China-US relations: Chinese scholars visit Washington in attempt to spur academic exchanges and backchannel diplomacy
- Delegation led by Yu Tiejun of Peking University visited US and attended three-day conference hosted by CSIS think tank to discuss bilateral exchanges
- After Chinese delegation returned, head of the foreign ministry’s North American and Oceanian affairs department met US delegation in Beijing
A group of Chinese scholars, led by Yu Tiejun of Peking University, visited Washington on an eight-day trip that ended on Sunday. While there they discussed reviving bilateral academic exchanges with US academics and government officials in a three-day conference hosted by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a leading Washington-based think tank, the group said.
The trip was made public on Friday in a WeChat post by the Institute of International and Strategic Studies (IISS) at Peking University.
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US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink and the National Security Council senior director for China and Taiwan affairs, Sarah Beran, spoke with the scholars about China-US relations during the delegation’s visit, according to the IISS WeChat post.
Officials and representatives from the US Department of State, defence department, Congress, the US-China Business Council, the Semiconductor Industry Association and prominent geopolitical risk consulting firm the Eurasia Group were also there, it said.
“The exchanges between think tanks and scholars from both China and the US have always played a crucial role in promoting mutual understanding between the two countries,” Chinese ambassador to the US Xie Feng was quoted as saying in the post.
“Finding the right way for China and the US to coexist in this new era also requires deep participation and insights from think tanks and scholars from both countries,” it said.