Pacific Council on International Policy Pacific Council on International Policy

An installment of the Edgerton Series on Responding to a Rising China, featuring Dr. Ashley Tellis of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, on the escalating India-China conflict.

Featuring:

Dr. Ashley Tellis, Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs and Senior Fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Dr. Tellis specializes in international security and U.S. foreign and defense policy with a special focus on Asia and the Indian subcontinent. While on assignment to the U.S. Department of State as senior adviser to the undersecretary of State for political affairs, he was intimately involved in negotiating the civil nuclear agreement with India. Previously he was commissioned into the Foreign Service and served as senior adviser to the ambassador at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi. He also served on the National Security Council staff as special assistant to President George W. Bush and senior director for strategic planning and Southwest Asia. He is the author of India’s Emerging Nuclear Posture and co-author of Interpreting China’s Grand Strategy: Past, Present, and Future.

Moderator:

Aseema Sinha, Wagener Family Professor of Comparative Politics and George R. Roberts Fellow, Claremont McKenna College

Aseema Sinha is the Wagener Chair of South Asian Politics and George R. Roberts Fellow at Claremont McKenna College in California. She previously taught at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and was a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C.

Background:

India and China are not only the two most populous countries in Asia, but they are among the most populous countries and the fastest-growing major economies in the world. Despite the increasing need for economic and diplomatic ties, the nations are engaged in a conflict that looks increasingly tense by the day. What is the future of cooperation and competition between India and China? And what are the regional and global implications of fraught India-China relations?

The Edgerton Series on Responding to a Rising China aims to provide proactive and forward-looking solutions to some of the most complex local, regional, and global issues facing the United States and China today, through regular engagement in debates and discussions with the foremost experts in Chinese affairs. The Edgerton Series is made possible by generous support from the Edgerton Foundation. We thank Dr. Bradford and Ms. Louise Edgerton for their continued support and dedication to the Pacific Council.

Everyone's attention is on the U.S.-Mexico border with the latest seasonal "surge" of migrants, where border crossings climbed 28 percent in February. Last week, President Biden appointed Vice President Harris to oversee the stem of migration across the U.S.-Mexico border. What are sustainable policy solutions for the Biden administration along our southern border? And what are the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mounting humanitarian crisis? Join us for a discussion on the emerging migration crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border, featuring Essey Workie and Tom K. Wong with Melissa Floca moderating.

Featuring:

Essey Workie, Senior Policy Analyst, Migration Policy Institute

Essey Workie is a Senior Policy Analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, where she works with its Human Services Initiative. Her work focuses on unaccompanied children, immigrant families, and access to local, state, and federal health and human service programs.

Tom K. Wong, Associate Professor, Political Science & Founding Director, U.S. Immigration Policy Center at University of California, San Diego

Tom K. Wong is an associate professor of political science and founding director of the U.S. Immigration Policy Center (USIPC) at the University of California, San Diego. He served as an advisor to the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (WHIAAPI) under the Obama administration where he co-led the immigration portfolio and was recently appointed by Governor Gerry Brown to serve on the State of California 2020 Census Complete Count Committee (CCC).

Moderator:

Melissa Floca, Program Officer for Cross-Border Initiatives, Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice, University of San Diego

Melissa Floca is the Program Officer for Cross-Border Initiatives at the Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice (Kroc IPJ). In her role, she develops and oversees the portfolio of activities focused on creating a peaceful and inclusive border region.

An installment of the Edgerton Series on Responding to a Rising China, on the state of human rights in China.

Featuring:

Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch

Kenneth Roth is the executive director of Human Rights Watch, one of the world's leading international human rights organizations, which operates in more than 90 countries. He has written extensively on a wide range of human rights abuses, devoting special attention to issues of international justice, counterterrorism, the foreign policies of the major powers, and the work of the United Nations.

Moderator:

Kimberly Marteau Emerson, Board Member, Human Rights Watch

Kimberly Marteau Emerson is a lawyer, civic leader, and human rights advocate. She worked in the Clinton administration as a senior political appointee and spokesperson for the U.S. Information Agency, now part of the State Department. She serves on the Board of Directors of Human Rights Watch, the Advisory Board of the USC Center on Public Diplomacy, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Pacific Council on International Policy.

Opening remarks:

Alicia Miñana, CEO, Law Offices of Alicia Miñana

Background:

According to the Human Rights Watch World Report 2021, "the Chinese government’s authoritarianism was on full display in 2020 as it grappled with the deadly coronavirus outbreak first reported in Wuhan province. Authorities initially covered up news about the virus, then adopted harsh quarantine measures in Wuhan and other parts of China. The government has rejected international calls for independent, unfettered investigations into Chinese authorities’ handling of the outbreak, and surveilled and harassed families of those who died of the virus.

"Beijing’s repression—insisting on political loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party—deepened across the country. In Hong Kong, following six months of large-scale protests in 2019, the Chinese government imposed a draconian “National Security Law” on June 30—its most aggressive assault on Hong Kong people’s freedoms since the transfer of sovereignty in 1997. In Xinjiang, Turkic Muslims continue to be arbitrarily detained on the basis of their identity, while others are subjected to forced labor, mass surveillance, and political indoctrination. In Inner Mongolia, protests broke out in September when education authorities decided to replace Mongolian with Mandarin Chinese in a number of classes in the region’s schools.

"Chinese authorities’ silencing of human rights defenders, journalists, and activists, and restrictions on the internet, also make it difficult to obtain accurate information about Chinese government policies and actions." Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, will speak on these issues and more during the next installment of the Edgerton Series on Responding to a Rising China.

The Edgerton Series on Responding to a Rising China aims to provide proactive and forward-looking solutions to some of the most complex local, regional, and global issues facing the United States and China today, through regular engagement in debates and discussions with the foremost experts in Chinese affairs. The Edgerton Series is made possible by generous support from the Edgerton Foundation. We thank Dr. Bradford and Ms. Louise Edgerton for their continued support and dedication to the Pacific Council.