Global China: Assessing China’s role in East Asia

With its rising power, China has become more assertive in pursuit of its growing ambitions in Asia. This has raised fundamental questions about what revisions China seeks to the existing regional order, and whether China’s increasing activism in Asia foreshadows intentions to harness this growing power to assume more of a leadership role on the world stage. To help address these questions and U.S. responses to them, Foreign Policy at Brookings hosted Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Stilwell for a keynote address. After Assistant Secretary Stilwell’s presentation, a panel discussion examined how China’s actions are reshaping the Asia-Pacific region, and how the United States and the rest of the region are responding. Both sessions concluded with a Q&A session from the audience.

This event launched the next tranche of papers in the Brookings series on “Global China: Assessing China’s Growing Role in the World.” These papers analyze China’s evolving approaches to issues ranging from North Korea, the East and South China Seas, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia.