Live webcast with Henry Kissinger and panel discussion examine Chinese-U.S. relationship

Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger will examine America’s economic, political and security relations with China during China Town Hall, a unique 70-city live discussion and Q&A on Oct. 18 that will include local speakers at venues across the country, including Yale University.

Part of the 10th annual “China Town Hall: Local Connections, National Reflections,” the event will begin with a panel discussion, “China: Rising Expectations at Home and Abroad,” at 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium of Henry R. Luce Hall, 34 Hillhouse Ave. It will feature Deborah S. Davis, Yale professor of sociology, and Robert D. Williams, executive director of the Paul Tsai China Center at Yale Law School.

Following the panel discussion, there will be a live webcast at 7 p.m. with Kissinger, who will answer questions from the nationwide audience, moderated by National Committee President Stephen Orlins. A Q&A with Davis and Williams will follow the webcast at 8 p.m.

The events are free and open to the public. They are sponsored by the Council on East Asian Studies at the Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale University and the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations with support from the Starr Foundation.

China’s rapid emergence as a global player and potential partner on many U.S. policy priorities has ensured that the Sino-American relationship will have a direct impact on the lives of nearly everyone in both countries, note the event organizers. Kissinger will draw on his experience as national security adviser and secretary of state, and his years teaching at Harvard University to put the current state of U.S.-China relations in perspective and chart potential policy courses for the future.

Kissinger, author of “On China,” is one of America’s leading political thinkers and foreign policy experts. He served as secretary of state (1973-1977), national security advisor (1969-1975), and was instrumental in America’s re-engagement with China in the 1970s. He is chair of Kissinger Associates and a director of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, the leading nonprofit nonpartisan organization that encourages understanding of China and the United States among citizens of both countries.

The Council on East Asian Studies (CEAS) is headquartered in the MacMillan Center. CEAS promotes education about East Asia both in the college curricula and through lectures and workshops, conferences, cultural events, and educational activities open to faculty, students, K-16 educators, and the general public. CEAS has been designated a National Resource Center for the study of East Asian languages and cultures by the U.S. Department of Education.

The National Committee on U.S.-China Relations is the leading national, non-partisan public affairs organization devoted exclusively to building constructive and durable relationships between the United States and China.