New Paradigms? Chinese Responses to the New Trump Administration

Katherine Palmer Kaup

Topic: New Paradigms? Chinese Responses to the New Trump Administration
Date: THURSDAY, March 12, 2026
Place: Irondequoit Country Club: 4045 East Ave. [14618]
Time: 6:00 Cocktails; 7:00 Dinner; 8:00 Speaker Presentation followed by Q and A
Cost: $60 per person ($62 if paying online), buffet style. Cash Bar
Dinner: Buffet style – 2 protein options, 1 vegetarian option

***Registration Policy: For reservations, please email MemberServices@WACROC.org and remit payment ($60/pp) to: WACR, PO Box 25462, Rochester, NY 14625 OR
go to Meeting Registration – World Affairs Council of Rochester (wacroc.org) and register on-line ($62/pp to cover bank fees) no later than March 5.

Dr. Katherine Palmer Kaup is the James B. Duke Professor of Asian Studies and Politics and International Affairs at Furman University. Her research focuses on ethnic minorities, rule of law, and human rights developments in China. She is the author of Creating the Zhuang: Ethnic Politics in China and several articles and chapters on ethnic minorities, and is editor and contributor to the textbook Understanding Contemporary Asia (2nd edition, 2021). She serves as a Director on the Board for the National Committee on United States-China Relations, and has served as Special Adviser for Minority Nationalities Affairs at the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, Distinguished Visiting Professor at Yunnan Minzu University, Visiting Scholar at the Guangxi Ethnic Affairs Commission, and PI/Program Director for several federally funded Chinese language programs and for the Luce Initiative on Asian Studies and the Environment. She speaks Chinese and regularly leads university and other delegations to China. She holds a BA from Princeton and an MA and PhD in Government and Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia.

The Trump Administration’s overtures to Vladimir Putin and challenges to the United States’ alliance networks are fundamentally realigning global power relationships. How is the Chinese party-state responding to swings in US policy? What impact will this round of tariffs have on the Chinese economy and the US-China relationship? Will US treatment of Ukraine have any influence on China’s position toward Taiwan? Is China really a bigger threat to US interests than Russia? What, if anything, can be done to improve the US-China relationship while promoting American interests and values?

Are China and Russia building an alliance of autocracies to challenge the US-led global order? How should the United States best respond to rising challenges from China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran? China specialist Dr. Kate Kaup, James B. Duke Professor of Asian Studies and Politics and International Affairs at Furman University, will explore how foreign policy and domestic priorities within these countries, as well as the United States’ recent maneuverings, are drawing authoritarian regimes closer together as they expand their global reach. As Russia continues its war in Ukraine, China increases military actions in the South China Sea, North Korea provokes South Korea, and Iran considers retaliating against Israel, these powers are intersecting around the globe. How should the United States prioritize its national interests, respond to new risks, and build its own alliances in the face of rising challenges from authoritarian regimes?