August 1, 2023

Southeast Asia is a critically important but too often underappreciated region when it comes to U.S. interests and U.S. competition with China. There is room, and ample reason, for the United States to strengthen its already considerable economic, political, and strategic ties with the region. It starts with listening to what Southeast Asians want from the United States, and how they view U.S.-China competition in their region.

With the goal of doing exactly that, members of the Task Force on U.S.-China Policy – a group of leading U.S. China specialists co-created by Asia Society’s Center on U.S.-China Relations and the 21st Century China Center at UC San Diego – formed a working group to study this important set of issues. The group worked with Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute to convene a two-day closed-door conference at ISEAS, May 22-23, 2023, with 22 Southeast Asians representing all 10 Association of Southeast Asia (ASEAN) member states in dialogue with eight Americans.

Join members of the Task Force working group for a virtual panel discussion on what they found and included in their new report, Elevating Southeast Asia in American China Policy. Tuesday, August 1, 10am ET.

Speakers:

Orville Schell (moderator), Asia Society Vice President and Arthur Ross Director, Center on U.S.-China Relations

David Shambaugh, Gaston Sigur Professor of Asian Studies, Political Science & International Affairs, and director of the China Policy Program at the Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University

Charlene Barshefsky, former U.S. Trade Representative, and Chair of Parkside Global Advisors

Karl Eikenberry, former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan and Lieutenant General, U.S. Army (retired), and faculty member of Schwarzman College, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

Danny Russel, Asia Society Vice President for International Security and Diplomacy, Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI), and former Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs