Trump Administration Must Reassess U.S. Policy Towards China, Says Task Force | Asia Society

Trump Administration Must Reassess U.S. Policy Towards China, Says Task Force

WASHINGTON, DC, February 7, 2017 — With the United States-China relationship in a precarious state, the Trump administration must urgently reassess U.S. policy toward China, a group of prominent China specialists conclude in a new report.

The Task Force on U.S.-China Policy, convened by Asia Society's Center for U.S.-China Relations and the University of California San Diego 21st Century China Center, provides the Trump administration with a set of concrete policy recommendations for navigating future U.S.-China relations. Task force members include former government officials, scholars, and think tank researchers, many of whom have served under both political parties and every U.S. president since the Nixon administration.

According to the task force report, contentious issues like regional maritime disputes, trade and investment practices, human rights, and cyberespionage risk undermining the overall relationship despite cooperative successes in areas such as climate change and nuclear proliferation in Iran.

The administration's challenge is to formulate "a revised U.S. strategy that addresses these growing concerns about China's actions without unduly damaging the benefits the U.S. stands to gain from cooperating in areas where interests still converge."

"This is a critical moment for the two countries not only because China has been in a state of destabilizing flux with more assertive postures abroad and repressive policies at home, but because the United States, under President Donald Trump, is now also threatening to rewrite the rule book that had guided our bilateral relationship for several decades," said Orville Schell, Arthur Ross Director of Asia Society's Center for U.S.-China Relations and co-chair of task force.

In its first year, the administration will confront six high-priority issues in U.S.-China policy, the task force co-authors state. Insufficient attention or missteps in dealing with these issues could undermine the foundations of the broader relationship as well as the position of the U.S. in Asia and the global order.

These six urgent priorities are to:

  1.   Work with China to halt North Korea's nuclear and missile program,
  2.   Reaffirm U.S. commitments to Asia,
  3.   Deploy effective tools to address the lack of reciprocity in U.S. trade and investment relations with China,
  4.   Intensify efforts to encourage a principled, rules-based approach to the management and settlement of Asia-Pacific maritime disputes,
  5.   Seek an easing of Chinese human rights and civil society policies that harm U.S. organizations and undermine public support for better U.S.-China relations, and
  6.   Sustain and broaden U.S.-China collaboration on global climate change.

The report also presents analysis and recommendations on 10 broader and longer-term issues in U.S.-China relationship: cyber issues, energy and climate change, global governance, Asia-Pacific regional security, North Korea, maritime disputes, Taiwan and Hong Kong, human rights, defense and military relations, and trade and investment relations.

In addressing these challenges, the report states, the administration should be mindful of lessons from the past. In the sensitive question of Taiwan, the co-authors caution that unilaterally abandoning the long-standing One China policy would likely increase Taiwan's vulnerabilities, destabilizing the Asia-Pacific region, and jeopardizing broad U.S. interests.

Over the past week, members of the task force have briefed senior officials from the administration and congress on the reports' findings. Susan Shirk of UC San Diego and Orville Schell of Asia Society serve as task force chairs.

The task force co-authors are:

  • Orville Schell, Asia Society (chair)
  • Susan L. Shirk, University of California San Diego (chair)
  • Charlene Barshefsky, WilmerHale
  • Kurt M. Campbell, The Asia Group
  • Thomas J. Christensen, Princeton University
  • Elizabeth C. Economy, Council on Foreign Relations
  • Karl Eikenberry, Stanford University
  • M. Taylor Fravel, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Melanie Hart, Center for American Progress
  • Winston Lord, former US ambassador to China
  • Evan Medeiros, Eurasia Group
  • Andrew Nathan, Columbia University
  • David Shambaugh, George Washington University
  • James B. Steinberg, Syracuse University

The task force report was launched Feb. 7 at the Newseum in Washington. Additional public events are scheduled for Feb. 8 in New York City, Feb. 13 in San Diego, and March 9 in Palo Alto. 

Note: Task Force coauthors endorse the overall findings of the report, with individual dissents included at the end of the report. They participate in their individual, not institutional, capacities. Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Henry Luce Foundation, and other generous donors supported The Task Force on US-China Policy.

Asia Society Center for U.S.-China Relations
The Center on U.S.-China Relations was founded in 2006 and is based at Asia Society New York. The center undertakes projects and events which explore areas of common interest and divergent views between the two countries, focusing on policy, culture, business, media, economics, energy, and the environment.

UC San Diego 21st Century China Center
The 21st Century China Center was established in 2011 at the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy. It is a leading university-based think tank that uses original research to anchor major policy discussions on China and U.S.-China relations.

Contact Information

Juan Machado
212-327-9295
[email protected]

Anthony King
858-822-7824
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