'The US-China rivalry doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game: Jessica Chen Weiss Interview with SCMP

February 05, 2025

What will China-US relations look like under the Trump administration, especially now there are so many hawks in his cabinet?

I think it’s very hard to know that. Alongside his appointments we still have, of course, Trump himself, his own remarks. Things that he has said recently have been a little bit unprecedented, including reportedly inviting Xi Jinping to attend the inauguration. [Xi did not attend.]

And in his nomination of the new ambassador to China [David Perdue], Trump talked about having a “productive working relationship with China’s leaders”. So I think we’ll have to see where he truly is going to go with it.

Josephine Ma  -  Published: 6:00am, 3 Feb 2025Updated: 1:20pm, 3 Feb 2025


Jessica Chen Weiss is the David M. Lampton Professor of China Studies and the inaugural director of the new Institute for America, China, and the Future of Global Affairs at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington and a non-resident senior fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute Centre for China Analysis. She was a senior adviser to the policy planning staff at the US Department of State from August 2021 to July 2022. She was previously a professor at Cornell University and an assistant professor at Yale University and is a prolific author on China-US relations.

She was previously a professor at Cornell University and an assistant professor at Yale University and is a prolific author on China-US relations. For other interviews in the Open Questions series, click here.


Photo Credit: https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3297061/us-china-rivalry-doesnt-have-be-zero-sum-game-jessica-chen-weiss?share=EF1el0LtYjPTe%2BaFHl19QcqeQZ%2ByH2rOgZNqr2H6TQ3Q%2B3tKL5Qa0tXd4az9kw8IekDxFmAAr%2FVFO5OMYFnxS9isIyj5CctZRTFiZvHJADnA0B0er8jAX63XZrXtth0nGl4gPAdw3tuc4Fu%2Bt8akFw%3D%3D&utm_campaign=social_share

Jessica Chen Weiss is the David M. Lampton Professor of China Studies and the inaugural director of the new Institute for America, China, and the Future of Global Affairs at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington and a non-resident senior fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute Centre for China Analysis. She was a senior adviser to the policy planning staff at the US Department of State from August 2021 to July 2022. She was previously a professor at Cornell University