U.S.-China Relations: What Do New Developments Mean for Colorado and the Region?
Event Description
As escalating tensions in the U.S.-China relationship increasingly reshape the global geopolitical landscape, impacts are now significantly felt at the local level across Colorado and the Rocky-Mountain West. Join us for a critical public conversation featuring John Holden, managing director of McLarty Associates’ China practice, Jonathan Lowet, deputy vice president of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, and Dr. Kristen Vekasi, the Mansfield Chair of Japan and Indo-Pacific Affairs at the University of Montana, alongside moderator Dr. Suisheng Zhao, professor and director of the Center for China-US Cooperation at the University of Denver, for a wide-ranging dialogue on the future of the world’s most consequential bilateral relationship and its regional implications. This timely discussion will explore pivotal issues of national security, trade, technology competition, and economic interdependence, directly addressing how policy decisions in Beijing and Washington, D.C. affect students, business leaders, and everyday Americans. The experts will consider the opportunities, challenges, and complexities that lie ahead for our region within the broader context of U.S.-China ties. This program is co-sponsored by WorldDenver, the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, and the Korbel School’s Center of China-US Cooperation.
This event is free and open to all! Dinner will be provided.
Event Agenda:
5:00 p.m. | Doors open, networking & refreshments
5:30 p.m. | Program Begins
6:15 p.m. | Audience Q&A
6:45 p.m. | Program concludes
Note: WorldDenver will be collecting shelf-stable donations for Metro Caring during our November events to help meet the needs of Coloradans facing food insecurity. Click here for a list of recommended products.
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About our Speakers:
John L. Holden serves as the Managing Director of McLarty Associates’ China practice. Holden’s China career spans more than four decades, twenty-eight years of which he spent on the ground in Beijing, Hong Kong, and Taipei. Before joining McLarty in 2019, Holden served as President and CEO of the US-China Strong Foundation after a decade in Beijing as Managing Director and Senior Counselor for Hill+Knowlton Strategies; Founding Chairman of Shaklee (China) Ltd.; Associate Dean at Peking University’s Yenching Academy and Professor of Practice at its Guanghua School of Management. From 1998 to 2005, Holden was President of the National Committee on United States–China Relations. Holden has a solid foundation in literary and Mandarin Chinese, which he studied at the University of Minnesota (BA magna cum laude) and Stanford University (MA and all PhD coursework).
Jonathan Lowet joined the National Committee in 2004, rising to become its deputy vice president of programs in 2019. From 2016 to 2022, Mr. Lowet also served as a trustee for the Yale-China Association, a 120-year-old U.S. nonprofit organization that bridges American and Chinese cultures by creating lasting, transformative partnerships and experiences in education, health, and the arts. He received a B.A. in history (magna cum laude) from Yale University and an international affairs master’s degree, focused on China and international communications, from Columbia University.
Dr. Kristin Vekasi is the Mansfield Chair of Japan and Indo-Pacific Affairs at the University of Montana. She specializes in Northeast Asia and the political economy of critical mineral and technology supply chains, focusing on trade and investment strategies for states and businesses in changing geopolitical environments. She has published extensively on rare earths and critical minerals, and her book Risk Management Strategies of Japanese Companies in China (Routledge 2019) explores how Japanese multinational corporations mitigate political risk in China.
Suisheng Zhao is a Professor and Director of the Center for China-US Cooperation at the Josef Korbel School of Global and Public Affairs, University of Denver. A Campbell National Fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University, he is the founder and editor of the Journal of Contemporary China and the author and editor of over two dozen books and hundreds of academic articles. His most recent book is The Dragon Roars Back: Transformational Leaders and Dynamics of Chinese Foreign Policy (Stanford University Press, 2023 and was named one of “Best of Books 2024” by Foreign Affairs magazine. He received his Ph.D. in political science from the University of California-San Diego, an M.A. in Sociology from the University of Missouri, and a BA and M.A. in economics from Peking University.
Note: As a nonpartisan convener of global affairs programming, WorldDenver provides an unbiased forum for experts, world leaders, diplomats, and representatives from the public and private sectors to share their expertise and views on a broad spectrum of issues that matter to the world. We aim for our events to inspire curiosity and further reading, discussion, and civic engagement among our members and the Denver community on the global issues that we present.
As escalating tensions in the U.S.-China relationship increasingly reshape the global geopolitical landscape, impacts are now significantly felt at the local level across Colorado and the Rocky-Mountain West. Join us for a critical public conversation featuring John Holden, managing director of McLarty Associates’ China practice, Jonathan Lowet, deputy vice president of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, and Dr. Kristen Vekasi, the Mansfield Chair of Japan and Indo-Pacific Affairs at the University of Montana, alongside moderator Dr. Suisheng Zhao, professor and director of the Center for China-US Cooperation at the University of Denver, for a wide-ranging dialogue on the future of the world’s most consequential bilateral relationship and its regional implications. This timely discussion will explore pivotal issues of national security, trade, technology competition, and economic interdependence, directly addressing how policy decisions in Beijing and Washington, D.C. affect students, business leaders, and everyday Americans. The experts will consider the opportunities, challenges, and complexities that lie ahead for our region within the broader context of U.S.-China ties. This program is co-sponsored by WorldDenver, the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, and the Korbel School’s Center of China-US Cooperation.
This event is free and open to all! Dinner will be provided.
Event Agenda:
5:00 p.m. | Doors open, networking & refreshments
5:30 p.m. | Program Begins
6:15 p.m. | Audience Q&A
6:45 p.m. | Program concludes
Note: WorldDenver will be collecting shelf-stable donations for Metro Caring during our November events to help meet the needs of Coloradans facing food insecurity. Click here for a list of recommended products.
~~~~
About our Speakers:
John L. Holden serves as the Managing Director of McLarty Associates’ China practice. Holden’s China career spans more than four decades, twenty-eight years of which he spent on the ground in Beijing, Hong Kong, and Taipei. Before joining McLarty in 2019, Holden served as President and CEO of the US-China Strong Foundation after a decade in Beijing as Managing Director and Senior Counselor for Hill+Knowlton Strategies; Founding Chairman of Shaklee (China) Ltd.; Associate Dean at Peking University’s Yenching Academy and Professor of Practice at its Guanghua School of Management. From 1998 to 2005, Holden was President of the National Committee on United States–China Relations. Holden has a solid foundation in literary and Mandarin Chinese, which he studied at the University of Minnesota (BA magna cum laude) and Stanford University (MA and all PhD coursework).
Jonathan Lowet joined the National Committee in 2004, rising to become its deputy vice president of programs in 2019. From 2016 to 2022, Mr. Lowet also served as a trustee for the Yale-China Association, a 120-year-old U.S. nonprofit organization that bridges American and Chinese cultures by creating lasting, transformative partnerships and experiences in education, health, and the arts. He received a B.A. in history (magna cum laude) from Yale University and an international affairs master’s degree, focused on China and international communications, from Columbia University.
Dr. Kristin Vekasi is the Mansfield Chair of Japan and Indo-Pacific Affairs at the University of Montana. She specializes in Northeast Asia and the political economy of critical mineral and technology supply chains, focusing on trade and investment strategies for states and businesses in changing geopolitical environments. She has published extensively on rare earths and critical minerals, and her book Risk Management Strategies of Japanese Companies in China (Routledge 2019) explores how Japanese multinational corporations mitigate political risk in China.
Suisheng Zhao is a Professor and Director of the Center for China-US Cooperation at the Josef Korbel School of Global and Public Affairs, University of Denver. A Campbell National Fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University, he is the founder and editor of the Journal of Contemporary China and the author and editor of over two dozen books and hundreds of academic articles. His most recent book is The Dragon Roars Back: Transformational Leaders and Dynamics of Chinese Foreign Policy (Stanford University Press, 2023 and was named one of “Best of Books 2024” by Foreign Affairs magazine. He received his Ph.D. in political science from the University of California-San Diego, an M.A. in Sociology from the University of Missouri, and a BA and M.A. in economics from Peking University.
Note: As a nonpartisan convener of global affairs programming, WorldDenver provides an unbiased forum for experts, world leaders, diplomats, and representatives from the public and private sectors to share their expertise and views on a broad spectrum of issues that matter to the world. We aim for our events to inspire curiosity and further reading, discussion, and civic engagement among our members and the Denver community on the global issues that we present.