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The Global Rise of China: A World Affairs Council Upstate distinguished speaker event
January 24, 2020@12:00 pm-1:30 pm
$30 – $35
Join WACU as we welcome Dr. Jeff Becker, an expert in U.S. – China relations. Over the past two decades, China has gone from a minor actor on global issues to one of the world’s most influential countries. PRC government actors, as well as Chinese state-owned and private firms, now operate around the globe. Meanwhile, China’s military, particularly the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLA Navy), has been tasked with protecting China’s growing overseas interests, which include protecting the nation’s maritime energy security, maintaining access to markets for international trade, and protecting China’s growing overseas assets, including a growing number of Chinese citizens living and working abroad.
How should we understand China’s growing overseas presence and emerging international influence? How is China’s role as a global actor evolving, and what does this mean for U.S.- China relations?
From 2014-2018, Dr. Becker supported the U.S. Navy with regard to China’s participation in the multilateral “Rim of the Pacific” exercise. As part of these efforts, he has worked alongside U.S. and Chinese exercise planners, and has spent time at
sea aboard multiple Chinese navy warships.
Dr. Becker’s book, From Peasants to Protesters: Social Ties, Resources, and Migrant Labor Contention in Contemporary China, was published in 2014 by Lexington Books. He has a Ph.D. in political science from the George Washington University, an M.A. in political science from Columbia University, and a B.A. from Colgate University. To learn more about Dr. Becker please click here.