In this talk, Amb. Chas Freeman presents a magisterial overview of US policies of containment of China under the Trump and Biden administrations. He notes that most countries in the world do not share the US apprehension about Chinae. The countries of Pacific Asia, in particular, have consistently made it clear they do not welcome Sino-American confrontation and do not want to have to align themselves with either Washington or Beijing. They all want to leverage China’s rising prosperity to advance their own. But the US not only ignores their desire to work out a safe and satisfactory modus vivendi with China as it returns to its millennial centrality in its region, but the US actively opposes their efforts to do so. These moves have proved to be self-defeating. As one of the most accomplished American diplomats of the past half-century, Freeman notes that US diplomatic prowess has declined to the point that Americans have become our own worst enemies. Political polarization and dysfunction paralyze the Senate confirmation process. Many US ambassadorial positions in important foreign capitals remain vacant, sometimes for years. China keeps its diplomatic missions staffed on a timely basis. Over the last decade, the Department of State and the US Foreign Service have suffered huge budget cuts. By contrast, over the same period, China’s spending on diplomacy has roughly doubled. China now has more diplomatic representation in more places abroad than any other country, including ours. The current Chinese budget includes a further increase in spending on diplomacy of 6.4 percent. In short, the US needs to clean up its own house. The session was followed by a lively Q & A moderated by Mr. Ker Gibson.
