Watch: What is to be done about China?

The China Project was media partner for this year’s annual CHINA Town Hall from the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, an hour-long discussion that took place on Monday in New York. The moderator was TV anchor George Stephanopoulos and the panelists were Stephen Orlins, Melanie Hart, Yasheng Huang, and Ely Ratner.

The panel discussed a range of topics, from how the U.S. should deal with China to Xinjiang and Hong Kong. You can watch the whole thing above. Our very own Lucas Niewenhuis asks a question about Hong Kong at the 37:52 mark, prompting a discussion about what the U.S. can do about it. Ely Ratner’s answer as it relates to President Donald Trump:

“As long as he’s not leading on American values, and the United States is not putting values forward, then it cripples the United States’ ability to unite the international community, to deal directly with China. This question of ideology and human rights and governance should be an ace in the hole for the United States in the competition with China, and right now it’s not at all.”

There was some disagreement among the panelists, and quite a lot of heated discussion online in reaction:

There was a debate with @GStephanopoulos about whether the word "concentration" is used in regard to the camps. The "education" CCP is enforcing on indigenous XJ people is called "concentrated" 集中–that's in the recent NYT released XJ papers

— James Millward 米華健 (@JimMillward) November 19, 2019

Update: Stephen Orlins has issued a statement responding to criticism of his remarks during the panel:

(1/4) I regret that my comments during yesterday's CHINA Town Hall webcast did not lead with my stance on Xinjiang, which is that I deplore and disagree with the Chinese government's policies in the region. #CTH19 https://t.co/cIU4VUSVHr

— Stephen Orlins 欧伦斯 (@sorlins) November 19, 2019