International Relations

Avery Goldstein of the School of Arts & Sciences spoke about relations between the U.S. and China. “So far, all signs on both sides are that neither wants to appear too eager to make the first move in moderating the bilateral tensions,” he said. “Despite the transition to a new administration in the U.S., continuity rather than change in this troubled relationship prevails.”

Amy Gadsden of Penn Global weighed in on the state of China studies. “We should consider offering not only opportunities to study China but also chances to consider ‘China and X,’ where the X can be global economics, international law, bioethics, development, design, climate, and just about everything else,” she said. “The opportunity now is to explore how China is shaping and reshaping every field.”

William Burke-White of the Law School said the increased cooperation between the U.S. and the International Criminal Court (ICC) came to a halt when John Bolton joined the Trump administration and when the ICC moved to investigate the U.S. for alleged war crimes in Afghanistan. “The court was coming under a lot of pressure to show that it didn’t just investigate weak governments in Africa but was able to take on the powerful as well,” he said.

Jacques deLisle of the Law School and School of Arts & Sciences says Tsai Ing-wen, the recently re-elected president of Taiwan, will probably reference political unrest in Hong Kong in her inaugural speech. “I think she has to walk a fine line in how much to reference the Hong Kong situation which obviously is key to her re-election but neuralgic to Beijing,” he said.

Amartya Sen of the School of Social Policy & Practice writes that the World Health Organization should be fixed rather than scrapped.

Jacques deLisle of the Law School and the School of Arts & Sciences said U.S. proposals to sue China for coronavirus-related harms are “legally flawed and politically fraught.”

Diana Mutz of the Annenberg School for Communication said Trump’s position on trade relations with China appealed to Republican supporters who view trade “as a means to dominate—as a way to beat the Chinese and these other countries and get the upper hand.”