National Insecurity

Interview with Michelle Easton, president of the Clare Boothe Luce Center for Conservative Women

Can Kungfu be used for real fighting, or is it just a series of movements akin to a dance? How do Kungfu practitioners stack up against pro-fighters in mixed martial arts, or street thugs for that matter? 

We talk to Coach Marcus Reeves, owner and head coach of the UFC Gym in Sacramento, California. 

Conventional wisdom in foreign policy circles says that constructive engagement with China in decades past has been an unmitigated disaster, but just because lots of people in Washington say the same thing does not make it true. We speak with Doug Bandow, senior fellow at the Cato Institute, about what went right and how to shape future bilateral relations. 

Hong Kong has very much been part of Washington’s policy discussions of late. Throughout 2019, anti-Beijing, pro-democracy protests rocked the city, rebuking China’s encroachment upon the city’s autonomy.

Dismayed by the historic mass protests, China is imposing a new national security law on the city. U.S. policymakers and Hong Kong’s pro-democracy activists denounce the move as effectively a ban on opposition political activity in Hong Kong and a death knell for the “one country, two systems” framework under which China had promised to govern the city until 2047.

The Trump administration and the U.S. Congress have both vowed to punish China for its repression of civil liberties in Hong Kong and violations of international legal commitments made when Hong Kong reverted from British to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.

What are the practical implications of recent U.S. legislation and the Trump administration's pronouncements? How effectively can Washington influence China's behavior in Hong Kong?

We discuss with Julian Ku, Maurice A. Deane Distinguished Professor at Hofstra Law School.

Even though the COVID-19 pandemic originated in China, the country currently seems to have the virus largely contained. The United States, on the other hand, continues to be hobbled by the disease. At the moment, America has over 2 million cases and over 120,000 deaths, more than any other country. 

As a result, Beijing is now displaying a fair amount of triumphalism. Has the coronavirus pandemic actually strengthened China, at least vis-à-vis the United States?

We discuss with Richard McGregor, senior fellow at the Lowy Institute in Australia and former Financial Times bureau chief in Beijing and Shanghai. 

Leftwing groups blame Trump for racism.