Jefferson Fellow Charley Piringi (Solomon Islands)
at the USS Arizona memorial. 

Jefferson Fellow journalists meet, learn, report in Hawai'i
Take 12 journalists from the Asia Pacific region, add in many informative diplomatic and military briefings, stir in lots of journalistic expertise, and voila—you have the 2024 Jefferson Fellowships, which convened this week in Honolulu, Hawai’i.

The Jefferson Fellowship, sponsored by the East-West Center, is an annual event bringing journalists from the region together to study and report on issues of vital importance. The theme of this year’s fellowship is, “Partnerships, Postures and Perils: Assessing East Asia Security and Economic Environments.” The fellows this year are traveling to Hawai'i, the Philippines, and Taiwan.

This week, they fellows went to the US military’s Indo-Pacific Command, met with experts at the Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies, diplomats from consulates here in Honolulu, East West Center experts, as well as (via Zoom) David Sanger, New York Times White House and national security reporter.

Fellow Tingting Liu from Taiwan 
presents her research paper.

A few key takeaways:

--There is “no imminent threat of war” between the US and China because neither country wants this to happen, according to a senior US defense official
--Biden has managed competition with China competently, but hasn’t done enough, and hasn’t acted fast enough, according to Sanger
--The US won’t get involved in disputes about South China Sea islands, Sanger said
--Trump’s foreign policy consists of four themes: America is not exceptional; the US doesn’t benefit from international leadership; nationalism is good and globalism bad; and the military should be strengthened, according to EWC research and Indo-Pacific whisperer Dr. Denny Roy.

The Jefferson Fellows each also presented research papers on topics like China’s influence in the Solomon Islands; the Philippines middle power strategy; and the big picture in the South China Sea. Finally, they visited Pearl Harbor and the U.S.S. Arizona memorial--a powerful moment, since most of them were previously unaware of what happened on December 7, 1941.

It’s great to see how the journalists have already bonded, sharing both expertise and laughs. It’s going to be fun to travel with this group the next two weeks to Manila and Taipei. Stay tuned to this space for updates.

Jefferson Fellows visit the Asia-Pacific Center for
Security Studies in Honolulu.