Matt Sheehan New Book The Transpacific Experiment

By Lily Lee Chen

It is with great pride that I would like to introduce you to one of the new up and coming voices in the world of US-China relations.  It has been my pleasure to know Mr. Matt Sheehan and I would like to tell you all about the importance and timeliness of his new book called “The Transpacific Experiment-How China and California Collaborate and Compete for our Future.”

In these challenging times in the two-way relationship Matt’s book has become a timely and informative addition to the public discourse about which direction we should go with respect to the US-China relationship. Tensions between the two countries have never been higher since normalization in 1979.

In his new book Matt offers a very clear and sober overview of the relationship between the PRC and the state of California.  He shows how this great state that I have called home for half a century, and China have created a very close interdependent socioeconomic relationship that has put California at the forefront of this sometimes friendly and often strategic rivalry.

Matt shows how understanding the California-PRC relationship can help to not only understand the greater US-China relationship but offer solutions to reconciling the two economic and political rival nations.

From his position at The Paulson Institute Matt has become a respected new voice among the many Sinologists, academics and political figures who are trying to understand the past mistakes made in the US-China relationship and learning from these mistakes (and successes) to guide the two countries in a direction that offers a fairer playing field where real and quantifiable mutual benefit can be obtained.

Matt’s book “The Transpacific Experiment” has been called by one writer, “Timely reading in an era of looming trade wars and the decline of American economic supremacy. ”I heartily recommend this book and encourage everyone to pay attention to what Matt Sheehan has to say in the coming months and years on this matter so critical to the state of California and the country.  From my own experience knowing Matt he has always remained positive about the two-way relationship and has chosen the path of exploring ways to make thing work rather than bashing China and all the perceived unfairness they have been charged with over the decades of US-China relations.

Thank you my friends, for reading.  I truly believe there is a lot we can learn from this book.