Wu Shicun, Chairman of the Huayang Center and Chairman of the Academic Committee of NISCSS, and Conor Seyle, President of the Arsenault Family Foundation, delivered remarks at the opening and closing ceremonies and co-chaired the meeting. Wu Shicun also delivered a speech on the situation in the South China Sea, the trajectory of China-U.S. relations, and possible areas for future cooperation between the two countries.
Wu Shicun stated that China and the United States should continue to maintain necessary communication, enhance mutual understanding, properly manage differences, prevent misunderstanding and miscalculation, and avert conflict. In particular, both sides should continue to improve their capacity for risk management on maritime and security-related issues, enhance the stability and predictability of their interactions, and help sustain the overall stability of bilateral relations through cooperation in people-to-people fields such as think tanks, culture, sports, and youth exchanges.
Participants generally agreed that maintaining communication and contact and improving crisis response mechanisms between China and the United States remains of important practical significance. They also noted that the two countries still have room for pragmatic coordination on certain global issues and regional affairs, and that the key lies in handling differences in a more prudent and rational manner so as to keep bilateral relations generally stable.
Yan Yan, Adjunct Research Fellow of Huayang Center, and Hong Nong, Executive Director of the Institute for China-U.S. Studies, respectively chaired thematic sessions. Yan Yan also delivered a presentation on related topics.
During their stay in the United States, the Chinese scholars also visited think tanks in Washington and exchanged views with their American counterparts on issues of mutual concern.