Is the US Competing Effectively with China in Asia?

REGIONAL STRATEGIC AND POLITICAL STUDIES PROGRAMME

About the Webinar

In 2021, newly elected US President Joe Biden declared: “We are in a competition with China to win the 21st century”, signifying Washington’s resolve to “invest, align and compete” to prevail over a strategic peer competitor. The stated objective “is not to change the PRC but to shape the strategic environment in which it operates, building a balance of influence in the world that is maximally favorable to the United States, our allies and partners, and the interests and values we share”. But competing with China has since become central to the Biden administration’s Asia strategy—and the administration is deploying tools that, in some areas, actively seek to attenuate China’s industrial and technological advance. Three years into the Biden administration, what progress has Washington made in its strategy? Is it winning over Asian friends and allies in the contest with Beijing and where does it still fall short? This webinar sheds light on the challenges faced by the US in its competition with China in the region, particularly Southeast Asia. In doing so, the speaker will also address the complexity of the China challenge to the US, especially Beijing’s ability to leverage its favorable strategic and economic position in its own region to make itself a central player in the future of Asia.

About the Speaker

Evan A. Feigenbaum is Vice President for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he oversees research in Washington, Beijing, and New Delhi on a dynamic region encompassing both East Asia and South Asia. Initially an academic with a PhD in Chinese politics from Stanford University, Feigenbaum’s career has spanned government service, think tanks, the private sector, and three major regions of Asia. He has served in the State Department as deputy assistant secretary for South Asia, deputy assistant secretary for Central Asia, member of the policy planning staff with principal responsibility for East Asia, and adviser on China to Deputy Secretary of State Robert B. Zoellick. He is the author of three books and monographs, including The United States in the New Asia (CFR, 2009, co-author) and China’s Techno-Warriors: National Security and Strategic Competition from the Nuclear to the Information Age (Stanford University Press, 2003), which was selected by Foreign Affairs as a best book of 2003 on the Asia-Pacific, as well as numerous articles and essays.

Registration

This webinar will be delivered online entirely. You can join the webinar at the specified date and time using devices (computer, phone, or tablet) with internet connection.

Please register here to receive your unique link for joining the webinar.

If you have questions for the speaker, please key in your questions via the Q&A, stating your name and affiliation. The moderator will field them to the speaker during the Q&A session.