Soft power is not just about movies and television shows, but the ability to attract people to one’s country through cultural influence and persuasion. Tourists and international students traveling to China interact with the people and culture, influencing their worldview along the way. How effective is China’s soft power on a collective and individual level and what is the impact of China’s soft power on the rest of the world? 

Irene Wu joins the National Committee on May 8, 2025 to discuss soft power and how countries like China use it. 

Click here to learn more about the speakers.

With the fifth anniversary of the last big Hong Kong marches behind us and the first anniversary of the National Security Law’s imposition on the horizon, Jeffrey Wasserstrom and Emily Feng assess the city’s recent past and significantly changed realities. What is the legacy of the protest surge of 2019? What is most and least surprising about how Hong Kong has been transformed in this decade? How can we place the Hong Kong story into national narratives about the way the PRC has been moving under Xi Jinping? How can we connect the Hong Kong events to trends in other parts of Asia and beyond?

In an interview conducted on April 9, 2025, Jeffrey Wasserstrom and Emily Feng, in conversation with Sewell Chan, discuss the implications of developments in Hong Kong over the last ten years for HK-mainland relations, Sino-American relations, and trends in the region.

About the speakers

With U.S.-China tariff levels reaching historic highs and a fragile truce now in place, economic experts examine how the trade relationship has shifted in 2025—and where it might be headed next. What are the strategic goals behind the sweeping tariff measures imposed by both sides? How are they reshaping trade flows, business decisions, and bilateral diplomacy? What lessons can we draw from the past seven years of trade tensions, and how do current developments fit into broader patterns of economic decoupling and strategic competition?  

In an interview conducted on May 13, 2025, Claire Reade and Andrew Greenland join PIP fellow Spencer Cohen to explore the implications of recent tariff developments for U.S.-China trade, domestic political pressures, and the global economic order. 

About the speakers

China & the Hill is a weekly newsletter covering Washington DC’s China-focused debates, actions, and reactions. Readers will receive a curated digest of this week’s most pressing U.S.-China news and its impact on businesses and policy, and can listen to the top stories in podcast form on the U.S.-China Podcast.

China & the Hill is published by the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, the leading nonprofit nonpartisan organization that encourages understanding of China and the United States among citizens of both countries.

Read this week's edition of C&TH:  https://mailchi.mp/ncuscr/china-and-the-hill-5-13-25

CHINA Town Hall (CTH), a program that provides a snapshot of the current U.S.-China relationship and examines how that relationship reverberates at the local level – in our towns, states, and nation – connects people around the country with U.S. policymakers and thought leaders on China. The 2025 CHINA Town Hall program took place on Thursday, April 24, at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT, and discussed President Trump’s China policy 100 days in. Featured speakers included Ryan Hass, Director of the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution; Matthew Turpin, Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution; and Lingling Wei, Chief China Correspondent at The Wall Street Journal. Since CTH launched in 2007, the National Committee has proudly partnered with a range of institutions and civic groups, colleges and universities, trade and business associations, world affairs councils, and think tanks to convene town halls and bring this important national conversation to local communities around America (and a few overseas).

About this program: https://www.ncuscr.org/program/cth/

China & the Hill is a weekly newsletter covering Washington DC’s China-focused debates, actions, and reactions. Readers will receive a curated digest of this week’s most pressing U.S.-China news and its impact on businesses and policy, and can listen to the top stories in podcast form on the U.S.-China Podcast.

China & the Hill is published by the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, the leading nonprofit nonpartisan organization that encourages understanding of China and the United States among citizens of both countries.

China remains one of the largest capital exporters in the world, yet there is generally a lack of reliable information on the consequences of Chinese overseas projects. These projects range into the billions and can be transformative for local economies, especially for emerging technologies, large-scale infrastructure, and sustainable energy projects. However, regulations for Chinese outbound investment can be immature and Chinese firms sometimes resort to shortcuts, violating laws of the host state. Particular areas of concern are labor violations and degradation of local environments. From building electrical transmission lines that power Brazil to mining bauxite in Guinea to produce aluminum, Chinese overseas projects affect the economy, local communities, and environment in many ways. How can the stories of these projects shed light on the good and bad practices of Chinese outbound investment? 

Check out our website to learn more about the casebook and speakers as well as to watch the YouTube video!

China remains one of the largest capital exporters in the world, yet there is generally a lack of reliable information on the consequences of Chinese overseas projects. These projects range into the billions and can be transformative for local economies, especially for emerging technologies, large-scale infrastructure, and sustainable energy projects. However, regulations for Chinese outbound investment can be immature and Chinese firms sometimes resort to shortcuts, violating laws of the host state. Particular areas of concern are labor violations and degradation of local environments. From building electrical transmission lines that power Brazil to mining bauxite in Guinea to produce aluminum, Chinese overseas projects affect the economy, local communities, and environment in many ways. How can the stories of these projects shed light on the good and bad practices of Chinese outbound investment? 

Check out our website to learn more about the casebook and speakers as well as to watch the YouTube video!

Efforts to normalize relations between India and China signal a potential shift in one of Asia’s most complex rivalries. As both countries navigate de-escalation efforts while advancing competing strategic interests and structural issues remain, we will examine the geopolitical calculus behind the apparent thaw and its implications for regional security. How will these developments shape India’s engagement with China, the Quad, and the broader Indo-Pacific balance? 

At this critical juncture, on March 18, 2025, Mark Frazier sat down with Manjari Chatterjee Miller and Liu Zongyi to evaluate the strategic dimensions of this evolving relationship. They discussed its potential effects on regional security, the power equilibrium in the Indo-Pacific, and the roles of important mini-lateral groupings like BRICS and the Quad.  

About the speakers

The National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University, and the Beijing Green Finance Association, under the guidance of the Institute of Energy, Environment, and Economy at Tsinghua University, convened the fourth Track II Dialogue on Climate Finance and Trade in September 2024. The teams discussed foreign direct investment in climate-related projects, carbon markets, COP29 climate finance issues, and climate-related financial disclosures. Since the dialogue, the atmosphere for climate collaboration has vastly shifted.

In this conversation, recorded on March 21, 2025, Track II delegation leaders David Sandalow and Ma Jun, discussed the main takeaways from the dialogue and the future of global climate collaboration.

About the speakers