Robert Zoellick, 2007 speaker

Kenneth Lieberthal, 2006 speaker

J. Stapleton Roy, 2005 speaker

Chas Freeman, Jr., 2008 speaker

Now in its fourth year, the annual Barnett-Oksenberg Lecture on Sino-American Relations provides a forum where current and potential issues in the Sino-American relationship are discussed frankly and forthrightly. This is the first and only ongoing lecture series in China on U.S.-China Relations.

The lecture is named in honor of the late A. Doak Barnett and the late Michel Oksenberg, both American scholars and policymakers of distinction whose writing and actions had a direct impact on the bilateral relationship dating back to the 1960s. The two were also invaluable leaders of the National Committee: Doak was one of the founding members and second chairman of the organization.

The bilateral relationship has matured well beyond the original geopolitical – and later economic – imperatives and has moved into many other areas. With this deeper and broader relationship, new challenges and tensions inevitably arise, and it is important that both sides engage in dialogue on the issues that takes into account the national interests of both countries.

The speaker for the inaugural lecture, in 2005, was the Honorable J. Stapleton Roy, former Ambassador to China, Indonesia and Singapore, and presently a senior partner at Kissinger Associates. The 2006 speaker was Dr. Kenneth Lieberthal, Professor of Political Science and William Davidson Professor of Business Administration at the University of Michigan. Dr. Lieberthal was advisor to the President and senior director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council during the last few years of the Clinton Administration. The Honorable Robert B. Zoellick, former undersecretary of State and U.S. Trade Representative, and now president of the World Bank, gave the 2007 lecture. The 2008 lecture was presented by longtime China specialist the Honorable Chas Freeman, founder and chairman of Projects International. He is the former assistant secretary of defense for International Security Affairs, U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, and chargé at the American embassies in Beijing and Bangkok.

The annual event is timed to coincide as closely as possible with the anniversary of the signing of the Shanghai Communiqué, and is held in Shanghai – not only because that is where, on February 27, 1972, the seminal document that has formed the core principles of the relationship was signed by President Nixon and Premier Zhou, but also because Shanghai has now taken its place as the commercial center of China.