Thread by @prchovanec

1. I have an announcement - and a kind of invitation - to make for all of you who, whatever your background, who are interested in US-China relations.

2. Every year, for the past six years, I have taught a practical class in US-China negotiations at @ColumbiaSIPA.

3. 16-20 students, from the US, China, and elsewhere, were broken into 4 diverse teams and negotiated in class on a variety of "ripped from the headlines" topics I gave them.

4. Earlier this fall, it looked like COVID-19 might mean that this course would be temporarily cut from the @ColumbiaSIPA program, but we were able to work out an arrangement where it will still be offered.

5. But in the meantime, I got to thinking about what to do if it was cut. And I asked the school's permission to sponsor an independent exercise inspired by the course, to a broader audience.

6. The idea is to have willing participants from business, public policy, media, the military, government, etc. play the same role the students normally do.

7. Let me be clear: this would be an independent project not associated with @ColumbiaSIPA, though modeled on the course I teach there. And I would be sponsoring it for free, not on any paid basis.

8. I thought some of my followers on Twitter might be interested, and if you are, please DM me (or ask me to follow you so you can DM me). I can explain everything in more detail, and you can assess whether you really are interested to participate.

9. Typical topics for negotiation each year include internet censorship, foreign investment approval, cybersecurity, currency manipulation, tariffs, regulation of US-listed Chinese companies, etc. - adapted to whatever has been in the news lately.

10. We conclude with two real-time crisis exercises, one on maritime disputes, the other on North Korea.

11. Participation would consist of one 2-hour Zoom session each week, at a regulatory scheduled time, one hour of which is negotiation, the other is discussion. Of course there is preparation with your team, beforehand.

12. Each team consists of 4-6 people (depending on how many overall are interested) and remain the same throughout the program.

13. The program would run from late January to early May.

14. I want to welcome Chinese and also European participants as well. One of the key learning experiences of the course I teach has been teams of students from the US, China, and elsewhere working together to represent the US side one round, the Chinese side the next.

15. That way each participant ends up being challenged to understand "the other side's" negotiating position from the inside out, bringing entirely different perspectives to the table.

16. I've already got a couple people responding to this thread expressing their interest, so please contact me if you think this is something you might like to participate in.

17. Keep in mind that there is a time commitment and I would need to share your real-world contact information with your team so you could coordinate pre-negotiation.

18. Don't shy away if you consider yourself an experienced China hand. I won't be teaching you anything - we'll all be learning from each other.

19. For those of you contacting me, please include your email. I will get back to you with a syllabus as soon as I can, later this week.