This episode discusses the transition process and previews the U.S-China relations during the first year of the Trump Administration. During the Obama Presidency the two. countries had to deal with numerous challenges including trade, the East and South China Seas, North Korea, and cybersecurity. Our guest, Evan Medeiros, gives us a behind-the-scene look at the challenges and processes associated with setting up American policy towards China based on his experiences with the Obama Administration in 2009. It also looks at the 2017 transition and examines potential differences in approaches to China. This first year will be critically important for setting the tone of the relationship, creating effective communication mechanisms, and establishing a personal relationship between Presidents Trump and Xi.
Evan Medeiros was deeply involved in the presidential transition in the first year of the Obama administration. Beginning in 2009, Dr. Medeiros he served as director for China, Taiwan, and Mongolia affairs on the president’s national security staff and later became the senior director for East Asian affairs and special assistant to the president. Before that he worked as a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation and earned his doctorate in international relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is now the managing director for the Asia-Pacific at the Asia practice for the Eurasia Group.