Rivalry Redefined: US-China Strategy in a Shifting World with Matthew Turpin

Dr. Elizabeth Economy sits down with Matthew Turpin to discuss his road to becoming a China specialist, the US government’s strategy to compete with China, the role of China and the United States in international institutions, and the likelihood of a deal between President Trump and President Xi over the next four years. Turpin describes how his path led him from a European History major at West Point, to Indo-Pacific Command and eventually to working on China strategy at the Pentagon and White House. The two experts discuss how US policy towards China has evolved, with Turpin illustrating how the goals of multiple Presidential administrations to help the Chinese economy develop were at odds with the increasing risk the PRC and Xi Jinping posed to American security. Economy and Turpin then shift to discussing the present-day dynamics between the two Great Powers; discussing the role of allies, whether international institutions are effective and still serve American interests, and how a new era in US-Russia relations may affect the relationship between the United States and China.

Recorded on March 12, 2025.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Matthew Turpin is a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution, specializing in US policy towards the People’s Republic of China, economic statecraft, and technology innovation. He is also a senior advisor at Palantir Technologies.

From 2018 to 2019, Turpin served as the US National Security Council’s Director for China and the Senior Advisor on China to the Secretary of Commerce.  In those roles, he managed the interagency effort to develop and implement US Government policies on the People’s Republic of China. 

Before entering the White House, Turpin served over 22 years in the US Army in a variety of combat units in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East and as an assistant professor of history at the United States Military Academy at West Point.  He retired from the Army in 2017. From 2013 to 2017, he served as an advisor in the People’s Republic of China to the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Pentagon and was assigned to assist the Deputy Secretary of Defense with the Defense Innovation Initiative, a program to examine the implications of great power competition on the Department of Defense and the role of innovation in US defense policy.

Elizabeth Economy is the Hargrove Senior Fellow and co-director of the Program on the US, China, and the World at the Hoover Institution. From 2021-2023, she took leave from Hoover to serve as the senior advisor for China to the US secretary of commerce. Before joining Hoover, she was the C.V. Starr Senior Fellow and director, Asia Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. She is the author of four books on China, including most recently The World According to China (Polity, 2021), and the co-editor of two volumes. She serves on the boards of the National Endowment for Democracy and the National Committee on US-China Relations. She is a member of the Aspen Strategy Group and Council on Foreign Relations and serves as a book reviewer for Foreign Affairs.  

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ABOUT THE SERIES

China Considered with Elizabeth Economy is a Hoover Institution podcast series that features in-depth conversations with leading political figures, scholars, and activists from around the world. The series explores the ideas, events, and forces shaping China’s future and its global relationships, offering high-level expertise, clear-eyed analysis, and valuable insights to demystify China’s evolving dynamics and what they may mean for ordinary citizens and key decision makers across societies, governments, and the private sector.