As China’s economy continues to grow at a rapid pace, opportunities and challenges abound for businesses, especially foreign entrepreneurs, looking to tap into the market. Rosy Yang and Jackie Cremos talked to Steve Forbes of Forbes Media, Thomas Gorman of FORTUNE China, Peter Lighte of JP Morgan China, and many more experts in the field.
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Executive Producer: Raphael Murillo
Senior Producer: Rosy Yang
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On October 8, the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Chinese political dissident Liu Xiaobo for his “long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China.” Princeton Philosophy Professor Kwame Anthony Appiah wrote to the Nobel Committee in favor of Liu Xiaobo’s nomination. I recently spoke with Professor Appiah about his support for the nominee.
Next, two of our reporters take a look at the history of the famed Woodstock music festival in a conversation with Artie Kornfeld, an American musician, record producer, music executive and organizer of the music festival.
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This episode featured work by Brittany Murphy, Andy Martens, Anthony Paranzino, and Sandy Fong.
Executive Producer: Nikki Leon.
Senior Producer: Flora Thomson-Deveaux.
CC licensed music from .Tape.
President Obama greets Prime Minister John Key of New Zealand yesterday on the first day of the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, D.C. Photo by New Zealand National Party.
Walter Fick
White House Correspondent
WPRB News
WASHINGTON – After a profitable opening day at the Nuclear Security Summit, President Obama hopes for further gains in promoting an international cooperative effort to secure fissile materials. Yesterday, Ukraine announced that it will remove its entire highly enriched uranium stockpile by 2012. Canada also announced that it would be transferring highly enriched uranium back to the United States.
These announcements came amidst a long and strenuous push by the Obama administration to develop a global consensus on the need to take action to secure nuclear materials. Both highly enriched uranium and separated plutonium can be used in nuclear weapons. Obama has called the threat of nuclear terrorism the single greatest threat to US national security.
Last week, administration officials said that they hoped for nations to announce concrete steps that they would take to secure their nuclear materials. This morning, Obama reiterated the need for these steps and the dangers of nuclear materials falling into the hands of terrorists.
“This is an unprecedented gathering to an unprecedented threat,” he said referring to the Summit. ”The risk of a nuclear confrontation between nations has gone down, but the risk of nuclear attack has gone up. The dangers of nuclear terrorism are one of the greatest threats to global security.”
Obama appeared encouraged yesterday by Ukraine and Canada’s announcements. Prior to officially greeting the heads of delegation for the 46 other nations attending the Summit, he called the first day’s progress impressive.
“I think it’s an indication of how deeply concerned everybody should be with the possibilities of nuclear traffic,” he said. ”I think at the end of this we’re going to see some very specific, concrete actions that each nation is taking that will make the world a little bit safer.”
In other important news from the Summit’s sidelines, China has apparently agreed to pursue a new round of sanctions against Iran. This could be a major victory for the US and its allies, who have been pushing for months for new sanctions. Western governments believe that Iran is enriching uranium in order to pursue nuclear weapons. Tehran claims that their program is for strictly peaceful purposes.
This will be the fourth round of sanctions against Iran, which has continued for years to enrich uranium in violation of the 2006 UN Security Council Resolution 1737. Iran recently heightened tensions by announcing the planned construction of several new underground reactors. China, which has strong economic ties with Iran, has generally opposed sanctions against the regime.
“China always believes that dialogue and negotiation are the best way out for the issue,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Jiang Yu said. ”Pressure and sanctions cannot fundamentally solve it.”
Nevertheless, the White House appears encouraged about the prospects of Chinese cooperation after yesterday’s bilateral meeting between Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao. The US needs China’s support because of China’s veto ability within the UN Security Council.
“The discussion was as sign of international unity on Iran,” Obama aide Jeff Bader said. ”The two Presidents agreed to instruct their delegations to work on a sanctions resolution. The resolution will make clear to Iran the costs of pursuing a nuclear program that violates Iran’s obligations and responsibilities.”
The White House said that specifics were still being worked out but would be finalized in the coming days and weeks. Obama has pushed for a resolution to be passed this spring. His goal of banning investment in Iran’s energy sector, however, may face continued resistance from Beijing and Moscow.
Today, President Obama is holding two plenary sessions with delegates at the Nuclear Security Summit. He will also continue bilateral meetings with the leaders of Turkey, Argentina and Germany. Administration officials expect more concrete measures to secure nuclear materials to be announced later in the day.
Walter Fick
White House Correspondent
WPRB News
WASHINGTON – President Obama met with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao for an hour and a half on Monday during the first day of the Nuclear Security Summit. White House officials said that the two leaders spent much of their time discussing Iran’s nuclear belligerence. Iran has for years been in violation of United Nations’ Security Council Resolution 1737, which requires Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment programs.
Western governments believe that Iran is developing its nuclear capabilities in order to create nuclear weapons. Tehran disputes that and claims that its nuclear program is strictly for peaceful research and energy purposes. Washington wants to start a new round of UN sanctions against Iran this spring.
In previous negotiations, China, which has close economic ties with Tehran, has consistently been Iran’s staunchest supporter of, often preventing Western nations from passing stricter measures. After today’s meeting, however, China may be more willing to cooperate on sanctioning Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
“They are prepared to work with us,” White House official Jeff Bader said. ”The two Presidents agreed [that] the two delegations should work together on sanctions.”
Bader is the National Security Council Senior Director for Asian Affairs. In addition to discussing Iran, Bader confirmed that Hu and Obama talked about currency matters, though he did not disclose whether anything was agreed on relating to that topic.
The White House has recently been pressuring China to reform its monetary policy so that they no longer undervalue the yuan. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner recently visited Beijing to press the Chinese on their currency manipulation and the effect that has had on the US-Chinese trade imbalance.
In a gesture of kindness towards Hu Jintao, however, the White House agreed to delay its planned mid-April determination of whether the Chinese are manipulating their currency until after Hu returned from the Summit. Persuading the Chinese to back down on both sanctions against Iran and its monetary policy will likely be extremely difficult. White House officials expect, though, that China will at least be willing to compromise on Iran.
“We expect a resolution this spring, which would be a matter of weeks,” National Security Council adviser Ben Rhodes said.
The details of this resolution will likely still be highly contested. Both Beijing and Moscow have opposed the US proposal to ban new investments on Iran’s energy sector, leaving much speculation about just how much Washington and its NATO allies can push through.
Here are photos from the first day of the Nuclear Security Summit, courtesy of my trusty cell phone camera.
Military Police units from the United States Army Military Police Command provided security and directed traffic at the Nuclear Security Summit on Monday in Washington. Photo by Walter Fick
Military Police guard the perimeter of the Nuclear Security Summit on Monday. Photo by Walter Fick.
President Obama
Police and Secret Service vehicles sit parked outside the Walter E. Washington Convention Center during the Nuclear Security Summit on Monday. Photo by Walter Fick
A protester holds a Tibetan flag in a park across the street from the Nuclear Security Summit. Photo by Walter Fick
Protesters supporting the Free Tibet movement hold banners outside the Nuclear Security Summit as Chinese President Hu Jintao meets with Obama inside the Convention Center. Photo by Walter Fick
Photo by Walter Fick
Today the Nuclear Security Summit gets under way. President Obama already met with King Abdullah II of Jordan here at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. No word on what they discussed, though a read-out should be available soon. Security is tighter here than I’ve ever seen it. The U.S. Army is out in force, though they appear to be unarmed. Army trucks line most of the streets and intersections stretching out for many blocks away from the Convention Center. Groups of soldiers can be seen on the street corners, along with scores of police and Secret Service. Near the Convention Center the streets are blocked off with heavy-duty black riot fencing and concrete barriers. Heavily armed Secret Service are everywhere and inside the Convention Center every area is heavily guarded. As one reporter said in the official pool report this morning, “the city is basically a police state today with so many leaders to protect.” A few protestors were seen outside the barriers, though I couldn’t make out what they were protesting because their signs were in Chinese.
Now for the real news. President Obama is currently in a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Mohammed Najib Abdul Razak of Malaysia. Later today he will also hold bilaterals with President Victor Yanukovich of Ukraine, President Serzh Sargsian of Armenia, and President Hu Jintao of China. Yesterday he met with the leaders of India, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Pakistan and Nigeria. Below are my summaries of what was discussed at each of those meetings.
India – global development, economic infrastructure, food security, poverty reduction, Afghanistan, the Nuclear Security Summit, counterterrorism, and nuclear non-proliferation
Kazakhstan – extensive talk on nuclear safety and non-proliferation, Afghanistan, investment and trade, democracy, civil contacts between the US and Kazakhstan, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe; for more details, check out the official joint statement from the meeting at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/joint-statement-meeting-between-president-obama-and-kazakhstan-president-nazarbayev
South Africa – nuclear security, South Africa’s dismantling of its nuclear weapons program, Iran, South Africa’s HIV/AIDS epidemic, climate change and clean energy, Zimbabwe, and the 2010 World Cup
Pakistan – the April 5 terrorist attack on the US Consulate and the simultaneous attack against a political event, the March 24-25 Strategic Dialogue between the US and Pakistan, increasing Pakistani popular support for the US-Pakistani relationship, US assistance to Pakistan, and energy-sector projects in Pakistan
Nigeria – global security, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, terrorism, democracy, fighting corruption, economic development and internal conflict
The biggest news of the day was right before Obama’s meeting with President Zuma of South Africa, when he spoke to the press and gave us the sound bites needed for the evening’s newscasts and this morning’s papers. Notably, he said that “the single biggest threat to U.S. security, both short term, medium term and long term, would be the possibility of a terrorist organization obtaining a nuclear weapon. This is something that could change the security landscape of this country and around the world for years to come. If there was ever a detonation in New York City, or London, or Johannesburg, the ramifications economically, politically, and from a security perspective would be devastating. And we know that organizations like al Qaeda are in the process of trying to secure a nuclear weapon — a weapon of mass destruction that they have no compunction at using.”
That’s all for now. Obama should be about ready to meet with President Yanukovich of the Ukraine. In about an hour, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism John Brennan will hold a press briefing here at the Convention Center. I’ll update with a new post after that with the news of today. Also, quickly, Vice President Biden has been in bilateral meetings this morning and will be hosting a lunch with several world leaders at the Naval Observatory. More on that after the press briefing.
photo credit: James Cridland
On December 8, 2009, Mr. C. H. Tung, former Chief Executive of Hong Kong gave a speech entitled “United States-China Relations: What’s Next?” at the nearby Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. Here’s an audio archive of the speech.
(Recorded by Rosy Yang)
Here’s the full line-up from our recent program on China policy:
Princeton University and China
Sebastian Jones reports on the ties that bind Princeton University and China– and the potential conflicts of interest that come with them.
E. Perry Link
Professor E. Perry Link, a distinguished scholar of East Asian and China Studies who, until recently, was based at Princeton University and currently teaches at UC Riverside, joins Sebastian Jones for an interview about the challenges academics and universities face in balancing relations with China. Link also touches upon the recent Summer Olympics and tells the story of how he was blacklisted by the Chinese government, preventing him from entering the country.
Part One:
Part Two:
Part Three:
Ken Silverstein
Ken Silverstein, The Washington Editor of Harper’s Magazine, joins Sebastian Jones for a discussion of how China policy is shaped in Washington by foreign policy consultants whose actions raise serious ethical questions.
Part One:
Part Two:
Anne Marie Slaughter
Dean of Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School, Anne Marie Slaughter, sits down with Ashley Schoettle to share insights from her stint in China while on sabbatical and her thoughts on the current state of and future possibilities for China.
Part One:
Web-exclusive:
Slaughter and Silverstein on the Olympics– Web Exclusive
In a WPRB web-exclusive, Ken Silverstein of Harper’s Magazine and Princeton University Woodrow Wilson School Dean Anne Marie Slaughter share their differing views on the recent Olympic games in China.
In a WPRB web-exclusive, Ken Silverstein of Harper’s Magazine and Princeton University Woodrow Wilson School Dean Anne Marie Slaughter share their differing views on the recent Olympic games in China.
Dean of Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School, Anne Marie Slaughter, sits down with Ashley Schoettle to share insights from her stint in China while on sabbatical and her thoughts on the current state of and future possibilities for China.
Part One:
Web-exclusive: