Against a backdrop of a trade war and other issues revolving around U.S.-China relations, Cal State San Bernardino will once again be one of more than 80 venues in the United States and China for the annual CHINA Town Hall event, set for Monday, Nov. 18, featuring both a national webcast and local panel discussion.
 
The program, which will begin at 2:50 p.m. in the university’s John M. Pfau Library, room PL-4005, will start with a live webcast from New York with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News facilitating a panel discussion about U.S.-China relations.
 
That will be followed by a local panel discussion moderated by Rafik Mohamed, dean of the CSUSB College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, and facilitated by Jeremy Murray, associate professor of history and coordinator of the university’s Modern China Lecture Series.
 
The event at CSUSB is free and open to the public, but with limited space; advance registration is highly recommended. Register online at the CHINA Town Hall event page on the World Affairs Council Inland Southern California website. Parking at CSUSB is $6.
 
In its 13th year, the CHINA Town Hall is a program of the National Committee on United States-China Relations, which aims to promote understanding and cooperation between the United States and Greater China in the belief that sound and productive Sino-American relations serve vital American and world interests.
 
At CSUSB, the program is sponsored by the World Affairs Council Inland Southern California, CSUSB College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, The Modern China Lecture Series, the CSUSB History Club and Phi Alpha Theta.
 
According to the national event webpage, “This year, the National Committee is shifting the (CHINA Town Hall) format slightly, as we feel that today’s political climate warrants community discussions on the issues that are having an impact on us, our businesses, our educational institutions, our communities, our states, and our country. Following the national webcast, each of our partners will host town hall-style discussions, with the goal of encouraging community members to talk candidly about their attitudes, concerns, and feelings surrounding the bilateral relationship.”
 
In the national webcast, Stephanopoulos will lead a discussion of the current state of U.S.-China affairs with Stephen Orlins, president of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations; Melanie Hart, a senior fellow and director for China policy at the Center for American Progress, an independent nonpartisan policy institute; Yasheng Huang, Epoch Foundation Professor of International Management at MIT’s Sloan School of Management; and Ely Ratner, executive vice president and director of studies at the Center for a New American Security.
 
In the local panel presentation, which will also include an audience question-and-answer session, Mohamed and Murray will lead a discussion with Julia Strauss, professor of Chinese Politics, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London; John Jang, professor emeritus of History & Political Studies, University of La Verne; and Jiao Yupeng, an instructor and ABD doctoral student, University of California, San Diego.
 
For more information about the local program of the CHINA Town Hall, contact Margaret Hill, WAC Inland SoCal Program chair at worldaffairsCSUSB@gmail.com.
 
For more information about the CHINA Town Hall nationally and the work of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, email the committee at cth@ncuscr.org.