Council Cabinet Reception – Ambassador David Rank: The Current State of China & the Outlook for U.S.-China Relations
About The Evening Event Prior to the Reception
In the last 40 years, China’s stated annual growth averaged close to 10% per year. Under its hybrid capitalist-communist model, China became the world’s second largest economy and dramatically expanded its political, economic and military influence around the world. But even before the recent economic slowdown, there have been significant concerns about the increasingly autocratic rule of President Xi and the lack of political freedoms and basic human rights, as exemplified by the estimated over 1 Million Uighurs currently imprisoned in ‘re-education camps’ in Western China.
Internationally, China’s massive One Belt One Road global initiative, represents an economic and political challenge to U.S. global influence. Its vast claims of disputed territory in the South China Sea highlight the potential military threat from China and the deep concerns of many of our key allies in Asia. And while the U.S. is notably challenging China’s trade policies, there are also areas where the U.S. can clearly benefit from Chinese assistance, such as negotiating with North Korea.
About The Speaker
Ambassador David Rank spent 27 years as a State Department Foreign Service Officer, including his final assignment as Deputy Chief of Mission and as the Charge’ d’Affaires (acting Ambassador) at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. In addition to six Foreign Service assignments in greater China (three in Beijing, two at the American Institute in Taiwan and one at the U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai), he served at the U.S. embassies in Kabul, Athens, and Port Louis (Mauritius).
In Washington, he worked in the office of the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (SRAP), the State Department Korea desk, as Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs and as a Fellow at Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy. In 2015 he received the State Department’s Distinguished Honor Award for his role in the release of the only American servicemember held by the enemy in Afghanistan. He is also the recipient of the American Foreign Service Association’s Sinclaire Award for the study of languages and their related cultures.
He now serves as the head of the China practice at The Cohen Group, a global business strategy consultancy. Dave also teaches at the Johns Hopkins University School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and is Senior Fellow at the Energy Policy Institute of the University of Chicago (EPIC) and at the U.S. Institute of Peace. He speaks Mandarin Chinese, French, Dari and Greek. He and his wife, Mary, have three children.
*Event cancellations require 24 hours advanced notice.