Tony T.K. Lau Lecture on Contemporary China 2024

The 2024 Tony T.K. Lau Lecture on Contemporary China will be held Thursday, September 19 at 2:30 pm. Please join us for this prestigious event and hear from Dr. Carla Freeman, senior expert for China at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington, DC. Reception to follow. This event is hosted by the Faculty of Arts at the University of Manitoba. We invite alumni, students, faculty, staff and the greater community to attend. Please claim your free ticket and share the event with others who may be interested in attending.

T hursday, September 19, 2024

2 :30 pm - 4:00 pm CT

R eception to follow.

John J. Conklin Theatre, Gail Asper Performing Arts Hall,

3rd floor Taché Arts Complex, 150 Dafoe Rd., University of Manitoba

A bout the topic:

Relations between China and Russia have been deepening in recent years. Now, after thirty years of limited engagement, Russia and North Korea have also been rapidly expanding strategic ties. China and North Korea, which have sustained a bilateral alliance forged during the Cold War, continue to maintain strong connections. All three nuclear-armed countries see the United States and its allies as threatening their national interests, all see the North American Treaty Organization (NATO) as the aggressor in the Ukraine conflict, and all share the objective of overextending American military capabilities, among other strategic goals. Are relations between China, Russia, and North Korea a trilateral alliance in the making – an “Axis of Upheaval” aimed at overturning the current international order, as some in Washington DC have argued? Or are their relations better understood as an “Axis of Convenience” or triple entente, unlikely to live much beyond the current Ukraine conflict when global tensions ease? What do growing ties among the three countries mean for international security and for Canada?

About the speaker:

Carla Freeman (PhD) is senior expert for China at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington, DC. She is also a non-resident senior fellow with the Institute of Security and Development in Stockholm. For more than a decade, Carla was a faculty member of the China program at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) where she also directed the SAIS Foreign Policy Institute. In 2020, Carla held the appointment of Library of Congress Chair in U.S.-China relations. Carla is the author of numerous academic publications and policy studies on Chinese foreign and security policy. She is a graduate of Yale University and the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

About the Tony T.K. Lau Lectureship on Contemporary China:

In honour of the University of Manitoba Chinese Alumni Association of Canada (UMCAA), founding President of UMCAA, and past President of the International Students' Organization (1971-1972), Tony T.K. Lau [BA /71] has established the Tony T.K. Lau Lectureship on Contemporary China at the University of Manitoba with a gift of $100,000 in 2019. The purpose of the fund is to bring distinguished individuals to the University of Manitoba who will speak about contemporary issues related to China - ranging from trade wars and a slowing economy to human rights crises, social problems, environmental pollution and other timely topics.

Q uestions

Q uestions may be directed to [email protected].

Host or Publisher Faculty of Arts, University of Manitoba