President Barack Obama’s November trip to East Asia was important for stabilizing bilateral ties with Beijing given China’s growing influence. In this podcast, Paul Haenle and Randall Schriver discussed the trip’s overall impact and the important agreements made during a summit between Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping. 

Schriver highlighted the success of the APEC summit and Obama-Xi talks, while also acknowledging that much work remains for both sides to fulfill agreements on trade, military, and climate issues. These understandings, Schriver concluded, provide positive momentum and constructive goals for bilateral relations, although underlying tensions must be addressed.

Randall Schriver

Randall Schriver served as deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs from 2003 to 2005. He was previously a senior policy adviser and chief of staff to former deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage. Schriver is a founding partner of Armitage International LLC, an international business consulting firm.

Paul Haenle

Paul Haenle is the director of the Carnegie–Tsinghua Center for Global Policy. Prior to joining Carnegie, he served from June 2007 to June 2009 as the director for China, Taiwan, and Mongolian Affairs on the National Security Council staffs of former president George W. Bush and President Barack Obama.