New Geopolitics: The G-20 and Asia's Changing Realities
VIEW EVENT DETAILSAsia Society Hong Kong Center Scholar-in-Residence Series
Rundown:
17:45 Registration
18:00 Opening Remarks
18:05 Panel Discussion
18:50 Audience Q&A
19:15 Closing Remarks
19:20 Networking Drinks
ASHK PC and Corporate Members: Free
ASHK Members: HKD 80
Non-Member Ticket: HKD 100
Asia Society Hong Kong Center is proud to present the first of our Scholar-in-Residence Program Series featuring ASHK Scholar, Professor Alejandro Reyes. The ASHK Scholar-in-Residence Program is an initiative to appoint and engage leading thinkers based in Hong Kong to contribute significant research and original analysis in areas of critical importance to Asia. As part of this program, the Scholars will give public talks and briefings to present and discuss research findings, analysis, and policy recommendations.
In the first of a series of programs focused on regional geopolitics, Professor Reyes will host a panel discussion setting the scene for this year’s G-20 Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi, India. In conversation with Ambassador Mohan Kumar of Jindal Global University, BowerGroupAsia Senior Director Chi-Jia Tschang, and Lingnan University Professor Zhang Baohui, Professor Reyes will explore how issues may play out at the G-20 in light of today’s dynamic geopolitical landscape. Recent years have seen the rise of India’s importance geopolitically and as a voice for the Global South, a development particularly stark in a period of heightened US-China tensions. How will these geopolitical shifts impact the outcomes of the G-20, and what outcomes are we seeing in Asia as a result of changing alliances?
Professor Alejandro Reyes is adjunct professor and director of knowledge dissemination at Asia Global Institute, the think tank on global issues at The University of Hong Kong (HKU), where he manages the digital journal AsiaGlobal Online. Prior to joining the Institute, he was for two years senior policy adviser to the assistant deputy minister for Asia Pacific and set up and led the Asia-Pacific policy planning unit at Global Affairs Canada, the Canadian foreign ministry. He had previously served in the department in 2002 as a senior policy adviser to the Canadian foreign minister, working on the G8 and a review of Canadian foreign policy.
From 2007 to 2017, he was an associate professor in the Department of Politics and Public Administration at HKU. A Hong Kong-based independent consultant from 2001 to 2017, he worked with several foundations and international organizations including the G20 Business Summit, the Clinton Global Initiative, the World Economic Forum and the US-Asia Institute, as well as some corporate clients. He has edited or written several books including a history of Manila in the closing days of the Japanese Occupation, an Asian investment guide, and a survey of the financial services sector in Asia. He began his professional career as a journalist with Asiaweek magazine, part of Time Inc, where he worked from 1988 to 2001 in Hong Kong and Singapore. Born in the Philippines and a citizen of Canada, he was educated at Harvard University and the University of Oxford and in 2000 was awarded an honorary doctorate by Queens University in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Ambassador Mohan Kumar is Professor of Diplomatic Practice at the Jindal School of International Affairs, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, India. He is Dean, Strategic and International Initiatives and the inaugural Director of the Jindal Global Centre for G20 Studies at the University.
Ambassador Kumar has had an outstanding career in the Indian Foreign Service lasting 36 years which culminated in his posting as India’s Ambassador to France based in Paris. The strategic partnership between India and France grew remarkably under his watch in areas as diverse as defence, space, nuclear and solar energy, investment and culture. He was also actively involved in the Climate Change Accord of Paris in 2015. Prior to this, he was India’s Ambassador to the Kingdom of Bahrain where he was witness to the momentous events of the “Arab Spring”. Ambassador Kumar has enormous expertise in the area of international trade and multilateral negotiations as India’s lead negotiator first at the GATT and then at the WTO in crucial areas such as Intellectual Property Rights, Services, Dispute Settlement and Environment. He has served on multiple GATT/WTO panels relating to dispute settlement. Ambassador Kumar oversaw India’s bilateral ties with Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Maldives from 2005 to 2007 as Joint Secretary at the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi. Ambassador Kumar holds a MBA from the Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi and a PhD from Sciences Po, Paris.
Chi-Jia Tschang is Senior Director for BowerGroupAsia's Hong Kong office, and is responsible for managing, maintaining and expanding regional client relationships as well as serving as BGA’s Hong Kong market lead and permanent presence.
Chi-Jia has over a decade of experience in international affairs and crisis management. Prior to joining BGA, Chi-Jia worked at Goldman Sachs for nearly 10 years, where she oversaw the company’s Asia-Pacific internal crisis management and geopolitical risk programs. In addition to responding to developments, she worked with a team to monitor, investigate and report on risk issues across the region while developing relationships with experts on regional issues. Before moving to Hong Kong, Chi-Jia worked in the Beijing office of International Crisis Group (ICG), an independent, non-profit research organization committed to providing independent analysis and advice on how to prevent, resolve or better manage deadly conflict. Her research focused on Chinese foreign affairs and its regional relationships and she interacted with government officials and academics on these issues to understand China’s perspectives and bring them to a wider audience through the ICG reports. Chi-Jia founded the Hong Kong chapter of Young China Watchers in 2012, and remains involved in the chapter’s activities. Chi-Jia earned a bachelor’s degree in government from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, and a master’s degree in international relations from Peking University in Beijing. She reads and speaks Mandarin Chinese.
Zhang Baohui is Professor of Government and International Politics at Lingnan University. He was also the director of the Centre for Asian Pacific Studies from 2010-2020. His research interests include great power politics, Chinese foreign policy, Sino-US relations, and nuclear deterrence. His recent publications include: “Hoping for the Best, Preparing for the Worst: China’s Varied Responses to US Strategic Competition,” Journal of Contemporary China (2023); “When Civilizational Clashes Meet Power Shifts: Rethinking Global Disorder,” Chinese Journal of International Politics (2022); “From Defensive toward Offensive Realism: Strategic Competition and Continuities in the United States China Policy,” Journal of Contemporary China (2022). He is currently studying the dynamics of great power competition and their implications for the world order. He regularly shares his views with leading international media outlets on issues related to his expertise. Zhang got his BA in Foreign Service from the China Foreign Affairs University and his Ph.D. in Government from the University of Texas in Austin.
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Event Details
Miller Theater, Asia Society Hong Kong Center, 9 Justice Drive, Admiratly