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Schedule

Tuesday, January 30, 2024
6:30 p.m. Drinks Reception
7 p.m. Program
8 p.m. Audience Q&A

In his first U.S. visit since he removed China's presidential term limits, Xi Jinping attended the November 2023 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in San Francisco, where he met with U.S. president Joe Biden.

The two leaders made progress on some issues, such as resuming military-to-military communication and limiting the export of chemicals used in fentanyl production. However, many unresolved issues remain between the two countries including trade disputes, China’s support of authoritarian regimes, and how China may respond to the upcoming January 2024 presidential elections in Taiwan.

Join General Richard Myers, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Ambassador Chase Untermeyer, former US Ambassador to Qatar; and Dr. Yao-Yuan Yeh, Associate Professor at the University of St. Thomas, as they examine the intricacies of the U.S.–China relationship and discuss military ties, trade policies, and the impact of Taiwan's 2024 presidential election.

About the Speakers

Retired U.S. Air Force General Richard B. Myers loyally served the United States for 40 years before retiring as a four-star general. He served as the 15th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 2001 until his retirement in 2005. In this capacity, he was the highest-ranking officer in the United States military and served as the principal military advisor to the President, Secretary of Defense, and National Security Council. From 2016 to February 2022, General Myers was the President of Kansas State University.

He currently serves on the Board of Regents of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, MP Materials (NYSE: MP), and Rivada Corp., a private company. General Myers previously served on the board of directors of Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) from 2006 to 2015; Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) from 2006 to 2017; United Technologies Corporation from 2006 to 2017; and Aon PLC (NYSE: AON) from 2006 until 2022. He was also the Colin L. Powell Chair of National Security, Leadership, Character, and Ethics at the National Defense University, where he taught for 10 years, and was chairman of the board of directors of the United Service Organization’s World Board of Governors. In addition, he serves on the board of trustees of nonprofit organization Fisher House Foundation and the nonprofit General Richard B. Myers School for Veterans in Dallas, TX. Myers has traveled extensively in China in official and unofficial capacities. In October 2023 he was part of a Track II dialogue effort in China.

The Honorable Chase Untermeyer has held positions at all four levels of government – local, state, national, and international — over a period of more than 40 years, with work in journalism, academia, and business as well.

A 1968 graduate of Harvard College, he served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War. He was a Texas state representative; an assistant secretary of the Navy under President Reagan; director of Presidential Personnel and director of the Voice of America under the first President Bush; and U.S. ambassador to Qatar under the second President Bush. He is currently professor of practice at the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston. Ambassador Untermeyer is the author of three volumes of diary-based memoirs of the Reagan-Bush era and the book How Important People Act. In October 2023, Ambassador Untermeyer was part of a Track II dialogue effort in China.

Dr. Yao-Yuan Yeh is Professor and Fayez Sarofim – Cullen Trust for Higher Education Endowed Chair in International Studies, Chair of the Department of International Studies & Modern Languages, Chair of the Department of Political Science, Director of the Master of Diplomacy & Strategic Affairs Program, Director of the Taiwan & East Asia Studies Program, and Director of the Mandarin Center of the Universities of St. Thomas and Wenzao Ursuline at the University of St. Thomas, Houston. He received his Ph.D. in Political Science from Texas A&M University. His research focuses on public opinion, foreign policy, international security, US-China-Taiwan relations, East Asian politics, terrorism and political violence, and quantitative methods. Dr. Yeh’s academic and policy work has been published in various prestigious platforms, including but not limited to British Journal of Political Science, Terrorism and Political Violence, The China Quarterly, Social Science Quarterly, Scientific Data, International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, The Defense Post, THE DIPLOMAT, East Asia Forum, and The National Interest. He has coedited two volumes titled Taiwan: The Development of an Asian Tiger (Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2019) and Public Opinion, Policy Responses, and Party Politics under the COVID-19 Pandemic: Examining Taiwan and Its Strategic Neighbors (Lexington Book, 2023), and coauthored in Presidentialism, Violence, and the Prospect of Democracy (Lexington Book, 2021).

About the Moderator

David J. Firestein is the inaugural president and CEO of the George H. W. Bush Foundation for U.S.–China Relations and a founding and current member of the Foundation’s Board of Directors. Mr. Firestein was the founding executive director of the University of Texas at Austin’s (UT) China Public Policy Center (CPPC) and a clinical professor at UT’s Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. He also served as senior vice president and Perot Fellow at the New York City-based EastWest Institute (EWI).

A decorated career U.S. diplomat from 1992–2010, Mr. Firestein specialized primarily in U.S.–China relations. He is the author or co-author of three books on China, including two China-published Chinese-language best-sellers.

In the years since he left the State Department, Mr. Firestein has produced path-breaking Capitol Hill testimony, thought leadership, and scholarship on a wide range of topics, including U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, U.S.–China trade, the role of national exceptionalism as a driver of major international conflict, the value of government, U.S. public diplomacy in the wake of 9/11, and the use of contemporary country music as presidential campaign communication. He currently serves on the boards of directors or advisors of over a dozen foreign affairs-focused, business-focused, China-focused, and Texas-focused U.S. non-profit organizations.

Mr. Firestein holds a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University and two master’s degrees from the University of Texas at Austin.

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