On the afternoon of May 21, 2026, Michael McFaul, Ken Olivier and Angela Nomellini Professor of International Studies at Stanford University and former U.S. Ambassador to Russia, visited the Institute of International and Strategic Studies (IISS), Peking University (PKU) and delivered a keynote speech on "China-U.S.-Russia Relations: Present and Future."

Yu Tiejun, President of IISS, PKU and Professor at the School of International Studies (SIS), PKU; Jie Dalei, Senior Research Fellow at IISS, PKU and Associate Professor at the SIS, PKU; Dai Weijing, Assistant Professor at SIS, PKU; Zhao Jianwei, Postdoctoral Fellow at SIS, PKU and Zou Zheng, Program Officer at the Stanford Center at Peking University (SCPKU), and other participants took part in the roundtable discussion.

During the exchange of opinions session, drawing on Professor McFaul's research on the Cold War, the participating scholars held an in-depth discussion on the explanatory power and limits of historical analogies in the study of great-power competition. Topics included, in particular, the applicability of Cold War analogies to China-U.S. relations; the positioning of the China-U.S. and China-Russia bilateral relationships and the impact of related summits; the interactive logic of the China-U.S.-Russia triangular relationship; the evolution of China's global role; and the Taiwan question. Professor Yu Tiejun chaired the roundtable.

Editor: Li Fangqi  Photo by: Zheng Huaizhou