By any measure, the past few years have been challenging for the United States-China relationship. Tensions have ranged from China’s objections over U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, U.S. discontent with China’s diplomatic response to the 2010 events on the Korean peninsula, disagreements over human rights, to skirmishes over the South China Sea. China and the United States share one of the most strategically-important relationships in the world and must work together to solve challenges to world security.

Since 2006, EWI has created opportunities for the United States and China to work together, building trust by fostering more effective communication. We have engaged with China’s political, military and academic leaders, facilitating highly productive official and semi-official dialogues between China, the United States and other key powers.

EWI’s China initiatives include:

New Channels of Communication:

Since 2010, EWI has facilitated dialogue between senior representatives from the Chinese Communist Party and prominent U.S. Democrats and Republicans. The U.S.-China High-Level Political Party Leaders Dialogue aims to increase contact, familiarity and trust between Chinese and U.S. political elites, and maintain a political backchannel that can transmit sensitive high-level messages on critical issues affecting the bilateral relationship.

Building Trust at High Levels:

In the U.S.-China High-Level Security Dialogue, EWI brings together influential Chinese and American experts to generate specific policy recommendations for improving the bilateral relationship, promoting strategic trust in critical areas, and assessing progress in U.S.-China strategic trust-building. In the July 2011 meeting in Beijing, talks focused on the South China Sea, military-to-military relations, and arms sales to Taiwan.

Cybersecurity Breakthroughs:

Working with the Internet Society of China, with the endorsement of China’s State Council Information Office, EWI launched an ongoing collaboration between U.S. and Chinese experts to tackle a range of cybersecurity threats. On June 1, 2011, the group released Fighting Spam to Build Trust, the first joint U.S.-Chinese report on a major cybersecurity challenge that affects both countries and the rest of the world. EWI also facilitates discussions with scholars and military experts from both countries to address mutual perceptions in cybersecurity. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and others in China support EWI’s global effort to promote the reliability of undersea communications cables, the backbone of the digital economy. Huawei is a sponsor of EWI’s Worldwide Cybersecurity Summits.

Innovative Consultations:

EWI regularly holds consultations between Chinese and American policy advisors, scholars and business leaders in Beijing and Washington. In the past year, these consultations identified ways to build political, military and economic trust, and produced policy ideas for strengthening cooperation in areas such as climate change, public diplomacy, nuclear non-proliferation, space, the Middle East and Afghanistan.

Improving Military Relations:

Through its collaboration with military experts from China’s National Defense University and other organizations, EWI promotes annual dialogues and exchanges between U.S. and Chinese military experts on issues such as nuclear proliferation, space, Asia-Pacific security, and maritime security. EWI has also arranged military-to-military exchanges, hosting a fellow from the People’s Liberation Army in 2008.