A New Approach to China? An Assessment of UK, US and EU Approaches.

LDSD Public Forum 2024 - Chair Professor Edward Simpson, Lancaster University.

Welcome to the LDSD Public Forum 2024 ! Join us at The Storey for a discussion on 'A New Approach to China? An Assessment of UK, US and EU Approaches'.

This panel discussion will feature leading experts and academics discussing whether the new administrations in the UK, US and EU will develop a new approach to China.

The UK has a new government in 10 Downing Street, the first Labour government in more than a decade and a half. The EU is challenged in establishing a new composition of the European Commission following European Parliament elections which consolidated both the far left and far right factions. And in January 2025 a new US president will come to the White House.

Meanwhile, China’s economy is showing signs of slowdown while the PRC is increasingly interested in actively shaping the international order in the UN, in conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine and beyond. Chinese technological development and adoption is progressing unabated and at an accelerated pace, threatening to make Beijing a global leader in AI, quantum and other emerging technologies by the end of this decade.

It is therefore timely and topical to discuss whether the new British, American and European leaders will have a new approach to China – or indeed, if a new approach to China is warranted. Will relations be marked by continuity and steady but increasing tension? Will they be more transactional and accommodating or more confrontational and ideological? What should be the top economic, political, technological and defence priorities of the new British government in engaging with China as well as with our European and American allies and partners in relation to the issue of China’s rise?

Joining Professor Simpson on the panel are:

· Dr Olivia Cheung, Research Fellow at the China Institute at SOAS, University of London.

· Meia Nouwens MA, MPhil, Senior Fellow for Chinese Security and Defence Policy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies

· Dr William Matthews, Senior Research Fellow for China and the World in the Asia-Pacific Programme at Chatham House.

· Dr Andrew Chubb, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Politics, Philosophy

The Forum is organised by The Centre For War and Diplomacy at Lancaster University.

Host or Publisher Lancaster Defence and Security Dialogue