On April 24, 2023, Professor Robert S. Ross of the Department of Political Science at Boston College and a Research Fellow at the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University was invited to give a fascinating lecture on How Can China-US Relations Return to Stability and Control as part of the School's World Politics Frontier Lecture Series. The lecture was hosted by Professor Zhu Feng, the Executive Dean of the School, and more than thirty faculty members and students attended.
Professor Ross pointed out that conflicts of interest, rather than security dilemmas and other factors, have led to the intensification of strategic competition between China and the United States. He believes that China's continuous enhancement of its comprehensive national strength as a rising power is a legitimate act to safeguard its national interests. The United States' actions in the South China Sea are not for so-called freedom of navigation, but rather to demonstrate its determination to contain China, thereby play a role in appeasing allies and consolidating alliances. However, as US influence in the South China Sea declines, its allies become increasingly friendly to China, causing US military bases in those countries to lose their value. At the same time, there are many factors contributing to the decline of US naval power. For example, the United States has built an extensive and expensive social welfare system that has resulted in insufficient defense budgets; flaws in its political system; inadequate attraction of military services; backward shipbuilding industry etc. The decline of naval power and the changing attitude of the US East Asian allies are two important factors undermining America's competitiveness. In response to this situation, Professor Ross proposed several countermeasures for the United States.
Professor Zhu Feng first expressed his sincere thanks to Professor Robert Ross for coming to the School to give a lecture and exchange ideas. He then commented on the lecture and felt that this lecture provided faculty and students of the School of International Studies with a new perspective to better understand Sino-US relations. The faculty and students in attendance asked a series of questions about Sino-US relations, which were answered one by one by Professor Ross. The lecture ended with a warm applause from teachers and students. (By Wang Yu and Zhou Wenxing)
Speaker introduction: Robert S. Ross, currently a professor in the Department of Political Science at Boston College, researcher at Harvard University's Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, member of the Council on Foreign Relations and National Committee for U.S.-China Relations, senior advisor to MIT Security Studies Program etc., has testified before both houses of Congress in the United States and provided consulting services to US government departments such as US-China Working Group in Congress. Professor Ross's main research areas include: Sino-US relations, China's diplomacy, China's security and defense policies, international security; he is committed to promoting exchanges between China and the United States through dialogue. He has served as visiting scholar or visiting professor at many well-known universities in China advocating pragmatic diplomatic policies between China and America while achieving strategic stability between them; he is a well-known expert on Chinese issues representative in America.
