On October 28-29, Ambassador Susan M. Elliott, President & CEO, participated in the George H. W. Bush Conference on U.S.-China Relations in Houston, Texas.
Susan Elliott introduces the NCAFP security panel.
The conference commemorated the 40th anniversary of the normalization of relations between the United States and the People’s Republic of China by bringing together Americans and Chinese to discuss critical bilateral, regional and global issues, and to generate innovative recommendations for advancing the relationship. Topics covered over the two days included energy, trade and investment, agriculture, health, national security, and innovation.
Susan Thornton, Su Ge, Kathleen Stephens and Shao Yuqun speak on a security panel, moderated by Susan Elliott.
The NCAFP partnered with the George H. W. Bush Foundation for U.S.-China Relations by assembling a panel on “The Shifting Security Landscape in the Asia-Pacific.” Security competition between the U.S. and China is rising in line with China’s growing and military modernization. The two countries have different strategic interests on a range of security issues, including cross-Taiwan Strait relations, territorial disputes in the South China Sea, the North Korean nuclear issue, and recently, the security implications of integrated high technology supply chains and the political implications of regional development projects. The panel featured Dr. Shao Yuqun, Director for the Institute of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau Studies, Shanghai Institutes for International Studies; Ambassador Kathleen Stephens, President and CEO of the Korea Economic Institute; Ambassador Su Ge, Co-Chair of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council; Ms. Susan A. Thornton, Senior Fellow and Research Scholar at the Paul Tsai China Center, Yale University; and was moderated by Ambassador Susan M. Elliott.
“Millennial Masterminds” panel at the George H. W. Bush Conference on U.S.-China Relations
Prior to the conference, Ambassador Elliott served as a mentor for the Foundation’s “Millennial Masterminds of the U.S.-China Relationship” program from October 25-27. The program convened Chinese and Americans in their 20s and early 30s for a series of forward-looking and outside-the-box discussions on what the U.S.-China relationship will look like in 40 years. As a mentor, Ambassador Elliott, along with other senior experts, acted as a “sounding board” for their ideas. These rising experts tackled topics from each country’s domestic affairs, to Asia-Pacific security issues, to global economic trends. They presented their observations and participated in an interactive discussion at the main conference.
Ultimately, the conference closed following five days of stimulating and candid conversations that will inform the next generation of leaders working across all sectors of U.S.-China relations.