China Town Hall 2026: The Trajectory of U.S.–China Relations

World Affairs Council and Washington State China Relations Council are pleased to invite you to an in-person CHINA Town Hall event featuring both national and local sessions. 

The national webcast session will feature two veteran senior diplomats discussing the current state and future trajectory of the U.S.-China relationship: Stephen Biegun, former U.S. deputy secretary of state, and Sarah Beran, former deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and former senior director for China and Taiwan affairs at the White House National Security Council.  

The National Webcast will start at 3:30 pm and a local panel discussion in Seattle will follow right after at 4:30 pm. 

This is an in-person program hosted by Dorsey & Whitney LLP. Attendance is free for World Affairs Council and Washington China Relations Council members, as well as students. Non-member registration is $15. Registration is required. 

Audience questions are an important part of the national webcast each year. If you would like to submit a question, please fill out this form. For the "Partner Affiliation" field, please enter "Washington State China Relations Council & World Affairs Council Seattle".

NATIONAL WEBCAST SPEAKERS 

Sarah Beran is a partner at Macro Advisory Partners, joining the firm in 2025 following a distinguished career in the U.S. Foreign Service, most recently as deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.  

From 2022 to 2024, Ms. Beran served as senior director for China and Taiwan Affairs at the White House National Security Council. Her portfolio encompassed technology export controls, investment screening, trade policy, counternarcotics, Russia sanctions and Taiwan contingency planning. She led strategic preparations for multiple heads-of-state summits, negotiated the reopening of senior diplomatic channels with Beijing, and helped forge the first U.S.-China understanding on AI safety in the context of nuclear command and control.  

Ms. Beran also served as then-U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s deputy executive secretary for the Indo-Pacific, led the office responsible for U.S. engagement in APEC, and served as former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s director of the office of Chinese and Mongolian Affairs. She was posted overseas in Beijing, Islamabad, Jerusalem, and Quito. Her previous domestic assignments include office director for economic policy in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, special assistant to then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and Lebanon desk officer.  

Ms. Beran speaks Mandarin and Spanish. She joined the Foreign Service in 2002 and graduated from Claremont McKenna College in 1999. She is a member of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations.  

Stephen Biegun has more than three decades of international affairs experience in government and the private sector, including high-level government service with the Department of State, the White House, and the United States Congress. In 2021, Mr. Biegun concluded his most recent government service as the Deputy Secretary of State, to which he was confirmed by the Senate with a strong bipartisan vote of 90-3. In addition to his government service, Mr. Biegun has also served as a corporate vice president with Ford Motor Company and The Boeing Company.    

Mr. Biegun began his career as a foreign policy specialist with the United States Congress, with a focus on Russia, the former Soviet Union, and Europe, ultimately rising to a number of senior-level positions including chief of staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and as the national security advisor to Senate Majority Leader. He spent two years as the Executive Secretary of the White House National Security Council, serving as an advisor and deputy to the National Security Advisor. In the early 1990s, Mr. Biegun led a Moscow-based technical assistance program working closely with Russia’s first post-Soviet government.   

Mr. Biegun has volunteered as a board member for several international, national, and local non-profit organizations and currently serves on the boards of the National Endowment for Democracy and the German Marshall Fund. He graduated from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Russian language and political science.  

LOCAL DISCUSSION SPEAKERS 

John Bruns recently retired from The Boeing Company as Commercial Sales & Marketing Global Strategic Initiatives vice president where he was responsible for Boeing’s strategic business initiatives aimed at strengthening Boeing’s engagement and presence in key high-growth markets. 

He previously served as vice president Commercial Sales & Marketing – India and Southeast Asia from 2019-2023, based in Singapore. Prior to that he was president of Boeing China from 2016-2019, leading companywide activities based in Beijing where he also served as co-chair of the US-China Aviation Cooperation Program public-private partnership. John began his career with McDonnell Douglas in 1986 in Engineering Test & Evaluation before embarking on a 30-year association with the China market in 1990 and the first of three long-term assignments in Beijing in 1994. Following the merger of Boeing and McDonnell Douglas in 1997, John joined the Boeing Commercial Airplanes Sales team and led numerous successful airplane sales campaigns with Chinese airlines and leasing companies and, more recently, with Air India and Indian startup Akasa Air. 

John spent his childhood in Taiwan and speaks Mandarin. He received a BS degree in mechanical engineering and a BA degree in East Asian studies from Bucknell University in Pennsylvania. He also earned an MBA in international business at the Drucker School of Management, Claremont Graduate University, California in 1991. John serves on the board of the Seattle World Affairs Council. 

Augustine Lo is a partner at Dorsey & Whitney LLP’s Seattle Office and an attorney in the firm’s National Security Law Practice Group. His practice focuses on international trade, national security regulation, and cross-border investment. He advises companies on U.S. customs and trade compliance, export controls, economic sanctions, and government review of foreign investments in the United States. 

Augustine represents clients in international trade proceedings and government enforcement matters involving agencies such as U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. He also counsels companies on trade remedies, tariff mitigation strategies, and compliance with U.S. export control and sanctions regimes. His work frequently involves advising businesses on regulatory considerations affecting cross-border investment and reviews conducted by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. 

Prior to joining the Seattle office of Dorsey & Whitney LLP, Augustine practiced in New York and served as an enforcement attorney in the Office of Chief Counsel at U.S. Customs and Border Protection headquarters. Proficient in Mandarin Chinese, he regularly advises clients on trade and regulatory matters involving China and East Asia. 

 More panelists to be announced soon! 

About the Washington State Center for China Relations

The Washington State China Relations Council (WSCRC) is the nation’s leading statewide organization dedicated to promoting stronger commercial, educational, and cultural engagement with China. Founded in 1979 following the normalization of diplomatic relations between the United States and China, the Council is the oldest nongovernmental organization advocating at the state level for increased trade connections with the People’s Republic of China. The Council’s membership comprises over 100 companies, financial institutions, ports, municipal governments, institutions of higher education, and cultural organizations. Their support enables the WSCRC to execute its mission of strengthening the Washington State-China relationship, while enhancing broader bilateral U.S.-China ties.