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CURRENT
AFFAIRS
Hong Kong
Chief Executive: Territory in 'Very Precarious Situation'
The
weeks-long standoff between protesters and the central government in
Hong Kong escalated
on Monday, as a general strike disrupted more than 200
flights and blocked roadways, rail lines, and shopping malls throughout
the territory. Following an earlier round of protests in June, Carrie Lam,
Hong Kong’s embattled chief executive, suspended a proposed extradition
law that opponents say would make Hong Kong residents vulnerable to
mainland China. Drawn from every corner of society (last week,
thousands of civil servants marched), protesters have called for the
complete withdrawal of the bill as well as Lam’s resignation. “A series
of extremely violent acts are pushing Hong Kong into very precarious
circumstances,” she said on Monday. Beijing, meanwhile, has refused
to rule out military intervention and spoke of its
“tremendous power.”
Two members of Hong Kong’s legislative council, Dennis Kwok
and Alvin
Yeung, will discuss the Hong Kong protests at Asia
Society New York on August 15. Details about the program, which will be
webcast globally, are here.
(Image: Billy H.C.
Kwok/Getty Images)
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POLICY
Wendy
Cutler: Trump Tariffs on China Would 'Take a Heavy Toll'
Economic
tensions between the United States and China have escalated this week.
Following President
Trump’s announcement that he would
impose 10 percent tariffs on an additional $300 billion of
Chinese imports, China’s currency fell
below 7 yuan to the U.S. dollar for the first time since
2008. This, in turn, led the United States Treasury Department to designate
China a currency manipulator on Monday, a day when global
markets tumbled sharply in response to the crisis.
The Trump administration’s next round of tariffs on Chinese imports
would begin on September 1. In Time,
Asia Society Policy Institute Vice President Wendy Cutler
said
that “the combination of these tariffs, with Chinese counter
retaliation, is going to take a heavy toll on U.S. consumers, workers,
farmers, and businesses.”
More: Cutler
appeared on Rep. Joaquin
Castro’s (D-TX) podcast series The Diplomatic Cable
to talk about the state of U.S. trade in Asia. The conversation touched
upon issues with China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as well as how
the CPTPP trade agreement, which took effect last year, ensures that
“many of the rules based on U.S. proposals are alive and well in the
region” — in spite of the U.S. absence in the deal. Cutler also
discussed opportunities for the U.S. to remain engaged in the region.
Learn more about the podcast episode here.
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CURRENT
AFFAIRS
U.S.
Sanctions Iran Foreign Minister — But Practical Effect May Be Minor
Citing
his "reprehensible" behavior, The United States sanctioned
Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif last
Wednesday, the latest sign of deterioration in the relationship between
the two countries. On Friday, The New Yorker’s Robin Wright
reported that the Trump administration had invited Zarif to
the White House in a deal brokered by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)
— but that the foreign minister did not obtain permission from the
Iranian government to attend.
Earlier this year, in a conversation with Asia Society President and
CEO Josette
Sheeran at Asia Society New York, Zarif touted Iran’s
compliance with the Iran Nuclear Deal and noted that his lack of assets
outside of the country made him less vulnerable to sanctions. You can
watch the entire conversation here.
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BOOKS
China and
California: A 'Transpacific Experiment'
In
recent decades, China’s growing economic clout has enabled the country
to obtain influence across many sectors of the U.S. economy, such as
real estate, technology, and education, a trend that has recently
elicited growing backlash. In his new book The
Transpacific Experiment, journalist Matt Sheehan
argues that California, the largest American state, is “ground zero”
for understanding where the Sino-American relationship might go from
here.
“For a long time, local institutions in California, but also elsewhere
in the country, were essentially left alone to manage their own
relationship with China,” Sheehan said in an
interview with Asia
Blog. “I see this current phase as, in many ways, a
reassertion of the federal government’s primacy and control over these
relationships.”
Read the
full Q&A here. Sheehan will discuss his book on August
13 at an Asia Society Northern California-produced program in San
Francisco — learn
more here.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
- On
August 8, Asia Society Australia and Bloomberg bring together 100
senior business leaders, analysts, and policymakers for an
intensive half-day deep dive into Asia’s geopolitics, economics,
and business. Learn
more.
- Also
on the 8th, Alex
Moazed, author of Modern
Monopolies: What It Takes To Dominate in the 21st Century,
will participate in an executive roundtable held by Asia Society
Northern California. Details
here.
- Jazz
singer Kurt
Elling and trumpeter Sean Jones
will perform an evening concert at Asia Society Hong Kong as part
of NYO Jazz on August 9. Learn
more.
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JOIN & SUPPORT
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of its friends and members to support its mission of strengthening
relationships and promoting understanding among the people, leaders,
and institutions of Asia and the United States.
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