CHINA Town Hall

We are delighted to announce that George Mason University, together with the National Committee on US-China Relations, will convene the fifth annual CHINA Town Hall: Local Connections, National Reflections on Wednesday, November 16, 2011.

China's rapid development and US-China relations directly impact the lives of just about everyone in the United States. CHINA Town Hall is a national program at sites across the country designed to give Americans the opportunity to discuss these issues with leading China experts. George Mason University will host the only CHINA Town Hall in the greater Washington, D.C. region.

The evening will begin with a reception and refreshments at 6:30 p.m. The program begins at 7 p.m. with a live webcast featuring Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski, former national security advisor to President Jimmy Carter and current counselor and trustee of the Center for Strategic & International Studies in Washington, D.C.

The webcast will be followed by a discussion with special Mason guest David M. Lampton, the George and Sadie Hyman Professor and Director of China Studies at the Johns Hopkins Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies. Dr. Lampton will discuss "China's Political Challenges, or Why You Might Not Want to be a Chinese Leader."

When Americans explain their own country's foreign policy to outsiders, domestic politics usually plays a role in their explanation. Similarly, much of China's behavior in the world and in US-China relations can be explained by an understanding of the domestic challenges confronting Beijing leaders. What are these challenges and where, in the end, does America fit in the list of issues of concern to the Chinese elite?

This event is free and open to students, faculty and the general public. Directions to the Fairfax campus of George Mason University. 

---

Note: for links to videorecordings of the event, please see http://historyarthistory.gmu.edu/articles/3624