The China Forum

The China Forum brings scholars and leaders from China together with experts and policymakers in a yearly dialogue on the issue areas of trade and economics, foreign policy and security, and political development. This year’s China Forum continues the important mission of equipping Americans with a more realistic and comprehensive understanding of China.

Our multi-day forum features several events across Washington DC. Which events would you like to attend? Please select from the options below.

CONFIRMED SPEAKERS

Dr. Claude Barfield
Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute

Richard Berman
President of Berman and Company

Chen Guangcheng
Legal scholar and civil rights activist

Dr. Seth Cropsey
Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute

Dr. Frank Dikötter
Humanities Chair, University of Hong Kong

Dr. Lee Edwards
Chairman, Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation

Prof. Stefan Halper
Author and Professor of Politics, University of Cambridge

Hu Ping
Chief Editor of Beijing Spring

Fred Kaplan
Author of Dark Territory: The Secret History of Cyber War

Henry Li
Executive Director, Informatics & Strategies Institute

Anastasia Lin
Actress and 2015 Miss World Canada

Dimon Liu
Human rights activist

Seishu Makino
President, Human Rights Foundation of Japan

Peter Mattis
Fellow, The Jamestown Foundation

Matthew Robertson
China News Editor, Epoch Times

Andrew To
Former Chairman, League of Social Democrats (Hong Kong)

Wang Tiancheng
Dissident scholar

Wei Jingsheng
Author and Sakharov Prize Laureate

Dr. Yang Jianli
President, Initiatives for China

Yu Jie
Author and activist

Dr. Miles Maochun Yu
Professor, US Naval Academy

NOTE: Live Mandarin-English interpretation available throughout program.

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

OPENING DINNER

“The Cultural Revolution 50 Years Later”
with Dr. Frank Dikötter
plus Witness Project Episode Premiere
with Anastasia Lin
Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill
Thornton Room
400 New Jersey Avenue NW, Washington, DC
6:30pm Reception
7:30pm Dinner
BY INVITATION AND SPONSORSHIP ONLY
SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE

Thursday, October 20, 2016

PUBLIC FORUM
Business Roundtable
300 New Jersey Avenue NW, Washington, DC
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC: TICKET RESERVATIONS REQUIRED

9:00am – 10:20am IS CHINA STILL COMMUNIST?

A discussion of how the Chinese Communist Party came to rule more than 1.3 billion people, how the People’s Republic of China has evolved since the era of Chairman Mao, and whether or not China should still be considered a communist state.

Dr. Frank Dikötter
Humanities Chair, University of Hong Kong
Dimon Liu
Human rights activist
Peter Mattis
Fellow, The Jamestown Foundation
Wei Jingsheng
Author and Sakharov Prize Laureate

10:30am – 11:40am FREE SPEECH ABOUT CHINA IN THE FREE WORLD

There is no right to freedom of speech in the People’s Republic of China. Freedom House ranks China as more restrictive of speech than Saudi Arabia or Iran. In China, the Communist Party tightly controls what can and cannot be discussed in the classrooms, reported in newspapers, and seen on screens. This panel addresses China’s ramped up efforts to restrict Western media by expelling foreign journalists from China for reporting the truth, to silence open discussion of China and its policies on university campuses throughout the world through its Confucius Institutes, and to control popular culture through the purchase of major US entertainment companies.

Richard Berman
President of Berman and Company
Anastasia Lin
Actress and 2015 Miss World Canada
Matthew Robertson
China News Editor, Epoch Times

11:45am – 12:30pm Buffet Lunch

12:30pm – 2:00pm UNDERSTANDING THE SOUTH CHINA SEA CRISIS

Although China and the US engage cooperatively in many spheres of geopolitics, China’s challenges to the status quo in the South China Sea have resulted in increasingly tense relations. Why is China constructing and militarizing artificial islands in contested waters? Why is China rapidly expanding and modernizing its maritime forces? Why is it challenging the principle of freedom of navigation?

Dr. Seth Cropsey
Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute
Prof. Stefan Halper
Author and Professor of Politics, University of Cambridge
Dr. Miles Maochun Yu
Professor, US Naval Academy

Thursday, October 20, 2016

FILM SCREENING OF "HIGH TECH, LOW LIFE"
Landmark E Street Cinema
555 11th Street NW, Washington, DC
FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC: REGISTRATION REQUIRED
4:00pm Film Screening

Friday, October 21, 2016

POLICY ROUNDTABLE
Business Roundtable
300 New Jersey Avenue NW, Washington, DC
BY INVITATION ONLY

10:00am – 11:20am HONG KONG & THE RULE OF LAW

Today, violations of Hong Kong's once famous rule of law, such as the harassment and disappearing of independent bookshop owners, are more pronounced than ever. Political tensions are at an all-time high between pro-democracy advocates—including the new wave of young pro-independence legislators—and Beijing. What does the future hold for Hong Kong? Given the city remains one of the best models for a liberal democratic China, how can the Hong Kong people better secure their tradition of liberty?

Dr. Frank Dikötter
Humanities Chair, University of Hong Kong
Dimon Liu
Human rights activist
Andrew To
Former Chairman, League of Social Democrats (Hong Kong)

11:20am – 11:30am Coffee Break

11:30am – 1:00pm DEFENDING AGAINST CHINA'S CYBERWARFARE

Every single day the People’s Republic of China targets US government agencies, corporations, and non-profit foundations as part of a hostile campaign of cyberwarfare. How should Americans—public officials and citizens alike—view these cyber operations, and what effect should they have on US-China relations? Are US cybersecurity capabilities adequate to protect US citizens and enterprises?

Dr. Claude Barfield
Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute
Fred Kaplan
Author of Dark Territory: The Secret History of Cyber War
Marion Smith
Executive Director, Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation

1:00pm – 1:45pm Lunch

1:45pm – 4:00pm CHINA HUMAN RIGHTS ROUNDTABLE

While China is burning on its peripheries in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Tibet, and Xinjiang, its internal affairs are equally concerning. Labor rights, catastrophic industrial pollution, organ harvesting of the incarcerated, forced abortions, the most sophisticated censorship of the freedom of speech in the world: these are just a few of the egregious civil rights violations committed by the Chinese Communist Party. How can individuals counter the draconian oppression of dissent? How can human rights groups best cooperate? How should the world respond to this pattern of disregard for the most basic of human rights?

Chen Guangcheng
Legal scholar and civil rights activist
Hu Ping
Chief Editor of Beijing Spring
Henry Li
Executive Director, Informatics & Strategies Institute
Seishu Makino
President, Human Rights Foundation of Japan
Wang Tiancheng
Dissident scholar
Dr. Yang Jianli
President, Initiatives for China
Yu Jie
Author and activist