China Field Notes – with Scott Kennedy

Join Scott Kennedy for a timely conversation with veteran Hong Kong public servant Regina Ip Lau Suk Yee. They discuss Ip’s career in public service, from her days in the bureaucracy to her leadership of the New People’s Party, the nature of the city’s relationship with Beijing after the introduction of the National Security Law, its future in international organizations such as APEC, United States policy toward Hong Kong, and more.

The Honorable Mrs. Regina Ip Lau Suk Yee is currently a Legislative Council Member, Chairperson of the New People's Party, the Savantas Policy Institute, and the Maritime Silk Road Society as well as Court Member of the University of Hong Kong. Mrs. Ip joined the Administrative Service of the Hong Kong civil service in September 1975 and worked in a wide range of policy areas, including home affairs, security, trade, and industry. She rose through the ranks to Director of Bureau in May 2000. She served as Secretary for Security from August 1998 to July 2003. She has been a Legislative Council Member returned by geographical constituency through direct elections since 2008. Mrs. Ip was awarded the Grand Bauhinia Medal in 2021.

Join Scott for a wide-ranging conversation with Wang Zichen, a rising star amongst Chinese public intellectuals who is now with the Center for China and Globalization, based in Beijing. They discuss Wang’s first trip ever to the United States, the difficulties in U.S.-China relations, how Chinese think tanks try to influence public policy, and much more.

Wang Zichen 王子辰 is Research Fellow and Director for International Communications at the Center for China and Globalization (CCG), a leading non-governmental thinktank in Beijing. Before joining CCG in October 2022, he worked, in China and Europe, for 11 years at Xinhua News Agency, China's state news agency. He is a recipient of many internal awards from Xinhua and the Chinese authorities. While at Xinhua, he founded Pekingnology, a China newsletter, as a personal project that he now continues to edit at CCG. Pekingnology now has nearly 12,000 subscribers and amassed over 1 million views from both email and web pages in the year to date. He also edits The East is Read, another China newsletter with 10,000 subscribers, at CCG. The newsletters translate, contextualize, interpret, and summarize Chinese leaders' speeches, China's policy documents, and substantive and technical policy discussions mostly from within China. Zichen visited the United States in Fall 2023 on the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) at the invitation of the State Department.

On this episode, Scott talks with Michael Hart, President of AmCham China, based in Beijing. He has over 20 years of experience living and working in mainland China. Scott and Michael discuss the role and history of AmCham China, and how American businesses are navigating increased tensions between the U.S. and China.

Roberta Lipson, Founder of United Family Healthcare and Vice-Chair of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, provides her perspective on 40 years of living in China and working in the healthcare industry, including running a private hospital system during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Wu Xinbo, one of China’s sharpest international relations experts, offers his perspective on why relations have gone from being “mature” to being beset by tensions on all levels.