William McCahill, former Charge d’Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, will speak about the People’s Republic of China’s current leadership, the role of the Chinese Communist Party in governing the state and directing the economy, and how China now challenges American and other national interests. Specific subjects that dominate American headlines — U.S.-China trade disputes, intellectual property theft, China’s military expansion and sharp-elbowed diplomacy, Chinese Communist influence operations in the U.S. and elsewhere — will also be discussed.
William McCahill is a Senior Resident Fellow with the National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR). He focuses on Chinese domestic politics and policies, and on how those affect foreign investors and businesses in China. His professional experience in China dates from 1976. Before joining NBR, Mr. McCahill had been senior advisor for China at Mirabaud & Cie., a Geneva-based Swiss private bank. Working from Hong Kong and Suzhou, he advised Mirabaud’s equities traders, capital markets and private banking teams, and their clients. From 2012 through 2014, Mr. McCahill had done similar work with the emerging markets investment bank Religare Capital Markets. He had previously co-founded and managed a China-focused equities and macroeconomic research firm, opened the Beijing office of a major U.S. law firm, and operated a business consultancy in China. A 25-year Foreign Service career preceded Mr. McCahill’s China business activities. He began his diplomatic service in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Beijing; subsequently held senior posts at U.S. missions in Western Europe, Scandinavia, and Canada; and in 2000 retired from his last posting as chargé d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.
Mr. McCahill’s visit to Idaho has been organized by the Boise Committee on Foreign Relations.
This program will be LIVESTREAMED and ARCHIVED for later viewing on our Live Stream page.
