| | | | | | Dear $[UD:FIRST_NAME||]$,
Welcome to the 2026 spring quarter!
The winter quarter flew by but marked an exciting new chapter for the 21st Century China Center.
We moved into our new home in the Brian C. Malk Hall, held the Washington China Forum (WCF) in January, and celebrated the renewal of a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York in March. Across public lectures and research seminars, we hosted 17 speakers on campus, including four prominent economists who spent a week in residence in February.
The WCF was a particular highlight. In the Featured News section below, you can explore key insights from the discussions. The Task Force Working Group also reconvened to continue examining the U.S. approach to investment from China — an issue likely to feature prominently in the upcoming summit between Presidents Trump and Xi.
The spring quarter features a strong lineup of public lectures, conferences and an essay contest. Explore the Featured News and Public Events sections to learn more. Students and faculty interested in new academic research can also join our regular China Research Workshops, co-organized with the Fudan-UC Center on Contemporary China.
Our new space in Malk Hall brings staff, faculty directors and visiting scholars in one place, creating more opportunities for collaboration and conversation. Stop by and enjoy a cup of coffee in our spacious reception area that we share with the 21st Century India Center!
We invite you to subscribe to our China 360°, the center’s bulletin on our scholars’ policy-relevant research, reports, blogs and op-eds. It’ll be worth your time to take a look at the student-run China Focus, with new articles and reviews.
We look forward to an engaging spring quarter ahead.
With warm regards,
Victor Shih, Director, 21st Century China Center; Professor, and Ho Miu Lam Chair in China and Pacific Relations
Lei Guang, So Family Executive Director, 21st Century China Center | | | | | | | Washington China Forum Key Takeaways
Ever wondering how the country’s top experts and policymakers think about China? This report summarizes nine key insights from the 2026 Washington China Forum (WCF), which was held in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 27.
| | | | Young Scholars Conference
The Fudan-UC Center on Contemporary China, the 21st Century China Center and The Carter Center are hosting this year’s Young Scholars Conference on Emerging Trends in China’s Society, Politics, and Economy on May 4-5. The event explores key developments reshaping contemporary China across society, politics and the economy.
| | | | China Focus Essay Contest
Submissions are open for the 2026 essay contest! Organized by China Focus and co-sponsored by four prominent organizations, including 21CCC, this year’s competition invites perspectives on two critical themes: identifying realistic opportunities for cooperation amid the U.S.-China strategic rivalry, and analyzing how this competition is reshaping the Asia-Pacific regional order. | | | | | | Spring Quarter Public Events | | China Town Hall on The U.S.-China Relationship and Implications for Taiwan
Tuesday, April 7 at 3:30 p.m. PDT | Register
The annual China Town Hall provides a snapshot of the U.S.-China relationship and examines its consequences locally and nationally.
Chinese Global Environmentalism Friday, April 17 at 4 p.m. PDT | Register Alex Wang discusses China’s model of “developmental environmentalism” and its implications for global environmental governance.
Beyond the Rhetoric: A Data-Driven Audit of the U.S.-China Relationship Thursday, April 23 at 5:30 p.m. PDT | Register Former president of Committee 100 Zhengyu “Z” Huang offers a data-driven U.S. strategy toward China: Win the talent war, out-run the competition and stay secure.
How Reform Helped Sustain Authoritarianism in China Thursday, April 30 at 5 p.m. PDT | Register Deng Xiaoping's capitalist reforms saved one-party rule, but Xi Jinping’s dictatorial rule has broken the balance, risking setting China back for decades.
How Do Chinese Analysts View MAGA and U.S. Politics under Trump? Thursday, May 14 at 5 p.m. PDT | Register Hao Wang shares how Chinese analysts interpret Trump and MAGA — and why many see the movement’s long-term trajectory as uncertain.
Grassroots Environmental Histories of China’s Mao Era (1949–1976) Thursday, May 21 at 5 p.m. PDT | Register Micah Muscolino reveals how sustainability experiments coexisted with pollution in Mao-era China — a tangled legacy shaping today’s environmental struggles.
Creative Belonging: The Qiang and Multiethnic Imagination in Modern China Thursday, May 28 at 5 p.m. PDT | Register Yanshuo Zhang explores the Qiang, one of China’s oldest ethnic groups, and how they use art and history to redefine modern identity.
| | | | | | Zhengyu “Z” Huang is a bestselling author and the former president of the Committee of 100, a nonprofit advancing constructive U.S.-China relations and Chinese American inclusion. A former White House Fellow and managing director at Intel, he now leads an education-focused investment firm and speaks worldwide on U.S.-China relations, generative AI in education, and personal development. | | | | Minxin Pei is the Pritzker Professor of Government at Claremont McKenna College and a former Library of Congress Chair on U.S.-China Relations. Previously, he directed the China Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and taught at Princeton. A prolific author on Chinese politics, his works include “The Sentinel State” (2024) and “The Broken China Dream” (2025). He holds a Ph.D. from Harvard and specializes in the dynamics of regime decay and authoritarian survival in China. | | | | Kharis Templeman is a Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution, program manager of the Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region, and a lecturer at Stanford University. A University of Michigan Ph.D., his research focuses on Taiwan’s politics, cross-Strait relations, and democratic institutions. He has edited several books on Taiwan’s democracy and frequently contributes policy commentary to Foreign Affairs and The Diplomat. | | | | Alex Wang is UCLA School of Law professor and the Walter and Shirley Wang Endowed Chair in U.S.-China Relations and Communications. He is a leading expert on environmental law, Chinese law and politics, and climate change governance in China. He co-directs the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and previously led NRDC’s China Environmental Law and Governance Project in Beijing.
| | | | Yanshuo Zhang is an assistant professor of Asian languages and literatures at Pomona College. She is an interdisciplinary scholar working across literature, history and anthropology. Zhang is the principal investigator for the inaugural Luce/ACLS Collaborative Grant in China Studies, focusing on ethnic minority pedagogy, and she is widely published and serves as a global peer reviewer for leading Asian Studies journals. | | | | | | | | In the 21st century, two nations will play pivotal roles in shaping a global future: China and the U.S. When you make a tax-exempt gift to the center, you help influence this future as well. Find out how you can support our ongoing work today. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
