Initiative for U.S.-China Dialogue on Global Issues

I’ll never forget the snowfall at the Summer Palace in Beijing as we braced against the biting cold. The atmosphere felt ripe for reflection on the purpose of the U.S.-China Student Dialogue. In that moment, I thought about the historical trajectories of the United States and China, and how it is perhaps impossible to understand each country’s position in the twenty-first century in isolation. Indeed, my time in Shanghai and Beijing affirmed that continued dialogue is critical for building a stable global future for all.

Though some appear eager to fulfill a Thucydidean fate, our conversations with students at Fudan University and Peking University revealed that perspectives in each country are hardly monolithic. I found that people-to-people dialogue forms the foundation of homegrown diplomacy, and that breaking through the caricaturized fog of both capitals demands a level of curiosity and humility.

Our meetings with key Chinese and U.S. government stakeholders offered insight into the challenges facing each country—and each country’s perspective on U.S.-China relations. We met with researchers from the National Development and Reform Commission, the third-ranked ministerial cabinet department of the State Council of China. They responded to questions about China’s looming demographic challenges, efforts to stimulate domestic demand in a high-savings economy, and how China’s approach to addressing climate change fits within its fifteenth Five-Year Plan. We also met with officials at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. They articulated an eagerness for improving relations with China, while acknowledging structural barriers, tightening domestic political conditions in China, and security challenges arising from competing spheres of influence.

We found common ground with the students from Peking University, including a shared skepticism of the rose-tinted framing of a “rules-based international order.” Students recognized that global systems often ride on the coattails of national power and interests. We were also eager to learn more about life in our respective cities and universities and bonded over the highs and lows of student life.

It is impossible to reflect on the U.S.-China Student Dialogue without also discussing food. A profoundly personal and political facet of our lives, food is shaped by the confluent forces of culture, history, labor, and commerce. From hole-in-the-wall bao bun and noodle shops to lustrous restaurants and university dining halls, some of the most formative discussions with our Chinese counterparts and amongst ourselves occurred over a warm meal or cup of tea. Food has the ability to bring people together and catalyze human connection amidst unfamiliarity.

Much like food, diplomacy requires exchange, an appetite for risk, and authenticity. My time spent with students from Peking University and exploring historic locations sparked a deeper meditation on the impact diplomacy has on people and places. The U.S.-China Student Dialogue served as a reminder that diplomacy and conversation hold the power to bring communities closer together and to overcome barriers that stand in the way of mutual understanding.

Solomon Bennett (G'26) is a first-year graduate student in the Master of Science in Foreign Service program at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service.