribute to this trend.  Moreover, China is increasingly viewed as part of the problem in dealing with global challenges such as climate change, or stemming the nuclear ambitions of countries such as Iran and North Korea.  With global threats becoming more complex, expectations in the West are greater than ever that a stronger and more prosperous China can and should do more to address them.  But can China? Will China? 

Bates Gill, Director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) and long-time China-watcher, visited the USC US-China Institute on February 18, 2010. He took up these issues by examining a number of longstanding and stubborn impediments which will hinder cooperation on global challenges between China and major partners such as the United States.

This video is also available on the USCI YouTube Channel.

Click on the play button above to see Bates Gill's presentation.

Gill is the author, co-author, or co-editor of six books, including, Asia’s New Multilateralism (with Michael Green) (Columbia University Press,), Rising Star: China’s New Security Diplomacy (Brookings, 2007), as well as China: The Balance Sheet: What the World Needs to Know Now About the Emerging Superpower (Public Affairs, 2006), Weathering the Storm: Taiwan, Its Neighbors, and the Asian Financial Crisis (Brookings, 2000), Chinese Arms Acquisitions from Abroad (Oxford, 1994), Arms Trade Transparency in Southeast Asia (Oxford, 1996), and Chinese Arms Transfers (Praeger, 1991).

Gill's work has also appeared in Foreign Affairs, Survival, and National Interest, and issued opinion pieces in such newspapers as the International Herald Tribune, the Financial Times, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Washington Times, and the Los Angeles Times. Other recent work has included policy reports on China’s expanding role in Africa. His editorial in the New York Times in July 2001 and his article in Foreign Affairs in March 2002 helped focus the attention of the U.S. policy community on China’s looming HIV/AIDS challenge. He has since co-authored four major monographs reporting on China’s progress in addressing its HIV/AIDS epidemic, published with CSIS.