July 2021 e-Newsletter

Introducing Our New PIP Fellows

The National Committee is pleased to announce the seventh round of fellows of its Public Intellectuals Program (PIP), generously funded by Carnegie Corporation of New York. The new fellows comprise a wide range of research interests, geographic locations, and types of institutions and the seventh cohort joins an accomplished community of PIP fellows who have formed a strong network of mutual support and academic collaboration.

Please continue to check our website for more information about upcoming programs. 

Up to 33 percent of global trade passes through the South China Sea, and many of its land features are in dispute. In the last decade, tensions have escalated as China has grown increasingly assertive. The National Committee hosted a virtual program with Richard J. Heydarian (Polytechnic University of the Philippines), Isaac B. Kardon (U.S. Naval War College), and Yan Yan (National Institute for the South China Sea Studies) on June 29, 2021 to discuss recent developments in the region and potential areas for cooperation.

Event video | Event podcast | Key takeaways

The July 2021 centennial of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is an important milestone in China, accompanied by media fanfare and celebration. As the Party promotes the story of its successes and accomplishments to its people and the world, what does it choose to minimize or omit? On June 24, 2021, the National Committee held a virtual discussion with Denise Ho (Yale University), Karrie Koesel (University of Notre Dame), and Maria Repnikova (Georgia State University) to explore how the Chinese Communist Party shapes and projects its identity to its own people and the world.

Event video | Event podcast | Key takeaways

Small and medium-sized enterprises have provided crucial ballast to the U.S.-China bilateral relationship for decades. But with tariffs remaining in place and the path forward for SMEs uncertain, the future of this model is uncertain. The National Committee, in partnership with the World Trade Centers Association, hosted a webinar on June 10, 2021, with Amy Celico of Albright Stonebridge, and Gary Biehn, Ron Bracalente, and Linda Mysliwy Conlin of the World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia, to discuss the prospects for U.S.-China economic and trade relations.

Event video | Event podcast | Key takeaways



In June, the National Committee invited experts Dennis Blair (former Director of National Intelligence and NCUSCR Director), Melissa Hathaway (President, Hathaway Global Strategies), and Benjamin Harburg (Managing Partner, MSA Capital and NCUSCR Director) to speak to Members of Congress in a closed-door briefing on the implications of an increasingly digital world for U.S. national security, economic interests, and data governance. The speakers addressed the challenges posed by the rapid rise of the digital economy, discussed China’s efforts to develop a digital currency, shared takeaways from the National Committee’s U.S.-China Track II Dialogue on the Digital Economy, and provided policy options to advance U.S. digital interests vis-à-vis China.



The National Committee and Schwarzman Scholars partnership hosted an in-depth conversation on the illicit fentanyl trade from China to the United States, and what both countries can do in light of this ongoing legal and public health crisis. The June 3, 2021 program featured experts Ben Westhoff, award winning investigative journalist and author, and Vanda Felbab-Brown, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, whose research focuses on international organized crime and illicit economies; Schwarzman Scholar Fellow Christopher Sperrazza and NCUSCR Program Officer Clarinda Blais moderated the event.

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