Ambassador Arun K. Singh (Emory University), Mr Ananth Krishnan (The Hindu Newspaper)

As US transitions to a Biden Presidency, there is inevitable anxiety among countries at the receiving end of China's unilateral assertions based on its accrued strength. For decades, especially since 1979, US policy was "engagement" with China in the belief that this would lead to political and economic liberalization. The Deng-articulated policy of "hide and bide" did not challenge this assumption directly. The Obama-Biden administration, from 2009- 2016, struggled to find the right approach, moving from "strategic reassurance" to "pivot" & then "rebalance". The Trump Administration initially vacillated, but later defined China as a rival, and ratcheted up tariff, technology denial, and other restrictions.

Would a Biden Administration build further on the Trump-era characterization of China as rival, predator, authoritarian; or would it be conditioned more by the search for common ground? This Webinar tries to answer several such questions.