Organizer: Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI)
Type/Location: In Person / New York, NY
Description:
As China and the United States compete for influence across Southeast Asia, governments across the region are seeking to deepen economic ties while preserving strategic autonomy. China’s expanding economic presence brings investment and industrial opportunities, alongside concerns about domestic capacity surplus, while U.S. trade policy is creating new uncertainty and constraints for regional economies. At the same time, Southeast Asia faces growing pressures to sustain growth, expand energy access, and manage environmental challenges. How much room does the region have to pursue its own interests? Can ASEAN and individual governments turn their economic weight into greater leverage? And what should Southeast Asia prioritize in the years ahead?
Join Gita Wirjawan, former Indonesian Minister of Trade and Honorary Senior Fellow at the Center for China Analysis, and Amb. Craig Allen, former U.S. Ambassador to Brunei Darussalam and Non-Resident Senior Fellow at CCA, for a conversation moderated by Kevin Zongzhe Li, Fellow at CCA.
About the Speakers:
Gita Wirjawan is a Non-Resident Honorary Senior Fellow on China-Southeast Asia Relations at the Center for China Analysis. He is the founder and chairman of Ancora Group, an Indonesian business group with interests in real estate, natural resources, arts, and technology. He is also the founding partner of Ikhlas Capital, a Southeast Asia private equity fund. Previously, he served as Indonesia’s Minister of Trade (2011–2014) and Chairman of the Investment Coordinating Board (2009–2011), and held senior roles at Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan.
Ambassador Craig Allen is a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis. He concurrently serves as a Senior Counselor at The Cohen Group in Washington, D.C. Previously, Ambassador Craig Allen was president of the U.S.-China Business Council (USCBC) from 2018 to 2024, a private, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization representing over 200 American companies doing business in China. Prior to his leadership at USCBC, Ambassador Allen was the U.S. ambassador to Brunei Darussalam from December 2014 to July 2018.
Kevin Zongzhe Li (moderator) is a Fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis, where he leads the Center’s work on China–Southeast Asia relations. His research also examines the geopolitics of the energy transition, the role of middle powers amid great-power competition, and clean energy, critical mineral supply chains, and industrial policy. He holds a BS in Environmental and Sustainability Sciences from Cornell University and a Master in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School. Kevin contributes regularly to outlets including The Diplomat, Fulcrum, The Jakarta Post, East Asia Forum, China-U.S. Focus, the South China Morning Post, and the Asian Peace Programme. He is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and English and conversant in Bahasa Indonesia.
Registration:
To attend the event in person, please register here.
NYSEAN members can use the comp code “SEA1014” for the event.