On 25 July 2017, ICAS annual conference themed “Prospects and Challenges for U.S.-China Relations” was successfully held in Washington, DC.

This conference was organized by the ICAS in collaboration with the NISCSS, China Institute at the University of Alberta and the Collaborative Innovation Center of South China Sea Studies at Nanjing University. The themes of this conference included “U.S.-China Strategic Relations”, “U.S.-China Engagement and Cooperation on Flashpoint Issues in the Asia-Pacific”, “Developments in the South China Sea & Friction in U.S.-China Maritime Ties”, and “Economic and Trade Relations with China". This conference brought together more than 100 scholars from various universities, think tanks and media, including the NISCSS, Nanjing University, China National Defense University, Taiwan Academia Sinica, Taiwan Chengchi University, the ICAS, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Alberta, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Brookings Institution, Carter Center and the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Chinese Ambassador to the U.S. Cui Tiankai was invited to deliver a keynote speech at the opening ceremony. NISCSS President Wu Shicun addressed the opening ceremony and delivered a thematic speech for the panel on the South China Sea.

As Ambassador Cui remarked in the keynote speech, sound development of China-U.S. relations is in line with the common interests and goals of the two countries. To continue a cooperative and constructive model of bilateral relations is in the interests of the two countries and their  peoples. This is also a shared responsibility to the international community. Since the U.S. President Donald Trump took office, China-U.S. relations have made important and positive progress thanks to the concerted efforts of the two sides. Our two presidents have held several meetings recently and have established four high-level dialogue mechanisms, which have pointed the way forward for China-U.S. relations. As regards the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, the Chinese side stays committed to the denuclearization, and maintains that the Korean nuclear issue should be solved through diplomatic efforts. At the same time, China is against the U.S. decision to deploy the THAAD system, which poses serious threats to China’s strategic security. It would also be damaging if the U.S. tries to force China to back down on the nuclear issue by challenging China on the issues concerning Taiwan and the South China Sea. Chinese President Xi Jinping once remarked that there are a thousand reasons for us to make the China-U.S. relations work, but not a single reason to break it. We hope that our two great countries will continue to demonstrate wisdom, courage and good faith, and work for further progress of China-U.S. relations on the right track of win-win cooperation.

As Wu remarked at the opening ceremony, the harmony and stability of China-U.S. relationship is significant for the two countries and their peoples, and the think tanks of both countries play a key role in helping shape and enhance China-US relations. Over the past two years and more since its establishment, the ICAS has delivered Chinese policy perspectives to Washington audience and provided China with a behind-the-scenes view of what drives America's foreign policy initiatives towards China on a wide spectrum of hot-spot issues. In the thematic speech on the South China Sea, Wu made a systematic analysis on the current situation in the South China Sea as well as the factors influencing its future trend, and then proceeded to offer suggestions on how to maintain the favorable trend towards amelioration and détente, as well as on how to strengthen maritime crisis management.