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

The most important point I’ve taken so far from the U.S.-China Student Dialogue is that as both the United States and China deal with domestic political issues and the threat of great power competition, young people on both sides remain eager to understand each other. If anything, our generation may have even more in common than previous generations. Having lived through several periods of rapid societal and technological change in our youth, young people on both sides of the Pacific now share similar struggles with housing availability, saturated job markets, social isolation, and an increasing sense of nihilism towards the world.

I found it surprising that in a dialogue centered around political issues, what I took away the most from these sessions was this increasing convergence between younger populations. That’s not to say that politics wasn’t a major talking point; it was quite fascinating to hear how students in China are conceptualizing issues in the U.S.-China relationship. The dialogue has allowed me to explore many of my burning questions about the U.S.-China relationship in a way that opened my eyes to new perspectives on old issues, while constantly making me reevaluate my own perception of China and question facts that I considered unshakable truth just months ago. In many ways, it is reflective of the pace of U.S.-China relations over the past year and the ever-narrowing convergence between the two societies as they gear up for great power competition. We’ve been able to discuss new sets of trade restrictions and export control policies as soon as they are announced and debate U.S. military posture in the Indo-Pacific as carrier groups are being moved.

However, what I’ve valued most has been the ability to develop camaraderie between a group of American and Chinese students, let our guards down, and just talk about life. I find that this is usually the key to truly understanding someone’s perspective and inner motivations, if they trust you enough to speak their honest thoughts. I was delighted that throughout my sessions, students from both schools were able to create a strong enough relationship to just share details of our lives and how we view the world. I especially credit the Chinese students for being willing to do this in a second language, since I am quite terrible at making small talk in Chinese. It showed that despite the vastly different contexts that we grew up in, we all shared many of the same modern anxieties, had similar hopes and dreams, and our interests were ultimately far more alike than different.

Not only was it refreshing for me to hear the perspectives of my highly engaged peers across the Pacific, but it has also been genuinely satisfying to witness the experiences of fellow Georgetown students who came into the program with little exposure to China. Hearing them talk with a P.R.C. citizen for the first time and deconstruct the narratives they associate with China was fascinating. Especially as the United States deals with its own divisive domestic political problems, I found many of my classmates asking Chinese students about the scale of public infrastructure, the cleanliness of city streets, and efforts made to tackle environmental pollution. This was a mutual sentiment, as many of the Chinese students seemed clear to correct their own misconceptions of the United States.

Ultimately, the sessions so far have left me optimistic. Young people on both sides, during a period of increasing global volatility and declining trust in institutions, are much more willing to question hostile views and perceptions. Nowhere was that clearer than on the American side, where I saw my peers wrestle with overexaggerated narratives of Chinese surveillance or correct their views that China could not innovate at the cutting edge. That gives me hope that future leaders will be willing to listen and talk, to realize that there is far more to be gained than lost. Yet at the same time, both governments seem to be undertaking years-long investments to prepare for great power competition. There’s a seemingly unshakable feeling of tension and unease in the relationship that’s seemingly infected both societies. Young people are beginning to feel that at a far greater level as they go through school and enter a rapidly shifting world. So far, this dialogue has given me hope that mutual understanding is very possible and worth fighting for, hard as it may be.

Austin Huang (SFS'26/G'27) is a student at Georgetown University studying international politics and starting a Master of Art's in Asian Studies in the Walsh School of Foreign Service.