WHAT: A press briefing to meet with Dr. Dingli Shen, professor of international relations and Deputy Director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai, China. He will discuss his new paper on the effect of a U.S. decision to deploy a National Missile Defense system on U.S.-China relations.

WHO: Dr. Dingli Shen specializes in nuclear arms control and disarmament, specifically as it relates to nuclear weapons policy in the United States and China and U.S.-Chinese relations. He co-founded and directs China's first university-based Program on Arms Control and Regional Security at Fudan University. Dr. Arjun Makhijani, president of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, will host and facilitate the briefing.

WHEN: Tuesday, February 20, 2001 at 10:00 am

WHERE: Zenger Room, National Press Club, 529 14th Street, NW, Washington, DC

WHY: A Bush Administration decision to build a National Missile Defense (NMD) system could come as early as March, despite the opposition by almost every other country. China has opposed the NMD system outside of the framework of the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty as undermining the strategic deterrence of its relatively small nuclear arsenal. If China decides to build up its nuclear arsenal, other countries, such as India, have made it clear that they will follow suit.

Dr. Shen will explain China's perspective on a U.S. decision to deploy a National Missile Defense system and the implications for U.S.-Chinese relations. He will suggest that cooperation on preventing missile proliferation and other issues could best serve to increase U.S., Chinese, Russian and global security in a "win-win" situation. By contrast, were the U.S. to abrogate the ABM treaty, cooperation on arms control and non-proliferation would suffer with deleterious consequences for U.S., Chinese and global security.