September 29, 2015
K-State Confucius Institute will host a China Town Hall, Monday, Oct. 5
The K-State Confucius Institute will join more than 70 locations nationwide for the ninth annual China Town Hall, a national day of China-related programming sponsored by the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, on Monday, Oct. 5.
Two events, a national webcast about Chinese foreign direct investment in U.S. at 6 p.m. and lecture about "Social Media with Chinese Characteristics" at 7 p.m., can be viewed in the Flint Hills Room at the K-State Student Union. Both events are free and open to the public.
The day is designed to give audiences an understanding of U.S.-China bilateral relations as well as the effect of China's rise on their own communities.
The national live webcast will feature Robert Rubin, former secretary of the treasury; Sheldon Day, mayor of Thomasville, Alabama, location of a major Chinese-owned factory; and Daniel Rosen, founding partner of Rhodium Group, to discuss the influence of Chinese investment in the United States. The discussion will include job creation, revitalization of economically depressed areas, infrastructure improvement, and the deepening of ties between the people of the two countries, all of which help strengthen the overall bilateral relationship. The panel's discussion and responses to questions submitted by the nationwide audience will be moderated by National Committee President Stephen Orlins.
The second part of the program will feature Maura Cunningham, who will give the talk "Social Media with Chinese Characteristics." Cunningham received her doctorate in history at University of California, Irvine and runs the Public Intellectuals Program at the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. She has lived and visited China many times and written extensively about the rapidly-changing country.
"As an academic, my research examines Chinese social and cultural history from the beginning of the 19th century through today, and I tend to emphasize the links between China's past and present in both my scholarly and general-audience writing," Cunningham said.
The National Committee on U.S.-China Relations is the leading national, nonpartisan public affairs organization devoted exclusively to building constructive and durable relationships between the United States and China.