Susan Thornton on US-China ties, post-midterms and averting a new balloon crisis
Quick Look
Former senior American diplomat Susan Thornton stated that AI dialogue and security issues are among the most difficult bilateral points in US-China relations, describing the current state as 'fragile stability' and emphasizing the necessity of leader-level meetings as the primary guardrail in the relationship.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Susan Thornton is a former American diplomat with decades of experience on US policy in Eurasia at the State Department, including serving as acting assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs during the first Trump presidency. She currently leads the Forum on Asia-Pacific Security at the National Committee on American Foreign Policy and is a senior fellow at the Paul Tsai China Centre, Yale Law School.
Susan Thornton is a former American diplomat who for decades worked on US policy in Eurasia in the State Department before becoming acting assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs during the first Trump presidency. She is the director of the Forum on Asia-Pacific Security at the National Committee on American Foreign Policy and a senior fellow at the Paul Tsai China Centre, Yale Law School. She spoke to Orange Wang about keeping the lines of China-US communication open.
For other interviews in the Open Questions series, click here.
What do you think overall of the summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping?
The summit was necessary. Leader-level meetings are the only guardrail we really have in US-China relations right now. It is very important that these meetings happen.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Leader-level meetings between the US and China will continue to be necessary as the primary guardrail in bilateral relations
Likely · Within months
Open Questions
- What specific mechanisms could improve AI dialogue between the US and China?
- How might the 'fragile stability' in US-China relations evolve over the next year?
- What concrete outcomes emerged from the Trump-Xi summit regarding security issues?
