China's Power: Up for Debate 2025
Brought to you by
Please join the CSIS China Power Project, Freeman Chair in China Studies, and the Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics on Tuesday, February 11, from 9:25 am – 3:55 pm EST for our ninth annual conference featuring leading experts debating core issues underpinning China’s power.
This event is made possible by the generous support of the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Agenda
9:00-9:25: Continental Breakfast
9:25-9:30: Welcome Remarks
Dr. Bonny Lin, director of the China Power Project and senior adviser, CSIS
9:30-10:00 am: Keynote Remarks
Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA), Vice Chairman, House Armed Services Committee and Chairman, Tactical Air & Land Forces Subcommittee
10:00-10:10 am: Break
10:10-11:20 am: Debate I
Proposition: U.S.-China relations will maintain a fundamentally similar trajectory under the Trump administration as under the Biden administration.
Moderator: Dr. Bonny Lin, director of the China Power Project and senior adviser, CSIS
AGAINST: Dr. Wei Da, director, Center for International Security and Strategy, Tsinghua University
FOR: Mr. Rick Waters, managing director, China Practice, Eurasia Group
11:20-11:30 am: Break
11:30 am-12:40 pm: Debate II
Proposition: By 2030 China will have greater global influence than the United States.
Moderator: Dr. Ilaria Mazzocco, deputy director and senior fellow, Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics, CSIS
FOR: Dr. Feng Zhang, associate research scholar, Council on East Asian Studies, Yale MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies.
AGAINST: Mr. Dennis Wilder, senior fellow, Initiative for U.S.-China Dialogue on Global Issues, Georgetown University
12:40-1:20: Lunch
1:20-2:30 pm: Debate III
Proposition: China is increasingly working with Russia, North Korea, and Iran as part of an “axis” to push back against the U.S.-led West.
Moderator: Mr. Brian Hart, deputy director and fellow, China Power Project, CSIS
FOR: Dr. Andrea Kendall-Taylor, senior fellow and director, Transatlantic Security Program, Center for a New American Security
AGAINST: Dr. Hai Zhao, research fellow, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
2:30-2:40 PM: Break
2:40-3:50 pm: Discussion IV
Topic: The U.S., China, and economic security
Moderator: Dr. Scott Kennedy, senior adviser and Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics, CSIS
Speaker 1: Mr. Matt Turpin, senior advisor, Palantir Technologies
Speaker 2: Dr. Daojiong Zha, professor, department of International Political Economy, School of International Studies, Peking University
3:50-3:55: Closing Remarks
Dr. Scott Kennedy, senior adviser and Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics, CSIS
Contact Information
- Truly Tinsley
- Associate Director, China Power Project
- ttinsley@csis.org

Wei Da

Andrea Kendall-Taylor


Matt Turpin

Rick Waters

Dennis Wilder

Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA)

Daojiong Zha
