Rice U. expert available to discuss Trump in China

EXPERT ALERT

David Ruth
713-348-6327
david@rice.edu

Jeff Falk
713-348-6775
jfalk@rice.edu

Rice U. expert available to discuss Trump in China

HOUSTON — (Nov. 7, 2017) — What should Americans expect from President Donald Trump’s visit to China this week? Rice University China expert Steven Lewis is available for interviews leading up to, during and after Trump’s visit to Beijing.

Lewis, who is professor in the practice, research fellow at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and associate director at Rice’s Chao Center for Asian Studies, said the meeting between the two super power leaders is historic.

“President Trump’s meeting with President Xi in Beijing this week will be historic in many ways,” Lewis said. “First, although this is their second face-to-face meeting, Trump’s visit in Beijing will be the first one where expectations on both sides are high and that real policy impact will result, particularly on U.S. and Chinese talks to find a way to persuade or pressure North Korea to drop its nuclear ambitions, and as emphasized by President Trump before he left the U.S. for Asia last week, important trade negotiations to redress the trade imbalance in China’s favor. Second, it will be Xi Jinping’s first meeting with a major world leader since his ascension to unrivaled powerat the 19th Party Congress last week, he said.

“Also, the visit will be a chance for President Trump to demonstrate his bargaining savvy and improve the American strategic and economic position in Asia, thereby potentially improving his sagging popularity with the American people,” he said.

To schedule an interview with Lewis, contact David Ruth, director of national media relations at Rice, at david@rice.edu or 713-348-6327.

Rice University’s Baker Institute has a broadcast interview studio with a HD television uplink and an ISDN line for radio.

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Related materials:

Steven Lewis biography: https://www.bakerinstitute.org/experts/steven-w-lewis/

Follow Rice News and Media Relations on Twitter @RiceUNews.
Follow the Baker Institute on Twitter @BakerInstitute.

Image for download:

https://www.bakerinstitute.org/media/files/expert/2ce6feb8/steve-lewis.jpg
Steven Lewis image courtesy of Rice University’s Baker Institute.

This news release can be found online at http://news.rice.edu.

Founded in 1993, Rice University’s Baker Institute ranks among the top five university-affiliated think tanks in the world. As a premier nonpartisan think tank, the institute conducts research on domestic and foreign policy issues with the goal of bridging the gap between the theory and practice of public policy. The institute’s strong track record of achievement reflects the work of its endowed fellows, Rice University faculty scholars and staff, coupled with its outreach to the Rice student body through fellow-taught classes — including a public policy course — and student leadership and internship programs. Learn more about the institute at www.bakerinstitute.org or on the institute’s blog, http://blogs.chron.com/bakerblog.

Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation’s top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,879 undergraduates and 2,861 graduate students, Rice’s undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked No. 1 for quality of life and for lots of race/class interaction and No. 2 for happiest students by the Princeton Review. Rice is also rated as a best value among private universities by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance. To read “What they’re saying about Rice,” go to http://tinyurl.com/RiceUniversityoverview.