China in the World Carnegie-Tsinghua Center

Last year’s Mamallapuram summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggested the historically tense China-India relationship was warming considerably. 2020, however, has been a markedly difficult year for the two countries. The ongoing Himalayan border conflict has plunged bilateral ties into crisis, and New Delhi has taken steps to limit Chinese investment into India and banned hundreds of Chinese mobile applications. While the border situation has stabilized over the past couple months, the future of China-India relations remains uncertain. What has driven the relationship’s deterioration, and is there any chance the two countries can get back on track? During a live recording of the China in the World podcast, Paul Haenle spoke with Ashley Tellis, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Han Hua, associate professor at Peking University, about the trajectory of China-India ties and the prospect for improved relations between Asia’s two largest countries.

While the recent election of Joe Biden likely signals a raft of domestic political changes, its impact on U.S.-China relations remains unclear. The Trump administration has remolded the relationship, which is now defined by confrontations over economic practices, emerging technologies, and security. There is also growing bipartisan support for pursuing a tougher approach to China, and the Justice, State, and Defense departments are increasingly prioritizing new initiatives to push back on Beijing. Will Biden maintain the confrontational tone and policies of his predecessor? Or will he devise an entirely different posture toward Beijing? The answers to these questions will not only have critical consequences for the two countries in question, but for the broader international community as well. During a live recording of the China in the World podcast, Paul Haenle spoke with Evan Feigenbaum, vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Xie Tao, dean of the School of International Relations and Diplomacy at Beijing Foreign Studies University, on how the Biden administration might approach China, as well as how Beijing is gearing up for the new U.S. president.

President-elect Joe Biden will enter the White House with challenging domestic and foreign policy agendas. Where does China rank on the Biden administration’s priority list? How is Beijing likely to respond to Biden’s election, and what are the implications for U.S. policy in the Asia-Pacific? On this collaborative episode of the China in the World podcast and the Carnegie Endowment’s The World Unpacked podcast, Paul Haenle joined Laura Lucas Magnuson, Carnegie's vice president for communications and strategy, to discuss the future of U.S.-China relations.

The result of the upcoming U.S. presidential election will directly impact how the United States, China, and Russia approach issues on the Korean Peninsula. How would a second Trump or first Biden administration deal with North Korea? How do policymakers in Beijing and Moscow evaluate their relations with Pyongyang? During a live recording of the China in the World podcast, Paul Haenle spoke with Carnegie experts Alexander Gabuev and Tong Zhao about the outlook for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the role of the United States, China, and Russia.

Why has the coronavirus crisis evolved into a contest of systems between the United States and China? What is driving China’s “wolf warriors?” Can Washington and Beijing construct more effective official dialogue mechanisms to address bilateral problems? On this episode, Paul Haenle and Zha Daojiong, professor of international political economy at Peking University, have a wide-ranging discussion on U.S.-China relations. Haenle and Zha analyze the many factors driving a downward spiral in U.S.-China relations and the outlook for bilateral ties ahead of the U.S. presidential election. They end the discussion reflecting on steps that both Washington and Beijing should take to pull the relationship back from the brink.

U.S.-China relations are more adversarial than at any time in decades. The risk of confrontation or conflict has significantly increased, and domestic politics in both countries have exacerbated tensions. What role does ideology play in the ongoing deterioration of the relationship, and how will it impact future bilateral ties? In this episode, Paul Haenle spoke with Jie Dalei, associate professor at the School of International Studies at Peking University, to discuss the role of ideology in the U.S.-China relationship and its impact on consequential bilateral issues like Taiwan, Hong Kong, and COVID-19.