The U.S.-China science and technology relationship is under acute strain. Once a zone of high-level collaboration, the space is increasingly shaped by national security strategies, ideological hostility, and declining mutual trust. At a time when scientific progress depends on open exchange, but national policies are moving toward restriction and decoupling, this program will explore the stakes for innovation and the costs to global well-being. What are the long-term costs of further declines in U.S.-China scientific cooperation for the United States, for China, and for the global scientific commons? 

Join the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis (CCA) for a discussion moderated by Jennifer Choo, CCA Director for Research and Strategy. The panel features Yasheng Huang, CCA Honorary Senior Fellow on Chinese Economy and Technology; Brendan Kelly, CCA Fellow on Chinese Economy and Technology; Lizzi C. Lee, CCA Fellow on Chinese Economy; and Susan Shirk, Director Emeritus of the 21st Century China Center and Research Professor at the School of Global Policy and Strategy, UC San Diego.

Speakers

Yasheng Huang is a Non-Resident Honorary Senior Fellow on Economy and Technology at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis. He is also a professor and holds the Epoch Foundation Professorship of Global Economics and Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management. From 2013 to 2017, he served as an associate dean in charge of MIT Sloan’s global partnership programs and its action learning initiatives. His previous appointments include faculty positions at the University of Michigan and at Harvard Business School.

Brendan Kelly is a Non-Resident Fellow on Chinese Economy and Technology at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis. He most recently served as Director for China Economics on the National Security Council staff from June 2023 to July 2024, where he was responsible for coordinating U.S. government economic policy issues, technology controls, and engagement related to China. From 2018 to 2023, he served at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, including as Acting Head of International Relations and Country Risk, after leading the bank’s analysis and engagement on Asia. 

Lizzi C. Lee is a Fellow on Chinese Economy at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis. Ms. Lee is an economist turned journalist. She graduated from MIT’s PhD program in economics before joining the New York-based independent Chinese media outlet Wall St TV. She was also the host of "The Signal Live with Lizzi Lee" powered by the China Project, where she interviewed the most knowledgeable minds on China for analysis of the ever-evolving business and technology ecosystem. 

Susan Shirk is a Research Professor at the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy and Director Emeritus of its 21st Century China Center. She is one of the most influential experts working on U.S.-China relations and Chinese politics. She is also Director Emeritus of the UC Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. From 1997-2000, Shirk served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of East Asia and Pacific Affairs, with responsibility for China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Mongolia. Her current book is Overreach: How China Derailed Its Peaceful Rise. Other books include China: Fragile Superpower, which helped frame the policy debate on China in the United States and other countries. Her other publications include "The Political Logic of Economic Reform in China"; "How China Opened its Door"; "Competitive Comrades: Career Incentives and Student Strategies in China"; and her edited book, Changing Media, Changing China.

Jennifer Choo (moderator) is the Director of Research and Strategy at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis. Prior to taking this position, she served in varying leadership roles at Stanford University for over seven years, first as the associate director of the Stanford China Program at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (2016-2021) and more recently as the strategic policy advisor at the Stanford Center on China's Economy and Institutions (2021-2024). Her current position at CCA also marks Jennifer’s return to Asia Society, as she served as the Director of Programs at Asia Society Northern California from 2014 to 2016.