America’s China Fantasy

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Please join us on Tuesday, February 28 for our final event with our 2023 scholar-in-residence James Mann. Special guest Liberal Senator for Victoria James Paterson joins the panel for this lunch event, which will be moderated by CIS executive director Tom Switzer. James, Sen. Paterson and Tom will discuss why the United States became wedded to the idea that China’s political system would inevitably open up.

Xi Jinping has cemented his position to be ‘president for life’, confirming China’s continued regression to the days of Chairman Mao. Can America and the Biden Administration continue to look the other way when it comes to Xi’s growing authoritarian rule, China’s human rights abuses and its developing presence in the pacific.

How did America’s China fantasy lose its hold? Is it possible it will reemerge in the future?

James Mann is a multi-award winning journalist, author and the CIS Scholar-in-residence for 2023. He was Chief of the Beijing bureau for the  Los Angeles Times from 1984 – 1987 and has appeared in publications such as The New Republic, The Atlantic Monthly and The American Prospect. James is author several books including The China Fantasy: How Our Leaders Explain Away Chinese Repression (Penguin, 2007).

Sen. James Paterson is Federal Liberal Senator for Victoria. He is Shadow Minister for of Cyber Security and Countering Foreign Interference. Sen. Paterson is currently the Chair for the Joint Statutory committee for Intelligence and Security. 

Tom Switzer is executive director of the Centre for Independent Studies and a presenter at the ABC’s Radio National.