Debate on Presidential Candidates' US Policy Toward China

On October 16, The Committee of 100 and George Mason University sponsored a debate between advisors to the McCain and Obama campaigns on the topic of: A Framework for U.S. Policy toward China: Positions of the Presidential Candidates  at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.

Moderator: Kathy Chen, Editor and Assistant Washington Bureau Chief of the Wall Street Journal.

 
From McCain's camp, Randy Schriver:

• Co-founder of Armitage International
• Previously served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs responsible for the PRC, Taiwan, Mongolia, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands 
• Served as Chief of Staff and Senior Policy Advisor to Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage
• President and CEO of Project 2049, a non-profit, non-partisan research organization promoting security and democratic institutions in the Asia-Pacific.

Key Quote: “a McCain administration would recognize the realities and complexities of the [US-China] relationship and would focus on how to best to balance the competition between the two countries with the need and opportunities to cooperate to solve common problems in security, trade, energy, and the environment.”

And from Team Obama, Dr. David Lampton:

• George and Sadie Hyman Professor of Political Science at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at the Johns Hopkins University
• Serves as the Director of China Studies at SAIS
• Former President of the National Committee of US-China Relations, NYC.
• Author of several books and articles on China, including the most recent: The Three Faces of Chinese Power: Might, Money, and Minds (2008).

Key Quote: “An Obama administration, while recognizing that the [US-China] relationship is not broken, would however seek to improve it in several areas. In the trade area, an Obama administration would support efforts to create more of a level playing field between the two countries and would also increase military-to-military ties.”

 Catch the video here.