On the invitation of the Institute for China-US People-to-People Exchange and American Studies Centre of Peking University, James Peck, Professor of the Department of History of New York University, visited the School of International Studies of Peking University at noon on December 15, 2016 to express his views on Trump's foreign policy and China-U.S. relations, and hold exchanges with teachers and students. The lecture was presided over by Wang Dong, Professor of the School of International Studies of Peking University, Executive Director of the Institute for Global Cooperation and Understanding (iGCU), Peking University. Professor Guan Guihai, Executive Vice Director of the Institute of International and Strategic Studies of Peking University, Professor Øystein Tunsjø of the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment and nearly 20 graduate students and doctoral students from the School of International Studies and Yenching Academy of Peking University participated.
Professor James Peck first introduced his meeting with Trump and detailed his impressions of Trump to the participants. Professor Peck argued that Trump's election was a combination of the electoral political environment in the United States and a shift in the global political pattern, and that Trump's diplomatic views in the election process were unclear. However, through Trump's performance in the election process, his diplomatic style can be seen. For example, Trump's ideology is neither Democratic nor non-traditional Republican, and his control over the lower classes and the way he interacts with the public are very unique; he advocates the diplomatic concept of "America First", which is entirely different from the mainstream of either the Democratic Party or Republican Party; and he challenges many American diplomatic orthodoxies. For example, his challenge against the world policy of the pro-establishment camp of the Republican Party, traditional free trade ideas, globalisation, American exceptionalism, the promotion of democracy and American universalism are all subversive; American orthodox liberalism which he criticizes fundamentally reflects the urgency of problems at home and the discontent of the working class; he is clearly using the resentment of white Americans to reap political dividends, and the immigration problem is its typical example; and his coming to power reflects the decline in America's relative rights and the severity of the challenges of globalisation. He advocates "America First" as a diplomatic principle, but its implementation will not be smooth sailing; and he uses tools such as Twitter to communicate directly with the lower class. This populist interaction is the return of Roosevelt's "fireside chat" before World War II.
Later, Professor Peck gave his own interpretation on the theme of "Why is it difficult for the American pro-establishment camp to get along with an independent and powerful China?" First, Professor Peck believes that cultural and conceptual conflicts between China and the United States are important reasons. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the original American decision-makers such as Acheson and Kennan have dealt with relations with China from the perspective of realism rather than ideology. However, with the occurrence of the Korean War and Vietnam War, anti-Communist consciousness became the principle of the United States in China-U.S. relations, and such relations became a victim of ideological conflict. After World War II, the American elite regarded the United States as a model of liberalism, American civilization was officialised and American liberalism was even higher than that of Europe and other countries. The American dream, democracy, free market, universalism and other ideologies have all been promoted to the world by the American elite as a cold war consensus. However, with China's strength in recent years challenging the global system built by the United States after World War II and the globalisation of American civilization, the United States needs to stop China's rise in the Asia-Pacific region. In addition, Washington's global strategy is to control the global order, and China is likely to rise as a country that will influence the balance in the Asia-Pacific region, naturally causing the American elite to use other countries to balance and restrict China's power in the Asia-Pacific region. This is the thinking of the American pro-establishment camp, but Trump is likely to change that thinking and return the United States from global thinking to native thinking. Furthermore, in terms of soft power and international reputation, Professor Peck cited China's practices in surrounding areas in recent years and the reputation of the United States in international law, pointing out the conflict between China and the United States in international standards. Besides, with the development of globalisation, economic nationalism in the United States is rising and the ability to stabilise the world is declining, which makes trade friction in China-U.S. relations more frequent and increases the importance of coordinating and cooperating with each other in response to the global crisis. After the lecture, Professor Peck conducted an in-depth exchange and discussion with teachers and students on the development trend of China-U.S. relations after Trump took office, which ultimately concluded with a warm atmosphere and good results.
Subscription
