VOC Hosts Eighth Annual China Forum

On December 6th, the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC) held its eighth annual China Forum convening scholars, international affairs experts, policymakers, and supporters from around the globe to participate in hard-hitting discussions about the increasingly aggressive nature of the People’s Republic of China, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and key issues in US-China relations. This year’s China Forum was viewed by an in-person and virtual audience of over 4,600 people who heard from the world’s leading experts on China and the ruling Communist Party.

Since 2014, VOC has provided a unique platform, unlike any other in DC, for experts to educate American leaders and engage in frank discussion about the immediate danger posed to the world liberal democratic order by the CCP. The 2022 China Forum featured five panels on Beijing’s repressive ethnic policies, the challenges of economic integration with China, and the CCP’s foreign policy and power projection. Watch the full China Forum here. 

Daniel Tobin, Renowned China Scholar, Delivers China Forum Keynote

“Xi Jinping describes the PRC’s success as having moved in a few short decades from poverty and weakness to the number two economy in the world as a vindication of Marxism and of scientific socialism.” -Daniel Tobin

This year’s keynote address was given by Daniel Tobin, a renowned China scholar and a member of the China studies faculty at the National Intelligence University. Watch the full China Forum keynote address here. 

Uyghur Forced Labor and Prevention: New Trends in Coercive Labor and the Duties of Business

Panelists considered developments in the implementation of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act and how the business community is responding to Chinese companies attempting to evade the sanctions, supply chain risks related to intermediary countries, especially in Asia, and if supply chain regulations can catch up.

• Irina Bukharin, Program Director for Human Security, Center for Advanced Defense Studies
• John Foote, Partner, Kelly Drye & Warren LLP
• Shelly Heald Han, Chief of Staff and Director of Engagement, Fair Labor Association
• Virginia Wake, International Trade Specialist, Forced Labor Division, US Customs and Border Protection
• Dr. Adrian Zenz, Director and Senior Fellow in China Studies, Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (moderator)

Entanglement and Dependencies: Addressing the Challenges of Economic Integration with China

This panel discussed the moral and strategic costs of doing business with China, the challenges of disentangling from problematic financial ties, and explored approaches toward strategic forms of decoupling from related entanglements.

• Claire Chu, Senior Analyst, Janes Group
• The Hon. Nazak Nikakhtar, Partner, Wiley Law
• Michael Sobolik, Fellow in Indo-Pacific Studies, American Foreign Policy Council
• Ana Swanson, Trade and International Economics Writer, New York Times (moderator)

Chains of Command: Beijing’s Policymaking on Xinjiang and the Direction of Ethnic Policy under Xi Jinping

Panelists considered what the latest evidence of the CCP’s Uyghur policy reveals about Beijing’s increasingly draconian ethnic policies particularly in Xinjiang, including their genesis and development, their nature and intent, the extent of central government involvement, and their future direction under Xi Jinping. 

• James Millward, Professor of Intersocietal History, Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University
• Sean Roberts, Professor of the Practice of International Affairs, Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University
• Suisheng Zhao, Professor and Director, Center for China-US Cooperation at Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver
• Adrian Zenz, Director and Senior Fellow in China Studies, Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (moderator)

Interview and Q&A Session

Cai Xia, a Chinese dissident and former professor at the Central Party School of the Chinese Communist Party, exposed the inner workings of the CCP and provided an outlook on the communist nation under Xi Jinping.  

• Cai Xia, Editor-in-Chief, Yibao magazine
• Adrian Zenz, Senior Fellow in China Studies, Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation

Global Ambitions: Beijing’s Foreign Policy and Power Projection

This panel assessed China’s means of power projection and explored research-driven counter-strategies and responses to Beijing’s growing global ambitions. 

• Michael Auslin, Payson J. Treat Distinguished Research Fellow in Contemporary Asia, Hoover Institution
• Emily de La Bruyère, Co-Founder, Horizon Advisory
• Russell Hsiao, Executive Director, Global Taiwan Institute
• Craig Singleton, China Program Deputy Director and Senior Fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies
• Amb. Andrew Bremberg, President, Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (moderator)

Thank you to our sponsors who made this event possible, especially the Diana Davis Spencer Foundation and the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy.