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K-State Today

October 12, 2016

K-State Confucius Institute to host live China Town Hall with Henry Kissinger

Submitted by Max Lu

The K-State Confucius Institute will join the annual China Town Hall, a unique 70-city live discussion and Q-and-A at venues across the country on Oct. 18, which is organized by the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations.

The program will feature a live webcast with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger at 6 p.m. and a guest lecture by H. Faye Xiao, associate professor of East Asian language and cultures at the University of Kansas at 7 p.m. Both events will be in 1014 Throckmorton Hall and are free and open to the public.

As the featured speaker, Kissinger will draw on his experience as national security advisor, secretary of state, and his years teaching at Harvard University to examine America's economic, political and security relations with China; put the current state of U.S.-China relations in perspective; and chart potential policy courses for the future. China's rapid emergence as a global player and potential partner on many U.S. policy priorities has ensured that the Sino-American relationship will have a direct impact on the lives of nearly everyone in both countries.

Kissinger also will answer questions from the nationwide audience, moderated by Stephen Orlins, National Committee president.

Kissinger, author of "On China," is America's leading political thinker and foreign policy expert. He served as secretary of state from 1973-1977, national security advisor from 1969-1975, and was instrumental in America's re-engagement with China in the 1970s. Kissinger is chairman of Kissinger Associates, and a director of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, the leading nonprofit nonpartisan organization that encourages understanding of China and the United States among citizens of both countries.

Following the webcast, Xiao will present, "Family revolution: new marital practices and gender politics in post-revolutionary China."

China is undergoing profound social and cultural changes as a result of its rapid economic growth and urbanization in the last three decades. As an expert specialized in modern and contemporary Chinese literature and film, Xiao will profile some of those changes in her timely presentation.