Friend or Foe?

30 Issues in 30 Days is our election year series on the important issues facing the country this election year. Today: What is the future of U.S.-China relations? Visit the 30 Issue home page for all the conversations. 

As part of the Brian Lehrer Show's 30 Issues in 30 Days series, the WNYC Data News team is designing interactive visualizations, tools and graphics to illuminate the data behind the issues. Join the full conversation on the U.S. relationship with China here.

Keith Bradsher, New York Times Hong Kong bureau chief, discusses the case against some of China's trade practices and the implications for U.S. manufacturers--and takes a look at how China approaches education and economic growth.

Slate political reporter and MSNBC contributor Dave Weigel and It's A Free Country blogger Dorian Davis discuss Mitt Romney's position on the situation with the Chinese dissident--and the candidate's relationship with social conservatives following the resignation of a gay aide, Richard Grenell. Read Davis' latest post on the topic here. 

James Fallows, national correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly and author of China Airborne, discusses the Bo Xilai corruption and spying story in China, and the case of the dissident who has reportedly sought asylum in the U.S. embassy.

Frank Wu, Committee of 100 member and chancellor and dean of University of California Hastings College of Law, and Anla Cheng, Committee of 100 board member and partner at Sino-Century China Private Equity fund, talk about a new study about the cross cultural perceptions of U.S.-China relations.

As Chinese Vice President, Xi Jinping visits the US this week, Stephen Orlins, president of the National Committee on United States - China Relations, discusses how the Obama administration and election year politics are affecting ties between the US and China. 

Forty years ago this week, President Nixon sent Henry Kissinger, former U.S. Secretary of State and National Security Adviser, on the first of two secret trips to China to re-establish contact. Kissinger is now most recently the author of On China and discusses his new book examining Chinese foreign policy.

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With the arrival of Chinese President Hu Jintao in Washington this week, it's time to catch up with the world's most ascendant superpower. By "catch up," we don't mean economically—although that's a huge cause for concern in America. For now, we'd do well to refresh ourselves, looking at the reasons our relationship with China is tense, how the country has navigated the global economic crisis (and continued to grow), and what's at stake if the two biggest kids in the sandbox can't get along.