President Barack Obama’s November trip to Asia has opened opportunities for Washington and Beijing to stabilize bilateral ties and to coordinate more closely on security issues. In this podcast, Paul Haenle and Randall Schriver continued their discussion of U.S.-China relations to examine bilateral military ties and the prospects for strategic cooperation.

Schriver maintained that pre-notification of military drills and other confidence-building mechanisms are a promising start, but that both sides must remain committed to these agreements to realize their potential. He acknowledged that agreements on military, trade, and climate change demonstrate progress, but cautioned that areas of strategic disagreement remain despite this ambitious agenda. Progress on implementing these agreements, he concluded, will require creativity and persistence.

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.