David Firestein is President of the George H.W. Bush Foundation on U.S.-China Relations, former Executive Director of the University of Texas at Austin’s China Public Policy Centre, and a Professor at UT’s Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. A U.S. diplomat for 18 years, he has received numerous accolades for his extensive contributions to the U.S.-China bilateral relationship, including the Maurice R. Greenberg Global Leadership Award. Mr. Firestein has authored three books, including two in Chinese, and was the first foreign citizen to write a regular column for ‘People’s Daily’.