On this edition of Parallax Views, Ambassador Chas W. Freeman, Jr. is a retired diplomat with a long and storied career. For example, he served as the main interpreter for Richard Nixon’s historic 1972 visit to China that proved monumental for Sino-U.S. relations.
With tensions building between the U.S. and China today I turned to Amb. Freeman for his expertise and perspective. He joins me on this edition of the program to discuss the state of U.S.-China relations, the lessons of diplomacy, history that must be taken into account when addressing U.S.-China relations, and much, much more. In the course of this conversation we cover:
– Richard Nixon’s visit to China in 1972 and Amb. Freeman’s response to accusations that it amounted to appeasement and that Nixon was “The Great Appeaser”
– Assessing U.S. China relations in the 21st century under the Presidencies of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump
– Assessing Biden’s first 100 days in relation to U.S. foreign policy towards China. Will Biden be a continuation of Trump era U.S.-China relations?
– What factors are likely to influence the Biden administration’s foreign policy approach to China?
– The U.S.-China summit in Anchorage, Alaska
– The fear that China is seeking to become the new global hegemon and the possible psychological factors driving the U.S. reaction to China’s growth
– What are China’s interests now and going forward; what does China want?
– Empathy and the purpose of diplomacy
– The deep history of the Taiwan conflict
– The Uyghur in China and the treatment of them by China
– The Tiananmen Square incident
– How the Cold War haunts U.S.-China relations
– The possibility of cooperation between the U.S. and China in dealing with climate change
– Mistakes made by both China and the U.S. in international relations
– What have we forgotten about diplomacy and the lessons of diplomacy?
Source: U.S.-China Relations, Diplomacy, and War w/ Amb. Chas Freeman
