China’s Fault Lines: Challenges, Instability, and Response

Thursday, March 30, 2017
1:00 PM to 3:15 PM
Location: Top of The Hill, Minuteman Ballroom
1 Constitution Ave, NE
Washington, DC 20002

Chinese leaders have projected an image of China as an inevitable regional and global leader. However, controls on information, assembly, and capital outflows suggests the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is paying closer attention to its domestic priorities than to its international reputation. The Congressional Executive Commission on China’s (CECC) 2016 annual report detailed the anger and discontent felt by many Chinese citizens, who are increasingly calling for more government accountability, transparency and justice. Regime legitimacy and social stability are important challenges that factor into Chinese leaders’ perceptions of national power. With the CCP’s 19th Party Congress on the horizon, it is more critical than ever to assess the CCP’s underlying regime stability and the key threats to it.

This conference will bring together a distinguished group of experts to address China’s most important current challenges and sources of instability, as well as Beijing’s potential response to both. Following a keynote address by Senate Foreign Relations Asia Subcommittee Chair Cory Gardner (R-CO), we will feature panel discussions and conversation on how China’s current challenges and instability will impact the U.S.-China relationship. Participants will also examine how the U.S. and its allies could more effectively engage with China in the future based on these factors.