On Tuesday Oct. 7th, in an auditorium filled with students, the newly appointed U.S. Ambassador to China, His Excellency Max Baucus, gave a talk to NYU Shanghai students. This is the first university talk he has given since his appointment. His talk was a little less than an hour long and at the end the students had an opportunity to ask questions. Prior to his appointment as US ambassador to China, H.E Max Baucus had a long lucrative career in public service, beginning with the Montana House of Representatives from 1973 to 1974, then the U.S. House of Representatives from 1975-1978. After 1978, he served as senator for Montana, a position he held for roughly thirty-six years, making him the longest serving senator from Montana. During his time at Congress, he strongly influenced talks of health care reform in the United States, and served as the chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance. His talk was about U.S - China relations with a focus on the necessity of future cooperation between the two countries. He argued that it was inevitable that these two countries would be at the forefront in the coming twenty years and how, as leading countries of the world, they had a duty to work together. “If the U.S. and China don’t lead then who will?” he asked. The ambassador also spoke in relation to China and the U.S.’s responsibility towards climate change. [[He mentioned that China and U.S. combined are the cause of 40% of the world’s air pollution]]. Since the two countries hold responsibility for so much, they have a duty to work together on goals of clean energy, regulation, and energy conservation. While the ambassador agreed that cooperation on both sides was essential, he also conceded that as two different countries, there were bound to be disagreements. He mentioned how in the future, in regard to China, respect needs to be given to “the rule of law” and how she should honor the rights of her citizens. He related this to the Occupy Central protests in Hong Kong, saying that it should be “peacefully through dialogue” and success will come out of shared interests. The students at NYU Shanghai were unanimous in their appreciation of an opportunity to meet and talk to the ambassador as he starts his service in China. This article was written by Baaria Chaudhary. Send an email to [email protected] to get in touch. Photo Credit: Kylee Borger