Professor Sun identifies three new “partnership paradoxes” in U.S.-China relations: Trade, Taiwan and Democracy. (1) China and the U.S. today are traversing an economic glacier of mutual interdependence and they have to depend on each other much more than either would probably choose; (2) Taiwan has become the most critical issue that constitutes an interlocking web of misperceptions which may lead to a potentially explosive relationship between the U.S. and China; and (3) The Chinese model of development has attracted the world?s attention and has led to questions such as whether democracy “made in China” is also possible. In dealing with these new partnership paradoxes, the U.S. and China should seek consensus and to define principles and work out proper policies.

Sun Zhe received his doctorate from Columbia University, and is now professor of the Institute for International Studies and Director of the Center for U.S.-China Relations at Tsinghua University in Beijing. Professor Sun is the author or editor of eighteen books on comparative politics and U.S.-China relations. He is considered one of the leading scholars in the field of American Studies and U.S.-China Relations in China.

This event was recorded as part of a day-long symposium presented by the US-China Peoples Friendship Association (USCPFA) Chicago chapter and Co-sponsored with the Center for East Asian Studies. (c) 2008 - Unversity of Chicago.  The World Beyond the Headlines series is a collaborative project of the Center for International Studies, the International House Global Voices Program, the Seminary Co-op Bookstores and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. Its aim is to bring scholars and journalists together to consider major international issues and how they are covered in the media.

Recorded Saturday, January 26, 2008 at International House.