Is Competition without Conflict Possible? Mapping the Views of Chinese and Americans on Foreign Policy Issues

PAST EVENT
Roundtable
At the Munich Security Conference, the Council and the Carter Center present their groundbreaking research and results from recent public opinion surveys examining Chinese and American perspectives on international security, trade relations, and China’s global role.
Group of people sitting around a table in conversation.
Feb
14
Andreas Schaad / MSC
Event Date

About This Event

Constraints on researchers studying China have made reliable knowledge of Chinese public opinion rare. This poses significant challenges for policy professionals and peace advocates seeking durable solutions to tensions in the world's most important bilateral relationship—that between the United States and China. 

As the gap between public opinion and policymaking widens, this session will provide rare, evidence-based insight into Chinese and American perspectives on international security, trade relations, and China's global role. The Chicago Council on Global Affairs and The Carter Center will share results from their recent surveys examining these attitudes, joined by faculty from Tsinghua University's Center for International Security and Strategy to share local perspectives.

These surveys reveal a Chinese public highly confident in their country's power status, with notable divisions over whether Beijing should pursue dominance or embrace shared leadership. By comparison, the American public is much more divided on the US role. 

This dialogue offers Munich Security Conference participants rare insight into Chinese public sentiment during a period of limited US-China exchange. A moderator will guide this conversation around the research-based implications for global security. 

Note: This roundtable side event will take place at the Munich Security Conference, in-person only, from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m. CET. 

About the Experts
Paige Alexander
Chief Executive Officer, The Carter Center
Paige Alexander
As CEO of The Carter Center, Paige led the organization through the COVID-19 pandemic while simultaneously spearheading the transition toward an organization led by its founding principles. Before joining the Carter Center, Paige held various roles over a non-consecutive fourteen-year tenure at USAID during the Clinton and Obama administrations.
Paige Alexander
Da Wei
Director of the Center for International Security and Strategy, Tsinghua University
Da Wei
Dr. Da Wei is the Director of the Center for International Security and Strategy (CISS) and a Professor in the Department of International Relations at Tsinghua University. His research focuses on China-U.S. relations and U.S. security and foreign policy. Da Wei earned his PhD from the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, where he worked for over two decades.
Da Wei
Dina Smeltz
Managing Director & Chair, Public Opinion and Foreign Policy
Headshot for Dina Smeltz
Dina Smeltz, a polling expert, has more than 25 years of experience designing and fielding international social and political surveys. Prior to joining the Council to lead its annual survey of American attitudes on US foreign policy, she served in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research at the US State Department's Office of Research from 1992 to 2008.
Headshot for Dina Smeltz
Yawei Liu
Senior Advisor, China Focus, Carter Center
Photo of Yawei Liu
Dr. Yawei Liu is the senior advisor on China at The Carter Center and adjunct professor of political science at Emory University. An expert on US-China relations and Chinese grassroots democracy, he currently directs the Carter Center’s China Focus and is the associate director of the China Research Center in Atlanta.
Photo of Yawei Liu
Leslie Vinjamuri
President & Chief Executive Officer, Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Leslie Vinjamuri headshot
Dr. Leslie Vinjamuri joined the Council in 2025 as the president and chief executive officer, after previously serving as director of the US and the Americas program at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, known as Chatham House, in London. She brings nearly 30 years of experience working at the intersection of international affairs, research, policy, and public engagement.
Leslie Vinjamuri headshot
Issues Global Politics US Foreign Policy
Regions Europe North America
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